Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
I saw it a few days after release, but the past month has been so hectic. This is nothing so coherent as a review. I just want to get down my impressions, before I finally go read all the other reactions.
SPOILERS
My movie posts sometimes talk about the good, the bad, and the WTF. But this time I don't know if I can untangle them. So this is kind of rambly.
I mostly avoided spoilers. I saw the trailer. The rumours I knew going in:
- I heard that Rey and Kylo got together and then he died (unsure if true).
- I heard that people were unimpressed by JJ Abrams (quite probably true).
I mostly enjoyed it, except for whenever it suddenly hit me with a WTF moment. It felt quite long, though I don't know what I would cut.
It was strange and heartwrenching to see Carrie Fisher again. I'm grateful they could include Leia in the story, but I could not stop thinking about how it wasn't really her, just a recorded ghost talking past the other characters. An ironic echo of Leia in that hologram message in the very first Star Wars movie.
WTF REY PALPATINE. That is all. I loved the reveal of Rey Nobody - that you don't have to be from a special family, that anyone can be a Jedi - and this new reveal just undermines the whole thing. On the other hand, I am a sucker for people fighting against the darkness in their past, so I was won over by her showdown with Palpatine.
I have to say, I was rocked by the reveal that all Sith are inside the last Sith, and that is how their succession works. Maybe this is old lore everyone already knows. But it explained perfectly why there are only ever two at one time, a Master and an Apprentice.
It was going to take a lot to sell any redemption for Kylo Ren, since he killed one of the most beloved characters of the franchise, who was also his father. Then again, Star Wars is famous for doing redemption stories. They threw everything at him: Leia reaching across light years to stop him from committing another killing, Rey healing his mortal wounds, and Han showing up to forgive him. Okay, okay, I bought it.
Normally I hate the Redemption Equals Death trope. But it made a difference that Ben healed Rey by giving her his life force. Yeah, okay, I bought it too.
Movie: Hux is revealed as the spy.
Me: "... I did not see that coming."
Movie: Hux is shot for being a spy.
Me: "... I did not see that coming."
I was steamed about Chewbacca's seeming death and C-3PO's memory wipe, so I was relieved that both were fakeouts.
It was a delight to see Lando show up again.
It was a shame that Rose was sidelined so much. She hardly had more lines than Dominic Monaghan.
I loved how Jannah and her people were also former Stormtroopers. I'm glad she got to bond with Finn over this, and that they finally did something with his child soldier background.
Zorii was okay, but her introduction felt a bit like, "Hey, did you know Poe had a girlfriend who lives in Canada?"
Does anyone not love scenes where the cavalry shows up? Entirely predictable, but so am I.
I was really touched by the happy reunion between Rey, Finn, and Poe.
I was also touched by Rey settling on Tatooine and taking up the Skywalker name.
When I think about it, it's kind of amazing that these movies exist. When I was growing up, there were the three original movies, and George Lucas's pipe dream of a prequel trilogy and a sequel trilogy. Now all nine are complete. The Star Wars universe is continuing to expand in all directions, but this feels like it should be a milestone to mark the end of an era.
Crossposted from Dreamwidth, where there are
comments. Comment here or there.
SPOILERS
My movie posts sometimes talk about the good, the bad, and the WTF. But this time I don't know if I can untangle them. So this is kind of rambly.
I mostly avoided spoilers. I saw the trailer. The rumours I knew going in:
- I heard that Rey and Kylo got together and then he died (unsure if true).
- I heard that people were unimpressed by JJ Abrams (quite probably true).
I mostly enjoyed it, except for whenever it suddenly hit me with a WTF moment. It felt quite long, though I don't know what I would cut.
It was strange and heartwrenching to see Carrie Fisher again. I'm grateful they could include Leia in the story, but I could not stop thinking about how it wasn't really her, just a recorded ghost talking past the other characters. An ironic echo of Leia in that hologram message in the very first Star Wars movie.
WTF REY PALPATINE. That is all. I loved the reveal of Rey Nobody - that you don't have to be from a special family, that anyone can be a Jedi - and this new reveal just undermines the whole thing. On the other hand, I am a sucker for people fighting against the darkness in their past, so I was won over by her showdown with Palpatine.
I have to say, I was rocked by the reveal that all Sith are inside the last Sith, and that is how their succession works. Maybe this is old lore everyone already knows. But it explained perfectly why there are only ever two at one time, a Master and an Apprentice.
It was going to take a lot to sell any redemption for Kylo Ren, since he killed one of the most beloved characters of the franchise, who was also his father. Then again, Star Wars is famous for doing redemption stories. They threw everything at him: Leia reaching across light years to stop him from committing another killing, Rey healing his mortal wounds, and Han showing up to forgive him. Okay, okay, I bought it.
Normally I hate the Redemption Equals Death trope. But it made a difference that Ben healed Rey by giving her his life force. Yeah, okay, I bought it too.
Movie: Hux is revealed as the spy.
Me: "... I did not see that coming."
Movie: Hux is shot for being a spy.
Me: "... I did not see that coming."
I was steamed about Chewbacca's seeming death and C-3PO's memory wipe, so I was relieved that both were fakeouts.
It was a delight to see Lando show up again.
It was a shame that Rose was sidelined so much. She hardly had more lines than Dominic Monaghan.
I loved how Jannah and her people were also former Stormtroopers. I'm glad she got to bond with Finn over this, and that they finally did something with his child soldier background.
Zorii was okay, but her introduction felt a bit like, "Hey, did you know Poe had a girlfriend who lives in Canada?"
Does anyone not love scenes where the cavalry shows up? Entirely predictable, but so am I.
I was really touched by the happy reunion between Rey, Finn, and Poe.
I was also touched by Rey settling on Tatooine and taking up the Skywalker name.
When I think about it, it's kind of amazing that these movies exist. When I was growing up, there were the three original movies, and George Lucas's pipe dream of a prequel trilogy and a sequel trilogy. Now all nine are complete. The Star Wars universe is continuing to expand in all directions, but this feels like it should be a milestone to mark the end of an era.
Crossposted from Dreamwidth, where there are
comments. Comment here or there.