The Rise of Skywalker Adam Driver as Kylo Ren (IX)

[David H.]

Still haven’t decided if framing Kylo’s transition into Byronic heroism with a recreation of Wanderer Above the Sea Fog was too much or just right for the series.

I chuckled.

 

[Brother Jack]

Driver is such a good actor that he *almost* sold Kylo's arc in this movie for me. It's exactly where I didn't want the character to end up, but I do think it could have been pulled off if the film was structured better. It really didn't do him a lot of favors.

 

[Iceman]

Yes, he’s a great actor but the material wasn’t there for him to give his best.

 

[harlequinade]

Adam's performance was amazing - he and Ian gave the best performances in the film.



We must've seen different films, then. He had a lot to do in the film.

Yes. That's it. We saw different films.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

His arc felt very hamfisted and unearned. He was still great in the role, but I don't think it worked as much as it should have.

Agreed, but that's on the writing and editing. Real shame as Driver felt wasted in the end.

Hope he gets a more meaty villain role soon. He had so much potential as Kylo Ren.

 

[Sithborg]

There is definitely a path where I could have seen what happened as being justified. Just needed a little more time with him.

 

[godisawesome]

Not going to lie, I kind of hate Ben Solo from a meta-perspective; he’s the painfully conventional and shallow story element demoting Finn from male lead and the ethereal “What if?” they use to justify screwing up Rey’s character by making her romantically interested in him... which makes their interactions basically a shallow abusive romance where Rey has no reason to be interested in the guy repeatedly hurting her... but expresses such anyway.

But the general consensus here is correct; Driver is fantastic, but the material is less exploitive if his skills, and the character goes through a rushed arc:

His arc felt very hamfisted and unearned. He was still great in the role, but I don't think it worked as much as it should have.

His body language after the shift in characterization between Kylo and Ben is great, especially the shrug when he gets the lightsaber... but the shift isn’t the result of a real character arc, but instead basically waving a magic wand at him. And since the character wasn’t really written that dynamically as a villain in TLJ or in the first part of TROS to really set up the change, they have to just pull Han back, do the same TFA scene from the first film, and just have him choose differently this time.

The result is that he’s not really well characterized as Kylo... and doesn’t get any real time or dialogue to form Ben. “Ow...” is hilarious... but that’s all he ever says.

Driver could have played an iconically interesting villain, but the character was waylaid by competing visions and objectives: Abrams set him up for a greater descent into villainy and a rise in effectiveness as an antagonist... for the next film, but Johnson wanted him to instead be a somewhat static Byronic hero who’s heavily internalized struggle was supposed to suffice for conflict, and who’s only real accomplishment was killing Snoke, but in a way that didn’t help him get more intimidating... and never got a win back over Rey.

Meanwhile, everyone presumed that Ben Solo’s redemption would be the character”s endpoint and was highly valued... but wasn’t set up in any real way. So, Abrams throws in a quick but unexplored explanation about Ben being some kind of Force Schizophrenic thanks to Palpatine, and just conjures up Ben - at the low, low cost of both his parents’ lives. And then, whether because they just have that much faith in Driver, or because they realize thatntrying to form Ben right now risks making decisions that might alienate or sadden the audience.

To me, the best portrayal Driver gave for the character is still TFA, but that’s just because that film had enough focus to use his talents perfectly there for a role that promised greater things to come. TROS tries to squeeze in far more to show his range, but it’s not so much a story or arc as an outline he shoots through.

 

[samsnee]

Blows my mind he didn’t get any dialogue when he becomes Ben again.

 

[Iceman]

Agreed, but that's on the writing and editing. Real shame as Driver felt wasted in the end.

Hope he gets a more meaty villain role soon. He had so much potential as Kylo Ren.

What’s sad is that unlike previous Star Wars villains there was a chance of this being the sequel trilogy’s Vader-level villain with a great costume and actor in the role. Darth Vader and TDK Joker are 2 of the most popular villains and they both maintain an element of mystery for much of their screentime. Not that this is necessary to create a great villain, but Kylo’s arcs throughout the trilogy felt rushed to me and as mentioned above, unearned as a result. I still like a lot of what we got but losing out on the possibility of a modern day Vader-level villain in a Star Wars Episode film is kind of glaring.

 

[Sithborg]

I think trying to replicate Vader was a bit of an issue in the PT. And Kylo Ren was a very fun, different villain. And based on TLJ, there was great potential of a story with him and Palpatine, but alas...

 

[sueb1863]

Many fans on Tumbr are convinced Ben isn't dead and saying that if Maul and Palpatine could survive apparent death, so can Ben. I guess there's even a petition of some sort out there, too...

 

[WonderTwin]

It's worth noting that Palpatine impregnated Shmi Skywalker without touching her.

IMO it's not beyond the realm of possibility that when Ben Solo healed Rey and then kissed her, he was giving her a little baby Skywalker courtesy of the midichlorians. It certainly wouldn't be the weirdest thing that's happened in this saga...

 

[Donner]

Well that scene choked me up. The rest of the movie was sort of meh to me, but Ben's smile after Rey kissed him was a great moment.

 

[Donner]

Also, Adam Driver meow.

 

[Karelia]

I thought Adam Driver was excellent. That one scene I'll label "I know" was excellent and sold me on it. I really enjoyed his performance in this episode more so than the last two.

 

[Donner]

Why didn't Ben get a force ghost?

 

[sueb1863]

Spoiler

It's possible that Ben never learned how to become a Force ghost. It's not something that happens automatically, a Jedi needs to know how to avoid becoming one with the Force and losing his or her identity. Apparently the first Jedi who figured it out was Qui-Gonn but he only got as far as being a disembodied voice.

There's also the idea that they didn't know Ben was going to die until they edited the movie so they never filmed Adam Driver as a Force ghost because he was supposed to be alive at the end.

 

[Roose Bolton]

I thought Adam Driver was excellent. That one scene I'll label "I know" was excellent and sold me on it. I really enjoyed his performance in this episode more so than the last two.

I can honestly say, while I didn’t love the movie, that scene might be one of my favourite moments in the entire franchise. And, in my opinion, validated the redemption arc.

 

[Donner]

Spoiler

Maybe we'll get the original ending some day.

 

[scarlet-witch]

Why didn't Ben get a force ghost?

Such a wasted opportunity that I'll probably never get over.

I think a lot of these theories popped up about choppy ending and a different ending being shot are likely true. I hope we find out what it was.

 

[spiderman2]

Blows my mind he didn’t get any dialogue when he becomes Ben again.

I didnt realize that un till i saw this post the other day and then saw the movie a second time last night.

 

[Donner]

It's a travesty because we know with all of the editing that he originally did have dialogue.

 

[Mjolnir Reborn]

Driver did a consistently good job with the role. Too bad he was only given something interesting for most of the first film. After that the bad choices just kept coming, starting with completely neutering him at the end of TFA.

 

[The Caped Knight]

After watching Rise Of Skywalker its clear that TPTB had no idea what to do with Ben Solo. Who by all accounts is basically the equivalent of Jacen Solo/ Darth Caedus from the Expanded Universe aka: Star Wars: Legends. Right to his redemption and death is similar. Which infuriate me because we basically got elements from the EU without using key people from the EU.

 

[scarlet-witch]

I can't imagine having Adam Driver in your movie and thinking it's okay to not give him any lines after he makes this huge shift in character.