Thoughts and Opinions on TROS' Story

I enjoyed it as well - but then again I'm a huge Star Wars nerd and would watch Ian McDiarmid saying "dewit" for 10 hours. If I have to be objective I have to say it was mostly damage control. Also, they were VERY noticeably trying to appease VARIOUS fan groups and it made for a not so well-made plot. I don't dislike fan service but it looked like they were going for check marks.

-appease reylo ppl: Check
-squeeze in cameos: Check
-you hated TLJ? check
-you loved TLJ? Check.....etc

A very average novel has a way better plot than this. They should learn from this and develop better stories. There should be an overall concept made for story arcs and directors/writers should be on board from the beginning so that there is no retconning. It took me out of the movie when I clearly saw JJ telling us "well, I know this doesn't make sense with respect to the TLJ, but what am I supposed to do?"

 

The return of Palpatine was a good idea but it shouldnt have been so rushed. Palpatine also returns in the beloved EU and noone has a problem.

The problem here is that Snoke was supposed to be the big bad guy of this trilogy, but RJ killed him. Kylo Ren was not menacing enough to be the main bad guy and had to be redeemed sooner or later, so they needed a main bad guy for this one plus something to increase the hype about the movie. Seriously, if not for Palps, my interest in this one wouldnt be that high... So they even exposed his presence from the opening crawl and he is there from the first scenes. It had to be done smoother, but I undestand there was no time.

The other thing that kinda felt weird for me were the force powers shown in the movie. This is a big argument. We had never seen so many powers in a movie, only in comics, video games and animations. Like Starkiller throwing down a Star Destroyer, or Force healing and other over the top abilities, when Jedi in the movies seemed more limited to what they can do, even the top tier ones... Was that a fault of the old movies or are the new movies exaggerating? Not sure...

As for "Rey Palpatine", yeah ok, I can live with it and probably was a good choice, but it also felt rushed...

 

Regarding Palpatines return: It is mentioned in passing that he returned with the help of cloning, dark arts and ancient Sith witchery.
The "soul" of a killed Sith lord is transfered to the apprentice when the apprentice kills his/her master. So every new Sith lord is ALL the previous Sith lords in one. That is why Palpatine urges Luke, and Rey in TROS, to strike him down with all her anger.
Palpy states that the only way for Rey to save her friends is by striking him down and becoming Empress Palpatine. Very much like he seduced Anakin to the dark side. This makes me believe that maybe something similar led to his own turn to the dark side, maybe to save his own son? Since the old EU is out of the window then the story about Darth Plaguesis and Sheev Palpatine is open to be told again, and added to the canon.
I loved the movie. One has to remember that Star Wars is in essence a fairy tale, with princesses, wizards and dark knights. Not everything makes sense, and sometimes you have to look at it through the eyes of a 12 year old, not an adult requiering an answer to everything. It's an adventure. Just go in, enjoy the movie and a visit to a world that exist nowhere else but there. Like it or not, this IS the story that is told and it will not change for all the complaints in the world. And remember, to begin with there can be no sound in space, so why the hell question the rest that makes no sense in the real world?
If you ask me, then I say we got an exciting adventure with a beautiful end on a planet where it all started. Isn't that what fairy tales are all about?

 

That's one example. I should not be noticing commentary on the fan reaction to previous movies, because that's too meta. At least it shouldn't be too obvious.

 

i loved it 8/10. I had a good time at the theater. Only thing i'll add is that i 100% agree with the sentiment from critics that it either should've been a JJ Trilogy or a Rian Trilogy. The polar opposite philosophies of the directors don't mix enough. I love all three sequel trilogy movies, i love broken Luke probably more than anything else in this trilogy, but because JJ cannot work and think like a Rian Johnson director, JJ felt he had to stamp his own mark on the movie again.

i loved the acting by every single lead / supporting. This was probably their best performances of the trilogy.

Oscar and John were fantastic playing off each other.

Daisy and Adam were just a treat to watch on screen. If Daisy has any interest in star wars or acting in 10-15 years. I seriously want Jedi Academy Rey in the New Republic. I loved her performance. Her emotional break down as the story progressed was fantastic.

 

Also how cheap and useless was the whole Chewie "death" scene?

 

On the positive side, I like the vision that Leia induced in Ben, with the scene from Starkiller base replaying, but with the opposite ending (Ben doesnt kill Han but throws away lightsaber instead). That was great. Also Luke and Leia lightsaber training flashback was great! That's probably my favorite scene from the movie even if it's with CGI faces. Given how little footage they had of Carrie Fisher they handled the whole situation with her passing (of the actress) very well. It was noticeable, but handled well.

 

How did they all not fall of the star destroyer
Must be pretty still up there during that electric storm

Death Star ruins been floating for 3 decades but still has working lights and doors after blowing up and crashing

kylo/Ben magics a tie fighter from his arse and navigates to exegol without a way finder or reys trail to follow

 

Did he have a tie fighter? I didn't notice. Was probably in the background. I just noticed how he had time to change his clothes.

 

Probably the highlight of the movie for me. Overall, the film had some great building blocks, but they were either hastily or somewhat questionably put together. At the end of the day, I feel like we're thematically back to where we were by the end of Return of the Jedi - except the past legacies of the characters were inherited by Rey to fulfill and preserve. I would have preferred an ending state where the First Order rebelled against the Sith Fleet, as hinted by Finn and Jannah - and finally reconciled and was rehabilitated into the rest of galactic society, with Ben giving the final order for them to stand down. It would have been a nice touch to the whole redemption theme the sequel trilogy had going for it.

 

Also can we all appreciate they had Hayden come back to have a few lines? Still would've preferred force ghost showing up but I can see how little time they had to squeeze in as much plot as possible. So I'm happy with a few lines.

 

It does make you wonder why he chose not to show up to his wayward grandson, who was manipulated by Palpatine's specter literally since the crib, and try to put him back on the right path (or Luke for that matter), but both made the effort for Rey.

Ben had no chance.

 

You can blame the directors ( and I did ) as much as you want, this whole trilogy is a coordination mess of the producers.

It is now more than obvious they had no big picture for this trilogy before they started and it is definitely mind boggling to me.

They just had no story to finish a saga which was already finished.

Amateurs.

 

They should have completely cut the Chewie "death" situation from the movie and used the freed-up screen time for some more quality force ghost time with Anakin.

 

1. Where did you see the working lights and doors in the Death Star?? The door opened with some sort of Sith magic...

2. He had been there before, and im pretty sure he could find some form of transport from Endor...

The worst mistake is the X wing being able to fly after so many years in the water...