The Last Jedi
I forgot to mention I saw this during the first week of release, thanks to my early time off from work before Christmas. I'm sort of in a surprised/not surprised state over the reactions to it, but I have to say I get a bit twitchy when think pieces are blaming people who saw the original movies in the theater because TLJ isn't like the originals.
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I agree that they did have to push forward with the younger characters to be the next generation of the Rebellion. Luke reluctantly began to teach Rey, but much like him, she left in the middle of it because she needed to rescue her friends. Leia has been grooming Poe for a leadership position, but he wasn't quite there yet. I'm not sure where they're going with Finn, but I'm wondering if he'll be the key to turning other stormtroopers to the side of the Rebellion.
I think Leia trying to teach Poe the skills he'd need to be a leader almost backfired. I know some say he mutinied because Holdo didn't keep him in the loop, or she seemed too "girly" to have known much about fighting. He obviously doesn't feel this way about Leia, so it's not just about a female in charge. His own mother was a pilot at Endor! Maybe he felt he should have been in charge, since Leia had been grooming him for it, and Holdo didn't fit his expectations of a leader.
I saw a commentary that pointed out that for this generation, the original Rebellion against the Empire ended before they were born or when they were young children. It's a story. A legend in which the heroes will always save the day, but they don't understand the tragedy and the losses behind saving the day. Poe's actions caused the loss of the Rebellion's bombers, but he felt it was worth it for the win. Leia rightly pointed out dead heroes aren't around to become leaders. After the loss of the fleet and all but a handful of Rebels, I think Poe may have finally learned that wins aren't always worth the loss along the way.
Abrams might be able to stick the landing. I'm just so leery of his storytelling style based on previous works. Having to work out a way to write out Leia makes me even more leery, though I'm still half-convinced they intended to kill her off in the third movie. Now it's just more difficult because Carrie's death means no goodbyes like we had with Han and Luke. Though perhaps an offscreen death in battle would be rather fitting.
They've already got another trilogy in the works, and I'm curious if it will continue this storyline, or if it will go with a totally different group. I hadn't heard about Daisy wanting to finish, but with the setup of the Force awakening in others, perhaps we'll follow a new variant of the Jedi, maybe with Poe as a General and Finn part of the Rebellion in some way.
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Rey's path seems clear to me. She is the last Jedi and seems to be on a collision course with Kylo, as an opponent. I'm hoping that the news about Daisy's departure was taken out of context or just trolling, as it wasn't a major headline.
Finn's role is unclear in the next film, currently. A lot of ppl raged that Rian had cut a lot of John's scenes that had him playing in more of the action of the TLJ. Finn is a reluctant hero, IMO. He is very attached to Rey and Poe, not so much the Rebellion, upon his awakening. Finn seems to accept that he now a card carrying member of the Rebellion, by the end of TLJ. Actually, I would like for him to take more of a spy/intelligence role, a la Black Widow. He has the intel on the First Order and can integrate that into the war. Finn is a survivor and has not compunctions in protecting himself and his friends, by any means necessary. These are just my opinions and will probably never happen. LOL
As for Leia, I think that there will be some time of farewell, albeit CGI. It won't be as wonderful, as if Carrie had been able to film it, but it's doable. I mean, if actors from the 1970s could be featured in not one but several scene integral movie scenes(i.e. Rogue One), Disney can make happen, apparently.
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Finn was about helping his friends, not the cause, but I think he now sees that helping the cause is the same as helping his friends and many others. He makes a point of correcting Phasma's "Scum! to "rebel scum", so I think he's definitely carrying the card now. He was unconscious between the first and second films, but I could definitely see him becoming a major source of intel in the third one. I don't think he could be a spy, and I know the First Order will change things up as part of general security, but Finn probably knows where bases of operation are, perhaps a shipyard the Rebellion could raid or bomb.
Carrie's brother had said something about the family would be okay with her digital likeness being used for a farewell, but TPTB so far have said they're not going to recreate her performance a la Tarkin or the young version of Leia in Rogue One. That doesn't rule out a Force Ghost though, which could be an interesting Skywalker family reunion. They'll probably use it for Leia to haunt her son (even if it's just him hallucinating), but if we're going to parallel the original films, then I'm picturing Luke and Leia as Force Ghosts overlooking a celebration at the end of the third movie. I don't want a last minute Light Side conversion if Ben is killed for him to show up as a Force Ghost though.
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