Comments on: A Totally Biased Rise of Skywalker Think Piece

By: Taylor Holmes

Taylor Holmes — Wed, 25 Dec 2019 06:02:28 +0000

Spencer –
The Jannah thing – her being Lando’s daughter – was filmed and detailed out… but then cut because of time. Lando, after IV, V and VI, had a relationship with a woman, and had a child. But then the child was stolen away. Jannah was that child, and this was to be their reunion.

As for the force sensitive thing – that too was confirmed by Abrams, or Daisy Ridley I believe.

And re: the I love you – I know parallels… that was uber. Loved that. So mind erasingly good.

I too watched it again yesterday. The opening popped clearer the second time. AH… it’s all about Exogol or whatever it’s called. I just didn’t realize what was happening. And the second half got even better the second time around. Great ending to the nine movies.

If I were to ask for changes, it would be to drop some of the opening light speed skipping stuff, and instead give us a celebration ending that looked back at all the force ghost guys. Just use the same ghost footage from Return of the Jedi. I don’t care.

But otherwise, it was really really a great ride.

By: Spencer M.

Spencer M. — Tue, 24 Dec 2019 23:22:30 +0000

@Taylor
I just got back from watching the movie again.
I didn’t catch that Finn was going to ask Rey about being force sensitive. I mistakenly thought he was going to say, “I love you.” Maybe he was going to tell her who her grandfather is? J.J. Abrams probably left it open so fans could decide what they wanted him to tell Rey. I think your idea is the best fit. For some reason he didn’t feel comfortable saying it out loud in front of Poe when they were underground.
Did you catch that the Han Solo memory said, “I know” to Ben when Ben paused after saying, “Dad….” (just like Han did to Leia when she said, “I love you.” in Empire Strikes Back). My heart pounded with joy during that scene!
I did not hear that Jannah is Lando’s daughter. Was that something I missed in the movie?
I think Leia’s death was due to overexertion in using her force voice to reach Ben. Maza Kanata said it was going to take everything she has to help her son. So she probably died the same way Luke did in The Last Jedi.
Were the crowds on Exogol around The Emperor his cult followers or were they all the spirits of all the Sith before the Emperor?
Looking forward to seeing it a third time with my dad.

By: Taylor Holmes

Taylor Holmes — Tue, 24 Dec 2019 00:11:49 +0000

In reply to Ines. Glad you enjoyed it Ines. And thanks for reading!! (As always!)

By: Taylor Holmes

Taylor Holmes — Mon, 23 Dec 2019 23:30:56 +0000

In reply to Spencer M.. Hey there Spencer - Way to kick off the spoiler fest with such amazing vim & vigor! I'll just throw some of my random favorite details:

I thought the parallels between Anakin's redemption at the end of VI and Kylo's (Ben's) was off the hook.
I, like you, really thought Leia's death was very meaningful and well done.
Chewie and Leia's death?!?! Gah. So intense. So good.
Yeah, Chewie's medal was really touching - and I was certain that 90% of the people in the theater didn't get it.
Did you catch that Finn was going to ask Rey about his being force sensitive? Loved that he was sensing things. Which, also explains how he knew which star destroyer...
Oh, and did you hear that Jannah is Lando's daughter?
I actually loved the kiss between Rey and Kylo. There was so much tension between the two for the previous two movies, you knew they either had to marry or kill each other.
Rey's selfless act of healing Kylo, only to have him return the favor a minute later.
And Kylo dying in a singular redemptive act - I mean, after killing his father and, effectively his mother...

I could go on and on all day. Now, do you have thoughts on how Leia died? Was the projection too far, and too much of an effort? Did she die similarly to Luke? Or, did she die because Rey impaled Kylo with her lightsaber while they were connected?

By: Ines

Ines — Mon, 23 Dec 2019 18:25:06 +0000

Hi Taylor! I enjoyed this movie so much. I saw it last Saturday, after the premiere and I hadn’t seen any reviews before. I usually pay some attention to reviews, but I havent´t had the time to see any reviews lately. Besides, I grew up on Star Wars so there’s no way I was gonna miss this. I saw some reviews yesterday and I was really surprised. It seems I’m old-fashioned too! Thank you for sharing your views. It’s a pleasure, as usual.

By: Spencer M.

Spencer M. — Mon, 23 Dec 2019 16:35:06 +0000

Went into the movie with low expectations due to the reviews I saw, but left the movie feeling good. I shook my head at some parts, but they are small compared to the parts done right. I give it an 8 out of 10.

SPOILERS BELOW !

The Good :
Lando Calrissian!
How Leia used her force voice to distract Ben during his fight with Rey.
Leia’s death was handled very well.
Chewbacca’s mournful yell when he heard Leia died was very moving.
The tiny character, Babu Frik, stole every scene it was in. (the alien that hacked C3PO’s memory)
This movie acted like the stupid kiss between Finn and Rose never happened.
Luke’s attitude toward the Jedi was reversed from what it was in The Last Jedi.
Chewie finally received a medal! Woop Woop! (Maz Kanata handed it to him at the end of the movie)
C3PO had some great lines.
Rey’s surprise use of force lightning did a good job making us & Rey wonder if she was going to go to the dark side.
The long distance lightsaber fight between Kylo (on planet Kijimi) and Rey (on Kylo’s Star Destroyer) was so cool! (especially how the background kept changing)
I love those tank-tread sand cycles the stormtroopers were riding.
Having Luke using the force to rise the X-wing from the water for Rey was a nice contrast to him being unable to do the same thing on Dagobah in ESB.

The not so good :
Too much coincidence for Rey to be standing at the right spot on an entire planet for the Sith dagger to show her where the holicron/wayfinder was located.
That stupid kiss Rey gave Ben at the end came out of nowhere.
Finn somehow figured out which of the Star Destroyers was sending out the navigation signal. That was so weak, weak, weak!
The Knights of Ren were defeated too easily.
A drained Ben somehow survives being tossed down a deep hole by Palpatine. (like how Palpatine somehow survived being tossed down a deep shaft, but hey! Luke survived falling a long distance on Bespin)

How Rise of Skywalker could have been better :
When Rey was fighting Palpatine we should have seen the spirits of each Jedi doing their specific moves in Rey’s body against the spirits of each Sith in Palpatine’s body. When Rey was reflecting the lightning back at Palpatine we should also be seeing the spirit of Mace Windu surrounding/possessing her body as the one guiding Rey to do that move. Imagine the Emperor’s reaction when he sees Anakin pulling some moves through Rey.