The Rise of Skywalker Reactions to "Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker"

[Mr. Peanut]

It is not Rian Johnson's fault that JJ Abrams crafted a movie The takes absolutely no time to let characters breathe, let you sink in major moments, or has plot holes set up with in the film itself that you could drive a truck through. The previous movie stuck them with a dead Luke, the Kylo Ren being in charge, Snoke dead, Etc. The previous movie had nothing to do with the fetch questing and the terrible puzzles and such. Nothing in the previous movie said JJ Abrams had to do any of that. He made plenty of bad choices all on his own.

While I agree that J.J. made terrible choices all on his own, I think the reason he made those terrible choices is because he had his own ideas for how the trilogy should go and none of it was set up in the second movie. He didn't want to continue Rian's plot threads any more than Rian wanted to continue J.J.'s.

Rian basically set things up for a "clean state" route, which for a lot of people (myself and apparently J.J. included) is just a fundamentally unappealing direction for the sequel trilogy. Why would you want to burn down everything from the previous movies and start fresh in the last movie of a 9 movie saga? If you want a clean slate, there's nothing stopping Lucasfilm from making movies that are completely separate from the Skywalker saga.

I think the best case scenario would've been if we'd gotten a director for Ep 8 who was willing to play ball with J.J.'s mystery boxes and set up a more traditional Star Wars ending.

 

[The Caped Knight]

I enjoyed the experience because I didn’t have high expectations after the disappointment of The Last Jedi. So much of the predictable event didn’t surprise me because I knew full well that course correction was going to be primarily a focus to reconnect the plot points and mysteries that JJ had made in The Force Awakens. Is this a prefect film nope, it suffers from pacing issues, exposition to explain the plot and the need to make this film a bookend conclusion to 40 years of Star Wars.

That being said, visually it was very appealing and John Williams music is epic. The Legacy characters get a proper send off , the new cast had a thrilling adventure as a pair trio. And the fan service was very much appreciated.

 

[Spider-Fan]

But even with the idea that none of JJ's ideas were continued the way he wanted, that still doesn't mean anybody told him to go remake Return of the Jedi again effectively. With a clean slate JJ literally could have done anything you wanted, so going and making the terrible choices he did isn't really on Rian. It's on JJ. Don't blame other people for your bad choices. Not getting exactly what you wanted the way you wanted doesn't mean you can only make poor choices. This is a JJ Abrams film. Not a Rian Johnson film and JJ himself helped with the script. Anything bad about the movie falls at his for door step.

 

[BatLobster]

JJ also chose to make this film. If he fundamentally felt his original conception for the trilogy (however much there was one) was rendered broken and undoable by TLJ, he could've walked away.

I don't even mind the aspect of this trilogy, or any trilogy, having a bookended story in parts 1 and 3 with a more thematically driven middle chapter. I mean you even see that in the original trilogy with ANH and ROTJ basically both being movies about destroying a Death Star when it comes to plot. Empire is the most different of the bunch.

I really think the movie just needed more time to breathe. There's nothing inherently wrong with one movie being more plot heavy than another. But with this movie being so plot heavy, I just wish they had at least allowed for a longer film to accommodate that.

That said, I'll see how it flows on my second viewing, now that I've got my head around the story.

 

[Detective Conan]

But even with the idea that none of JJ's ideas were continued the way he wanted, that still doesn't mean anybody told him to go remake Return of the Jedi again effectively. With a clean slate JJ literally could have done anything you wanted, so going and making the terrible choices he did isn't really on Rian. It's on JJ. Don't blame other people for your bad choices. Not getting exactly what you wanted the way you wanted doesn't mean you can only make poor choices. This is a JJ Abrams film. Not a Rian Johnson film and JJ himself helped with the script. Anything bad about the movie falls at his for door step.

Not to mention, I don’t think Abrams ideas or plans for a trilogy were all that good to begin with, and it would be completely irrelevant whether or not the previous movie set up or thrown out his ideas. You can still make a good film regardless of the situation.

