Rise of Skywalker

[rthstewart]

I have seen it.  Twice.  The first time, I saw it with Intrikate, Knitress and Econopodder and this is the third time that Knitress and I have watched the end of the Star Wars trilogy.  We've been watching Star Wars together since ESB in 1980.  And then I got to watch it again with my spawn, who was born the year TPM came out and syrena_of_the_lake 

I'm traveling and sleep deprived and really wish I could respond more to the excellent commentary of all of you.  I don't seem to have brain for it at the moment.  But thank you for sharing your excellent thoughts.

I was thoroughly unspoiled.  I didn't think about the movie very much and I didn't go in expecting any coherence.  Someone on another DW commented that basically, even though the emotional moments of the film aren't really earned, your affection for the characters and the universe carries the film.  I came out of Rise of Skywalker still loving Star Wars** and that was because of Leia. 

Spoilers below







I cried over Leia twice in the film and both times I saw it.  Because... I'd wanted to see Leia training with a lightsaber and having someone call her Master for 40 years.  And I got that and for that immense gift I will forgive everything, because that's what I wanted most out of the film and that's what I got. Leia had a lightsaber that she built. Leia was a Jedi and then a Jedi Master for she successfully trained an apprentice who did not fall to the Dark Side.  She was far-seeing and gifted in diplomacy and military strategy and a better Jedi than her brother was.

In looking at the comments and posts others have made, that seems to be the prevailing view among those who I follow, which is really nice.  I feel a tremendous kinship with all of you who wanted those moments as I did and we got them.  We wanted more but we couldn't get it because of Carrie's death.  We got our General and Jedi Master Leia Organa.  We never had that before. 

So I raise a glass to all my Star Wars fandom friends, spanning over 40 years.  To our General, To our Jedi Master. 


 A few other things,

1. what a hot mess;
2.  I noped that kiss at the end so fast, Intrikate called it a Cask of Amontillado moment and yep, nope nope nope I walled that up and it never happened and I'll just ignore
3.  space horses?  on the deck of a space ship?  Atmosphere?  Gravity?  WTF? Oh right, there I go expecting coherence from Star Wars.
4.  WEDGE OMG WEDGE
5.  all those wonderful wonderful voiceovers, both Obi-Wans, Ahsoka, Kanan, Anakin, Mace, Yoda and Qui-Gon.  Love it.  LOVED it.  All the Jedi living in Rey and I cried hearing those beloved voices.
6.  Zahn did the missing fleet thing WAY better -- I mean how did they get all the people onto those ships when the Sith planet was so hard to get to?  And when they'd only started increasing their recruitment/kidnapping less than 18 hours earlier per the meeting where Kylo slams the First Order into the ceiling? WTF? Oh right, there I go expecting coherence.
7. Letting us see Chewie's grief over Leia.
8. Finn being Force sensitive to Rey, very much like Luke and Leia, I thought
9. Stormpilot.  They were adorable and obviously the actors were enjoying themselves immensely.
10. The only reason Rey would go back to Tatooine to live would be because Finn and Poe are on the ship waiting for her.
11. So many pointless McGuffins.  WTF? Oh right, there I go expecting coherence.
12. It should have been Leia on the Death Star with Kylo, not Han.  Which I know they couldn't do.  Which (heretical thought), I would have preferred that they recast Leia so we could get her story.  I get why they didn't do it, but I wish they had.
13. Palpatine?  OKaaaay  WTF? Oh right, there I go expecting coherence.
14. Rose Tico you deserved so much better.

** Which is why I hate Solo so much -- that movie made me love the Star Wars less, and, in fact, seeing Lando and Chewie piloting the Falcon (whether here or in ROTJ) makes me feel better about Solo because he was back with L3 and I bet that made her SO HAPPY and I bitterly resent that film for making me hate the Falcon and any moments that L3 is apart from Lando.

Comments

[cofax7]

Um, your cut didn't work...

[rthstewart]

Damn. Thank you for letting me know.

[littlestclouds]

I agree with all of these thoughts. Also:

Intrikate called it a Cask of Amontillado moment
LOL.

[rthstewart]

LA LA LA it didn't happen! I saw nothing! Also, I think I read you were hoping for a Rey and Ben as Solos?

[littlestclouds]

Yeah, I really wanted them to be brother and sister!

[sabrina]

I think I'm in the camp of I wish Leia and Ben had different moments than how it worked, but I really really liked the Han and Ben - and I think the Han and Ben because it mirrors the scene on Starkiller, and because of the lines in TLJ where he has his father's heart - it works really well for it to be Han in that moment, but I would have also liked to have seen him and Leia together - which I suspect we would have had if not for Carrie's death, TL;DR, if this was the story we got and Carrie was RIGHT THERE I'd have a lot more negative feelings about it, but because they were working with what they had - it didn't bother me as much.

Han and Ben was one of my favorite moments.

Leia's lightsaber and her and Luke training was another.

But the third wasn't even in the film, but was the guy behind us, who said boldly out loud during the kiss 'where did that come from?' and made my night.

