Star Wars IX: Rise of Skywalker

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Lunkhead
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Star Wars IX: Rise of Skywalker

Post by Lunkhead »

Ugh. Ay yi yi. I mean, there sure was a lot of movie in there I guess. Lots of Star Wars that's for sure! They hardly could have crammed more Star Wars in there. But I didn't like it that much. Just too much fan service, too many retreads, too many things trotted out to check boxes, too much undoing of things from the previous two new movies. C-
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Re: Star Wars IX: Rise of Skywalker

Post by ken »

Huh. I really liked this and ranked it as my third favorite Star Wars movie. I liked the female energy and friendship. Maybe I'm the only one who didn't know who Rey was...
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Re: Star Wars IX: Rise of Skywalker

Post by Lunkhead »

I don't think you're the only one who didn't know who Rey was. Up till I saw Rise of Skywalker I didn't know either. All I knew was, it was deliberately set up as a mystery in The Force Awakens, with strong allusions to her lineage being important but no information given that could lead anyone to a correct guess. But then in The Last Jedi it seemed to be very deliberately stated that her (or even anyone's) lineage was not important at all. Her parents were nobodies. She was not supposed to be special because of her parents. Anyone could be special. Anyone could be a Jedi too even, or at least force sensitive (e.g. Finn being able to wield a light saber, Finn's mysterious defection from being a storm trooper, the little slave children at the end of Last Jedi, etc.). But then in Rise of Skywalker they flipped the script _again_.
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Sure, _technically_ she wasn't special because of her parents themselves per se, but, that is a super lame technicality.
My main issue with all three movies is that they are incoherent due to there not being an overall vision that was followed. There was for me a head snapping 180 degree turn between VII and VIII, and _another_ head snapping 180 degree turn _back_ from VIII to IX.

Not to say everything about it was bad. The visuals were great. The core cast are very charismatic actors and acted well. There are nice things in it. It's just the writing and storytelling have major major issues. If you think about them too hard they just totally fall apart.
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Re: Star Wars IX: Rise of Skywalker

Post by ken »

Okay. Maybe I'm nitpicking your points a bit because overall, I like the final 3.

You don't have to be a Jedi to use a lightsaber. Look at Han on Hoth using Luke's to slice open a Tautaun. It is just the "chosen" weapon of the Jedi as opposed to a blaster. Jedi's can use other weapons as well.

I also disagree that Rey's parents aren't special. Though this is said often in the movie, when who they are is revealed it is somewhat important. Also, keep in mind that Anakin's mother was a slave and possibly did not have a father...

Episode VIII shows a force sensitive child at the very end. This is one of my usual issues with how the force is shown in the Star Wars universe as they keep changing it to fit the needs of the story. I prefer the classic Obiwan explanation, "It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us." It is totally possible that Finn is force sensitive. Maz is force sensitive. All the Stormtroopers who defected could be force sensitive. Everyone is to some degree. For all we know, Stormtroopers have been running from the empire since day one. Now, what about clones and droids?
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Re: Star Wars IX: Rise of Skywalker

Post by vowlvom »

Just saw it this morning. I guess my expectations were a little lower than usual because of the negative hype for this one, but I thought it was really very good indeed! Breathlessly exciting and packed with fun new characters and worlds (which is what I want from Star Wars really - the overall mythology is less important to me than just having Fun Stuff happen in space). The ending felt like a nicely emotional way to cap a really strong trilogy and the whole series. I've never been the biggest Star Wars fan but these new films clicked with me in a way the original trilogy never quite did for some reason.
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Re: Star Wars IX: Rise of Skywalker

Post by ken »

Right. I forgot to mention how it seemed like they tried to tie as many loose ends up with a tight little bow at the end.
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Wookies get medals! Other stuff I can't remember right now...

Separately, I thought it was funny that stormtroopers got jet packs. As if someone in the writer's room was all, "Do you think it is weird that Boba Fett is the only person in the entire universe with a jet pack?"
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