I argue Last Jedi actually helped the trilogy since it did away with the elements that was slavishly rehashing the original trilogy like Snoke and left the status quo of the Star Wars franchise in a much less familiar and more unpredictable place. I was super excited after Last Jedi, and was stoked for Nine until J.J came back, which drastically hurt my excitement since you and me both know the type of filmmaker J.J is. Then the first TROS trailer came out, and it revealed that Palpatine was coming back I got irritated. They were going back into the well again instead of doing something new! By the time the movie was coming out I was pretty much indifferent.

 

[MahvelBaby!]

These mixed reaction movies are so much more fun to discuss lol. I'm fascinated reading all your views and opinions

 

[The Guard]

Saw it a second time yesterday. Yeah, this film is awesome honestly and the pacing issues seemed to be less of an issue for me the second time.easily my second favorite of the entire trilogy and I already want to see it a 3rd time too.

I haven't seen it again yet, but it seems like maybe a lot of the pacing issues are a "first watch" problem. I've never seen anything quite like the frenetic first 10 minutes of this movie. It's like they were determined to remind us this is a sci fi serial.

You're trying to take in everything that's happening, and they very much intend it to have an urgent pace in the first act. The movie doesn't breathe much in the first 35-40 minutes or so, but I don't think it's supposed to. Most of the poignant scenes are set later on in the film, and those do breathe fairly well.

There's a lot of complaining about the Macguffins, but those are really just plot devices. Their inclusion is just designed to get our heroes to different worlds, where the creators pick up the thread of the oppressed people of the Galaxy and their various plights, and the way some of them are helping the Resistance fight back. People are hyperfocused on the doodads being in the movie...but that's not the subplot of this film, those are just touchpoints...the Resistance adding to its ranks is the story.

 

[Drizzle]

As flawed as The Rise of Skywalker is, I still found it enjoyable and less disappointing than The Last Jedi. It's also less of a mess than The Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones. Ultimately, while it was fun seeing the classic characters again, the sequel trilogy was unnecessary. That's not to say I'm turning my back on any future Star Wars content. Far from it, in fact. I'm digging The Mandalorian and I'm really looking forward to the Obi-Wan series. I'm just hoping that years down the line, they don't say "Hey, let's make more saga films...let's see what the gang is up to now". Let it rest.

 

[kickass]

Here’s what JJ said about criticisms about the movie:

 

[Detective Conan]

Say whatever will about him as a filmmaker. You gotta respect J.J’s diplomacy. That response was measured & respectful.

 

[Travesty]

I think Uncle George begs to differ.



Swear I'm not just trying to be cute here lol, I do think it's worth pointing out.

Dude, that's not the point I'm making. You're basically just cherry picking Lucas using the term "soap opera" associated with SW, then cherry picking me saying the word "soap opera", and then going, "see, Lucas says it's a soap opera: busted". So yes, this is you being cutesy with my overall point, and I'm almost certain you know this. I'm using the term "soap opera" to donate character structure and progression, I hammered this home with my "filler" examples. I'm using it in a very specific manner, and had a few paragraphs to back up those claims. Lucas is using it in a broad sense. I could say comicbooks are basically soap operas, because they are. In other words, Batman is like a soap opera in the broad sense, but I'm not going to claim that Nolan's TDKT uses cheap soap opera writing techniques in a specific sense. But then there are times where that does apply to comicbook shows/movies. So something like The Flash is like a soap opera in the broad sense, and the CW TV Show Flash is also written like a cheap soap opera in the specific sense. So I think it can apply there. Context is key.

But, even if you want to make that claim with Lucas and SW, I was specifically talking about character arcs and structures with TLJ. Lucas didn't write or direct TLJ. And since you want to back Lucas on this, are you going to tell me the OT is written like a cheap soap opera in a specific sense? Also, I'm not a huge Lucas defender. I like the guy, but I'm not one of these "everything Lucas did is 100% amazing, and everything that Disney is doing is 100% terrible". I know there's people out there that are like that, I'm not one of them.