[rthstewart]

ROTFL. Yeah, where indeed? I attended a Reylo panel at Celebration just for the helluva it and wow was that whacky. It all reeked of fan service to me and a particularly whacky part of the fandom at that. It was adorable, thinking that Stormpilot invented slash in the Star Wars fandom.

[sabrina]

I feel like every casual fan I've talked to has been sort of like 'okay, but didn't Finn and Rey have a thing?' or found the kiss really irrelevant and/or awkward.

But lol at the idea that Stormpilot invented slash.

[rthstewart]

I can see why the casual fan read it as Finn trying to tell Rey he loved her but I read it very distinctly as Finn being Force sensitive and wanting to tell Rey that. It was especially obvious when she temporarily died but I know it happened a second time earlier in the film, too. It was very reminiscent of when Leia sensed that Han and Luke died and when she knew Luke was still alive.

Also, as one Mara Jade fan to another, my son and I were discussing how I came out of Force Awakens thinking there was a Mara Jade sized plot hole. My son's view now was that the only way she would have made it into this film was to demonstrate that storm-pilot weren't together. "Hey, mom, look, two women, both there to show that Finn and Poe aren't together!" Which is hysterical to the point that it isn't. (I know I had head canon for a time that Mara was a Palpatine).

[sabrina]

Finn was definitely Force sensitive and that was obvious to me, it wasn't as obvious the first time through I think that it was what he was going to tell her, but it was super obvious in the context of the film as a whole that he was.

I mean, at some point I think I had half a plot of 'how Mara Jade could fix this mess', so you know I'm right there with you on the Mara Jade shaped hole. But yes, laughing emoji, crying emoji SIGH! (Mara as a Palpatine makes more sense imo... but maybe that's cause I picture Senator Palpatine having sex, and not Emperor Palpatine, or worse, weird half dead zombie Palpatine. *insert 'we're made to suffer' gif here*

[beer_good_foamy]

Pretty much agreed. Finding out later that that final scene is Rey deciding to live on Tatooine is pretty much the biggest WTF of the new trilogy. I guess it really is all about the moisture farming. And Rose getting demoted to a bit player so fanboys won't yell at JJ on Twitter.

But yeah, it delivered an ending, not a great one, but an ending that gave enough catharsis and enough wrap-up (and enough Leia with what they were able/willing to do) to work. The whole saga comes full circle and they didn't even mention midichlorians once.

[rose_griffes]

Can I ask: where's the "Rey is going to live on Tatooine" coming from? I'm seeing such different takes on what Rey is there for, and it's confusing.

[rthstewart]

I got that take from several articles discussing the musical cue in that last scene -- it harkens to Rey's theme, the Twin Suns/Binary Sunset/Force Theme -- and is entitled, A New Home. So, it's from that where I infer she's supposed to be going back there, which makes no sense at all to me. This piece is one example, https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/12/the-rise-of-skywalker-ending-explained-rey-lightsaber-staff-tatooine-a-new-home

[rose_griffes]

Ah, thanks! I was wondering if it was something so subtle that most people missed it... and sure enough, that's it. So I can go ahead and ignore it because WHY WOULD SHE DO THAT?!

(Musical cues do matter, but I don't think it's enough to say definitively that she's going to stay there. Especially given that there were multiple endings filmed, apparently including one with Finn on Tatooine with Rey. So the song title may not even be relevant to what Williams was able to watch while he was composing.)

[rthstewart]

I saw something today that Paige Tico got more screen time in TLJ than Rose did here. And the most recent analysis is that a lot of that garbage about TLJ directed at Rian Johnson came from Russian troll farms.

[beer_good_foamy]

And the most recent analysis is that a lot of that garbage about TLJ directed at Rian Johnson came from Russian troll farms.

Well, I guess that makes sense in a movie whose plot is basically "We thought we were moving on to a modern story but then suddenly, ooops, we need to deal with the same old 80s villain who's somehow become emperor." Releasing this film right around the impeachment vote almost looks like a plan...

[generalleia]

"I'd wanted to see Leia training with a lightsaber and having someone call her Master for 40 years. And I got that and for that immense gift I will forgive everything, because that's what I wanted most out of the film and that's what I got. Leia had a lightsaber that she built. Leia was a Jedi and then a Jedi Master for she successfully trained an apprentice who did not fall to the Dark Side. She was far-seeing and gifted in diplomacy and military strategy and a better Jedi than her brother was."

This SO. MUCH. THIS.

And if you read my review you know that you and I are in violent agreement about most of this.

[rthstewart]

You were absolutely right about the super powered Jedi, Palpatine especially at the end, though Rey trying to pull that shuttle back down from the sky and then blasting it with Force lightning was another example.

It's weird btw. I've read several takes that Finn was constantly trying to declare love for Rey and to me it was super obvious that he's Force sensitive and wanted to tell her. There were at least 2 instances where he was attuned to her -- I forget the first one but he KNEW when she was temporarily dead -- the moment was deliberately reminiscent of Leia sensing Han and Luke's death, and Leia knowing Luke was alive in RoTJ.