More thoughts on Star Wars the Rise of Skywalker


I have too many Star Wars audiobooks and novels to be a casual Star Wars fan. I have an affection for the franchise and maybe I was too generous in my last blog post about the Rise of Skywalker. The movie is bad, both as an individual film and as part of a trilogy. It really doesn’t build off the Last Jedi.

There are some good points. Adam Driver and Daisey Ridley are good at times and the scene with Han Solo as a memory talking to his son was good. It was the only moving scene in the film. It was also nice to see Lando again, even if the film didn’t do all that much with his return.

The death of Carrie Fisher probably hurt the film more than we will ever know. The first film belonged to Harrison Ford, the second film belonged to Mark Hamill, and the third movie was supposed to belong to Carrie Fisher. Obviously her death changed that. Maybe the role of Leia could have been recast but that might have been awkward. 

Bringing back the emperor was a bad idea or badly executed. It also diminishes two other films in the franchise. This was not the plan, it would have been hinted at in the previous movies. Also it seems hard a bit to take his death seriously after he survived what seemed like a sure death in Revenge of the Jedi.

Making Rey the Emperor’s granddaughter was also a bad idea. I liked the idea that her parents were not anyone special. Even in the first movie, someone told her  what she was looking for was not in her past or her destiny was not on Jakku. Suddenly she’s the heir to the most powerful villain in the franchise’s history. Maybe is it just me but it makes the galaxy seem small.

Demoting actress Kelly Marie Tran comes across as pandering to the worst elements of the fan base.  No matter what you thought of her character, she was important in the second film. Now in this film, she is Leia’s assistant or something. 


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