 

[Travesty]

I didnt hate this film, in fact in many places I liked this film. However I agreed with someone who said the tone of this film is more out of Indiana Jones than of Star Wars. My big dissapointment overall with the sequel trilogy is that it is out of place and doesnt fit in with calling this the "Skywalker Saga", in fact the ending which gives this film its title feels rather unearned. Rey's story is at best an appendix rather than an epilogue. The other problem with this movie is that the Force is used as a Deus Ex Machina rather than how it was used in the original trilogy or even in the prequels.

I agree. There's actually a bunch of stuff in this movie that is forced, but I agree that Rey using the name Skywalker didn't really feel earned.

But I do think it's a better title and makes more sense than something like "Star Wars: The Rise of a Nobody", or "the Nobody Saga".

 

[Spider-Fan]

I still like the nobody idea much more than I do the Palpatine idea. Especially in the execution of it in this movie. It just feels thrown in last minute and as fan service and really nothing more. That said, it's really not one of the things I found most annoying about the movie. I just really had no reaction to it one way or the other. It was just a thing that happened.

 

[Holy Slapper]

My friend who saw this a second time the following day with her friends who all enjoyed it and she did more in the second go (also wants to see a 3rd time), read the leaked parts after seeing the movie and she thought they paint a worse picture than what you see on screen.

 

[Marvolo]

The more I've thought about it, Kathy does need to step down. Love or hate this film and trilogy, this film damns her as a manager. Angry Joe said it best, Kathy fired Colin for creative differences...and these creative choices are the ones they went with. Really? Really?! At best she did this because she thought itd please the fans and didnt care what it would do to the trilogy's overall cohesiveness. At worst she honestly couldnt realize what this film would do to the trilogy's overall cohesiveness. Either way it paints a damning picture of Kathy's ability to run this franchise.

And JJ needs to be kept away from future films. He clearly cant reign in his nostalgia and his fanboy impulses. Hes not viewing this stuff as a sensible storyteller. Rather he is just a superfan playing with his action figures and indulging himself and the loudest fans. And Kathy in turn is indulging him.

For the next films a more shrewd manager is needed and a director that respects the franchise but who's identity and filmmaking career and childhood wasnt so influenced by Star Wars.

 

[BatLobster]

Dude, that's not the point I'm making. You're basically just cherry picking Lucas using the term "soap opera" associated with SW, then cherry picking me saying the word "soap opera", and then going, "see, Lucas says it's a soap opera: busted". So yes, this is you being cutesy with my overall point, and I'm almost certain you know this. I'm using the term "soap opera" to donate character structure and progression, I hammered this home with my "filler" examples. I'm using it in a very specific manner, and had a few paragraphs to back up those claims. Lucas is using it in a broad sense. I could say comicbooks are basically soap operas, because they are. In other words, Batman is like a soap opera in the broad sense, but I'm not going to claim that Nolan's TDKT uses cheap soap opera writing techniques in a specific sense. But then there are times where that does apply to comicbook shows/movies. So something like The Flash is like a soap opera in the broad sense, and the CW TV Show Flash is also written like a cheap soap opera in the specific sense. So I think it can apply there. Context is key.

But, even if you want to make that claim with Lucas and SW, I was specifically talking about character arcs and structures with TLJ. Lucas didn't write or direct TLJ. And since you want to back Lucas on this, are you going to tell me the OT is written like a cheap soap opera in a specific sense? Also, I'm not a huge Lucas defender. I like the guy, but I'm not one of these "everything Lucas did is 100% amazing, and everything that Disney is doing is 100% terrible". I know there's people out there that are like that, I'm not one of them.

