Your Opinion Post-TROS

My opinion remains the same. I didn't enjoy TLJ nor TROS. TFA was the best of the three movies. Unfortunatley TROS not only doesn't explain some events of TLJ but sometimes it even get the plot worse. I am sorry but I cannot understand why Paplpatine has come back and his connection with Snoke. I am going to watch the DVD when it comes out.

 

It does seem unnecessarily contrived.

 

“The Darkside of the Force is the pathway that many abilities some would consider unnatural.” -Palpatine in Episode 3

 

I didn't remember that sentence. I agree that the darkside can have many paths but this is not an excuse to make things happen randomly. There should be always some reason. For example I know that the power of the Force is unlimited but being able to stop an airhip from taking off? Episode 9. Or a spaceship that can destroy a stardestroyer at the light speed? Episode 8.

 

Or in literary terms "deus ex machina". It seems the Force is more like Star War's equivalent of a cavity filler designed to fill any function necessary to drive the plot in the desired direction and as a means of explaining radical changes, divergences and inconsistencies. Not that I'm complaining. As an anime fan, I have seen contrivances that would boggle the mind in scale and scope.

 

Even if there are things you didn't like about TLJ (yes, I have some), it's at its core a thoughtful and beautifully-shot film.

After seeing TROS, I absolutely appreciate TLJ more. I can accept the story they told in TROS, but the execution of it was poor, imo. Can we let a character react to what's happening to them/around them so we can appreciate their feelings in the story? Oh, we can't? We have to cut to the next scene right away? JJ "check out these great scenes, we don't have time for character development" Abrams was incredibly disappointing in this aspect. I really enjoyed TFA and was hopeful JJ's return would be a good thing, but boy did he disappoint me.

TROS was also too BLUE and so was LUKE. He was the shade of a bottle of Listerine all over. Force Ghosts should have a subtle hue around the edges, not look like one of the ghosts in Pac-Man.

 

That's my main issue with TROS, it just moves too dang fast. I feel like the pacing improves somewhat after the "reveal", but it's still not great. I enjoyed TROS, but it was a very disappointing end to the ST, and especially disappointing end for the "Skywalker Saga" as a whole.

 

I liked it. It's a real wild ride yes, but that made it different and interesting in my eyes. I'm looking forward to study the DVD and the bts stuff and everything.

 

I like this movie more than any prequel, but it's pretty much my least favorite after that, and I'm including the standalones. I'd still put it in the same exact spot if I ranked them all, but TROS made me like this movie a little more. It gave TLJ a little direction and purpose. You walk out of TLJ and just feel lost and confused. The series was just directionless after that movie. While killing Snoke was a jaw dropping surprise, preceded by an awesome build up, and followed by a fantastic fight, the act itself just threw the series off course. It would have been fine if Ben ended up staying the villain, but you knew that wasn't going to happen. TROS cleaned that up a bit.

 

The Last Jedi is my favorite of the sequels, and even though I enjoyed The Rise of Skywalker, I really wish Rian Johnson would’ve directed that film instead of J.J. Abrams. To be honest, I just wish Disney/Lucasfilm had done a better job of laying out the groundwork for this trilogy from beginning to end. I realize that George Lucas kind of made everything up as he went along, but Star Wars was also his creation and his involvement in the films ultimately ensured minimal plot holes and overall cohesion from beginning to end. I love the sequels, but I think they would’ve benefitted from having one person helm –– or at the very least, write –– all three. I think it would’ve been a bit more consistent.

Anyway, to answer the original question, I guess my opinion of The Last Jedi hasn’t changed at all with The Rise of Skywalker. I loved it when it came out and it’s still my favorite Star Wars film since the Original Trilogy. The Rise of Skywalker has a lot of flaws, but I also think many of those are the result of the inevitable inconsistencies created by Lucasfilm’s “relay race” approach to the sequels. Having one person in charge of all three films could’ve prevented this, and I think The Rise of Skywalker made that very clear to me.

 

Too much time spent fixin RJ’s mess that is TLJ.