Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (Review); The ending of a legacy many might not want.

It's the end of 2020 now, and I'm finally writing about TRoS even though I got to watching it on Disney+ way back in May. Sorry, I've been "essential" this whole time. Now I watched this movie, having avoided most of the spoilers, and I had a lot of feelings about it. So let's talk about them. If you can't guess, there will be heavy spoilers, so if you haven't seen the movie, it's on Disney+. Go watch it and come back here. Otherwise, strap in. First off, let me start by saying that if you didn't know, I fucking loved The Last Jedi. Now that might either come as a surprise to you, or maybe it will have you write me off when it comes to talking about such things. However, I still have yet to come across not only a decent argument, but one that holds actual water as to why TLJ is actually "bad" other then it subverted everyone's actual expectations. Believe it or not, that doesn't actually make it bad, that just means you don't like it.

Why did I love The Last Jedi? Am I not a Star Wars fan? Did I just want to see all the SJW stuff pushed into my movies? Well let's put it this way, I loved Luke Skywalker very much growing up, he was my idol, other then my own father of course, who I aspired to be. I owned multiple figures of his and I probably watched The Return of the Jedi 506,820 times growing up. That was always my favorite one. Why? Because I loved seeing Luke finally become a Jedi. The journey was at an end and it was great to see the group get together after The Empire Strikes Back kept them apart for the most part and of course saw the group essentially fail. I loved watching Luke try to bring back his father, but I also loved watching Luke slightly fail too. He didn't save his father, his father really saved him in the end. He was flawed, even when he was at the height of his "power" per say. The Last Jedi, did something similar, but did evolve Luke in meaningful ways. It was a movie that focused on the fact that sometimes our greatest heroes aren't just some unfathomable beings. They are human too. Before I get the preverbal "yeah, but Luke wouldn't just strike some kid down!"

First off, he did almost strike his father down. Now granted, he didn't know him very well, he missed out on most of his life and took his hand. I grant you that. But he lost the focus he had to save his father, the moment that his father mentioned paying Leia a visit. That's an important point to remember now folks. So when we fast forward to the "time of peace" in which Luke was training his younglings, he had his young student in Ben Solo who was having dark thoughts. Now it isn't entirely talked about, not even by Luke, as to what "dark" thoughts his young nephew was having, but it was enough to make Luke forget what he was doing and strike down this evil character that meant a lot to him. He hadn't changed. That was the point. The Jedi training was working as intended. Snuff out the dark if it threatens the light. That's kind of the Jedi code in a way.

But what I loved even more then the fact that it really digs more at the "Jedi" then it does Luke, is that the story is told from three perspectives. The first in which Luke talks himself up to be more "heroic". The second in which Kylo Ren makes himself the victim, then finally the third in which is closer to the truth. Kylo was a confused angry boy, Luke was following his teachings, and it collided into a horrible, misguided effort that pushed Ben Solo into becoming the very thing Luke wanted to stop. Kylo Ren. The movie even hints and teases the thoughts of "Grey Jedi". A thing that is deep in the lore and has been largely ignored in all the movies. I loved the samurai type battles/fights that were on display. The cinematography is breathtaking.

Finally, if one person mentions fucking fuel, I'm going to lose it. In The Clone Wars TV series back in the mid 2000's, in like the second season, there is an episode FOCUSED on rescuing a planet for it's FUEL. For the FLEET. I kid you not. People like to omit things that are established in the timeline/lore just for the fuck of it I suppose. So, what's the point of me talking about my love for The Last Jedi, which I could go on and on about? Well, JJ took back Star Wars and apparently wasn't happy with decisions made in The Last Jedi, because he decided to spend over half a movie just control, alt, deleting almost everything from the last movie. Rose? Why build her into an even better character when you can just push her aside. Continued training with Luke? Why have that when you can wait until the last third of the movie and have him for a scene or two. Touching as they may be. After now seeing two JJ Star Wars films, I have a feeling he just hates Luke at this point. Neither film really had Luke in them.

Could have left Rey's parents and heritage alone and focused on deepening the villain you helped create in Snoke? Why do that when you can just bring back a butchered, botched version of fucking Palpatine instead. That will get butts in the seats, right?

If you couldn't tell, I didn't really like the movie.

The writing/dialogue, the pacing, the new characters added with NO deep backstory, just a scene or two and off you go! They even kind of did that with Lando. My BOY LANDO they had for a couple of cool scenes and away he goes. Well damn. I had a conversation with a buddy of mine that I need to go back to and finish, but he mentioned that all the movies have "inconsistencies" when I talk about my love/hate relationship with the prequel trilogy. While he is "slightly" right, you also have to take into account the nearly half a dozen or so different writers that have had their hands in the franchise on and off. Plus movies as a whole haven't aged "well" as a medium since TV shows like The Watchmen, Better Call Saul, and Westworld just do what movies want to do but better. While movies have anywhere from an hour and a half to three hours to tell the story it wants to tell. TV shows have eight, nine, even ten hours or more to tell their stories.