Honest to God, I really thought it was worth pointing out because the family soap opera angle has always been a central part to how Lucas viewed the saga (once he came up with Vader = Luke's father, at least) and as a Lucas fan, I do try to take what his intentions were for the series to heart. I've always likened Star Wars to wrestling in some ways too, which is obviously also like a soap opera. Anyhow, you can think the "psych!" with Rey's parentage was cheap, find it waste of time, and not like it, that's totally fine. I'm also not hear to tell you the ST is the greatest, smoothest story ever. I'm just saying when we got the "nobody" reveal, I just was like "OK, well I guess we'll find out the real truth in the next film." Cause I know how Star Wars works, it was never going to not be a family story in some sense as it relates to the main protagonist. I felt it was so obvious that her grandparent was going to be someone. I just had thought maybe they were setting up Obi-Wan instead of Palpatine. In the context of the trilogy now, it becomes the moment where Rey has to come to terms with the fact that her bloodline/birth family is not going to define her destiny, which is central to her overall arc of the ST and the choice she makes at the end of TROS.

End of the day, the OT will always be king. "I am your Father" is one of the greatest moments in cinematic history IMO, and I really don't think they were never going to be able to replicate anything close to that kind of thing in subsequent stories. On the other hand, Luke learning Leia was his sister was awfully convenient. Idk if it's use the word "cheap", but it was certainly VERY convenient and totally made any attraction they had in the prior films feel awkward and obviously incestuous. Then you have stuff like Obi-Wan splitting hairs explain how what he told Luke was true "from a certain point of view". People always called that out as pretty obvious retconning. The point I was trying to make is the soap opera angle of Star Wars is in its DNA. There are better and worse examples of it (I mean all the romance in the prequels is written like a literal daytime soap), but it's undeniably in there.

I think part of the overall blessing and curse of Star Wars is that Lucas took all these pulpy influences that are blatantly cheesy, fused them with world mythology and elevated them to incredible cinema (Martin Scorsese™). Particularly the first two films. So at the end of the day, I feel like most Star Wars is going to pale in comparison to that. But I still have enjoyed the ride quite a bit, overall.

 

[Frodo]

Its telling that almost every positive review from both critics and fans is measured with disappointment.

I think its because its hard to deny that the film isn't up to par, even if you enjoyed it or enjoyed the experience of seeing it with a packed audience.

At the end of the day, imo, its basically Star Wars on Ice or an amusement park stunt show. Its fun, and you may have a great time watching it, but you know that you've seen better ,and that the standards are usually much higher.

Still, for alot of the GA , a fun time at the movies for a couple of hours is" good enough".

In this case however, alot of SW fans and film critics both expect more that just "good enough".

 

[The Guard]

Honest to God, I really thought it was worth pointing out because the family soap opera angle has always been a central part to how Lucas viewed the saga (once he came up with Vader = Luke's father, at least) and as a Lucas fan, I do try to take what his intentions were for the series to heart. I've always likened Star Wars to wrestling in some ways too, which is obviously also like a soap opera. Anyhow, you can think the "psych!" with Rey's parentage was cheap, find it waste of time, and not like it, that's totally fine. I'm also not hear to tell you the ST is the greatest, smoothest story ever. I'm just saying when we got the "nobody" reveal, I just was like "OK, well I guess we'll find out the real truth in the next film." Cause I know how Star Wars works, it was never going to not be a family story in some sense as it relates to the main protagonist. I felt it was so obvious that her grandparent was going to be someone. I just had thought maybe they were setting up Obi-Wan instead of Palpatine. In the context of the trilogy now, it becomes the moment where Rey has to come to terms with the fact that her bloodline/birth family is not going to define her destiny, which is central to her overall arc of the ST and the choice she makes at the end of TROS.

End of the day, the OT will always be king. "I am your Father" is one of the greatest moments in cinematic history IMO, and I really don't think they were never going to be able to replicate anything close to that kind of thing in subsequent stories. On the other hand, Luke learning Leia was his sister was awfully convenient. Idk if it's use the word "cheap", but it was certainly VERY convenient and totally made any attraction they had in the prior films feel awkward and obviously incestuous. Then you have stuff like Obi-Wan splitting hairs explain how what he told Luke was true "from a certain point of view". People always called that out as pretty obvious retconning. The point I was trying to make is the soap opera angle of Star Wars is in its DNA. There are better and worse examples of it (I mean all the romance in the prequels is written like a literal daytime soap), but it's undeniably in there.