But let me tell you, TRoS has some fucking inconsistencies.

First, let's talk about Palpatine. Why is he in this fucking movie? I'm serious.

Why? He is crammed into this thing, with no real explanation as to why he is still even alive and forced to be a relative of Rey's to make her "important" which destroyed the message of the last movie that really "anyone" can be a great Jedi, you don't need some deep "heritage". This was the opposite message of the OT as Luke was the son of Anakin. Also, I don't remember ANY point in which Palpatine even mentions he had a kid.

The focus should have been on Snoke and how he ties into it all. Why he was so powerful, how he rose to power, and what made him "so special" and instead, JJ just shits on his own creation with someone else's.

Honestly blows me away.

Rey being a Palpatine does nothing for the story. Luke finding out his father was Darth Vader did something for Empire and became a focal point of Return. This didn't have that effect as Rey learns half way through and what did it do? Nothing. Why? Because Rey defeated Palpatine the same fucking way MACE WINDU did. By blocking his lighting? It wasn't because she was related to him or because she had a strong connection with Ben, no, it was because the Emperor didn't learn from his mistakes?

You know what makes Palpatine great, he didn't do his own dirty work, he tricked and talked everyone else into it. Did he do that here? No. He didn't really do much of ANYTHING.

This also absolutely

Another horrible thing in this movie that is driving me crazy just thinking about it now. How many fucking ships does Kylo have? Apparently just two and both were destroyed. But also, somehow, both had the key to find Palpatine in them.

What is this writing? I know JJ can do better, but this is just bad.

There is good writing and there is "convenient" writing and OH BOY do we have some really convenient writing in this movie.

How is it that the "badasses" known as the "Knights of Ren" suddenly show up and really do nothing but kidnap Chewie? Seriously, how did they scoop him up without him making a sound and if they are that good, why didn't they fight our heroes when their guards were down? I'm at a fucking loss guys. This is where the movie should have been, fighting back and forth with the Knights.

The movie should have focused on Ben finding out truths about Snoke, Rey and the gang trying to stop the first order, and both groups coming together to take down both the FO and the Knights of Ren. This could have been a unique film and instead it was bland, nonsensical, and full of holes. Also while it comes to mind, I get that Rian went out and established that Rey and Kylo had a "connection" while then letting Snoke try and take the credit for it, but why the Hell was it amplified and why didn't either character think it weird that they still could show up in front of each other at random? How did Kylo not figure out where Rey was sooner? Why didn't Rey troll him from time to time? There was a cool scene or two that made it so you couldn't tell what was real and what was just them projecting and I thought that was neat but there was no depth behind it other then "they had a strong connection". It didn't even really play a part in them defeating the Emperor...why? Why waste the time to set it up and not do anything with it?

RJ literally left at your feet either a way to leave Snoke alive and have him come back and prove he was a much more powerful villain or he left you a way to deepen how the forced worked and you focused on neither. Shame really.

So I've seen some people argue too that Finn was never all that important of a character thanks to RJ. Yet another thing I highly disagree with. With the Force Awakens, we get a character that is with the FO, realizes that they are the bad guys, and tries to run away. He only got "brave" when it meant saving Rey. Fair enough. So for him to want to run away in the beginning of the film in TLJ makes sense overall. To build up his character, have him realize that sometimes we fail but that doesn't mean to just run away from it all, and to have him find his place in the Resistance by sticking around and beating up his old CO, only to have him nearly sidelined as a character in the last movie is heartbreaking. There was so much they could have done with his character and one of those things they thought about, but never really focused on. That was him being a former trooper. To have him find Jannah and her allies who were all ex troopers like him could have been interesting and instead they sideline it as soon as it comes up. Using it once or twice just for convivence and some cheap writing. My boy deserved better. Real question, why didn't they have him learn how to use the force? I know that it was a bit of a head fake to have him have the lightsaber in The Force Awakens, however, there was a moment in which he could hear the screams of a million souls being snuffed out. Remember that? Oh yeah, Yoda talked about that and it being a connection to the force in the prequel trilogy. So in a way, I always took that as a hint from JJ that it meant Finn was force sensitive. So he had a shot and I guess refused to take it? What the Hell? There is a lot more I can go on about this film, but honestly, I'm tired of writing this review. It's been a long time coming, but let's wrap it up. My final verdict for Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker is...

4/10

Not since the prequel trilogies 20 years ago, have I felt such a pain from such a terrible film. Maybe events in "The Mandalorian" and other TV shows they plan to make might salvage it a bit, but I can't see it being much better then average. Sadly, it's not the cast and crew's faults, it's the writers and JJ's fault for either being too prideful, or listening to fans TOO much and trying to "course correct" when many of us didn't feel it was necessary and because it was the FINAL FILM JJ! Anyways, that's it from me. I'm tired, I'm going to go take a nap and keep working on some more new reviews for you guys. Stay tuned for that and make sure you're following me on social media for all the updates. Much love.