This. It's a heightened, sci fi serial franchise. It's supposed to be full of cheesy thrills and twists and shock value, but none of those things have ever been set up all that well or incredibly well executed from a writing standpoint, even in the OT.

Maybe, MAYBE the angle about Luke's father, because at least they hint at something bad happening to him in A NEW HOPE and EMPIRE before dropping that one.

The irony here is that I suspect people are partially going on about the execution of this one because THE LAST JEDI was a better written and better crafted entry than most of the recent previous episodes have been.

 

[Doctor Jones]

Honest to God, I really thought it was worth pointing out because the family soap opera angle has always been a central part to how Lucas viewed the saga (once he came up with Vader = Luke's father, at least) and as a Lucas fan, I do try to take what his intentions were for the series to heart. I've always likened Star Wars to wrestling in some ways too, which is obviously also like a soap opera. Anyhow, you can think the "psych!" with Rey's parentage was cheap, find it waste of time, and not like it, that's totally fine. I'm also not hear to tell you the ST is the greatest, smoothest story ever. I'm just saying when we got the "nobody" reveal, I just was like "OK, well I guess we'll find out the real truth in the next film." Cause I know how Star Wars works, it was never going to not be a family story in some sense as it relates to the main protagonist. I felt it was so obvious that her grandparent was going to be someone. I just had thought maybe they were setting up Obi-Wan instead of Palpatine. In the context of the trilogy now, it becomes the moment where Rey has to come to terms with the fact that her bloodline/birth family is not going to define her destiny, which is central to her overall arc of the ST and the choice she makes at the end of TROS.

End of the day, the OT will always be king. "I am your Father" is one of the greatest moments in cinematic history IMO, and I really don't think they were never going to be able to replicate anything close to that kind of thing in subsequent stories. On the other hand, Luke learning Leia was his sister was awfully convenient. Idk if it's use the word "cheap", but it was certainly VERY convenient and totally made any attraction they had in the prior films feel awkward and obviously incestuous. Then you have stuff like Obi-Wan splitting hairs explain how what he told Luke was true "from a certain point of view". People always called that out as pretty obvious retconning. The point I was trying to make is the soap opera angle of Star Wars is in its DNA. There are better and worse examples of it (I mean all the romance in the prequels is written like a literal daytime soap), but it's undeniably in there.

I think part of the overall blessing and curse of Star Wars is that Lucas took all these pulpy influences that are blatantly cheesy, fused them with world mythology and elevated them to incredible cinema (Martin Scorsese™). Particularly the first two films. So at the end of the day, I feel like most Star Wars is going to pale in comparison to that. But I still have enjoyed the ride quite a bit, overall.

You're right about what Lucas did. What makes SW stand above the rest if he imbued these cheesy B serials with a real sophistication with excellent storytelling. It became a new mythology unto itself.

So the premise that they were never that good because of what they took from what they were inspired by was never that great is bullcrap.

We're not gonna start selling those films short because this film is terrible.

 

[Sithborg]

A lot of fans are forcing themselves to like it.

Come on now. People have different tastes. Its not up to you to decide whether someone actually likes it or not.

 

[Prison Mike]

I prefer TLJ to this.

 

[Sithborg]

You can love the film while still acknowledging the film's flaws. I do that a lot with films I have enjoyed.

 

[jmc]

I've not seen too many blinded fans this time around.

 

[Closerframe]

This video sums up my feelings.

 

[Agent Orange]

You can love the film while still acknowledging the film's flaws. I do that a lot with films I have enjoyed.

I certainly didn't like RoS as much as TLJ, but I'm in this camp as well. Perusing Star Wars social media is also a lot more pleasant this time around. Honestly, the reactions are far more... normal(?). The toxicity is way, way down.