The Rise of Skywalker The Rise of Skywalker Review and Ratings Thread

[Mani-Man]

So we went in last night, and i really really liked it to my surprise.
The spoilers made it sound a lot worse, seeing the stuff then actually was far better than expected...even the dreadfull Reylo garbage that should never have been a thing.
It worked surprisingly well and felt more genuine than everything Johnson did.

The movie is far from perfect, there was no way...but it wasnt a mess.
It is beyond me how anybody can think that, but its not my beer what others think.
I see a lot of very specific kind of wording that makes me think its more a hive mind idea to rip the movie than actual opinion, but again...its not my beer, people can do what they want.

You can feel that they had to force the plot and throw in a lot of stuff without explenation because they lacked the time.
The movie was filled to the brim with so much, especially build up for the final...which the ****ing second movie should have done.
Still, i must defend TLJ for trying something different, for wanting the trilogy to be more than the old trilogy with new characters...because that is what it pretty much was in TFA.
But Johnson also cut off the legs of the foundation without bothering to come up with a direction himself for the third movie.
So they were forced to do that, build it up instead of letting it play out because the second movie did it.

Spoiler

If they would have done palpatines return, Kylos redemption and would have introduced us to the Knights or Ren, force healing and a few other things in the second movie...this one would have had more time to explore it and shape it

Palpatine

Spoiler

Palpatines return was never adressed at all, he is back...nobody seems to care for why or so...i still dont get what he was attached to...nobody explained anything about him.
I did like what they did with him, but that could easily have been done too with Snoke.
Have him be stuck to the machine and stuff would have been better.
Palpatine was nice and all but how they did it and all ROTJ a bit useless.

Reylo and Rey

Spoiler

Rey being suddenly the grandchild of palpatine who now has a son we never heard or have been hinted at...was desperate as heck.
I can live with it because it fits, but its garbage.
The whole "rey is nobody" thing was better...not having her be related to anybody would have been the smarter.
But they needed this skywalker saga thing and got it...its fine but not the best idea.

As for Reylo, i liked it more than in the two previous movies, especially in the end after Ben decided to no longer be Kylo.
It was actually the first time i really liked Ben because he was steady and clear, had a clear direction and goal...those few minutes in the final act did the character good and its a shame that we havent seen this sooner and more.
Reylo worked more genuine at this point and in the end but its still garbage because its literally based on the forced force connection.
Other than that it was a bad pairing that worked not for a second for me.
I liked the ending and all and like i said, it felt more genuine but in the end it was a bad ship.

The Sequels wasted a lot of potential, especially the one of the old cast members.
But i really liked the movies and the new characters, new worlds etc.
I dont want to say goodbye to Rey, Finn and Poe...i think with a clearer plan, better writing...those characters can carry another trilogy...but you need someone behind that who gives the people confidence and i dont know if there is someone out there that can do that.

At the end of the day i had fun, i thought to myself that this movie was a real star wars movie that i can enjoy over and over again.
It did its best with what they had left, with what Johnson cut down without having anything left for others to follow up.
It was a genuinly good movie, could have been even better if that damned second movie wouldnt have caused so much problems.

8/10

 

[LvtLeeTDK]

Call me an idiot but I actually think this is the best movie of the sequel trilogy. It's certainly better than TLJ, while compared to TFA I enjoyed this one much more. TFA I felt like watching the remastered version of A New Hope.

There are many things I don't like. Palpatine return does not make any impact to me, it just feels forced and unnecessary.,etc.

But overall a solid 8 for me.

 

[Enriquespy]

Its a bit of a whiplash to have such a meh movie right after such a great one as the Last Jedi.

I give it is a solid 6.5/10.

Babu Frik was the best tho.

Spoiler: Fun stuff

I'm every Jedi, it's all in meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

 

[Mandon Knight]

Going to see it this afternoon for the first time, will report back….

 

[Batmannerism]

I give it a 6/10 ( compared to 10/10 for a New Hope)

First, to provide a little context I didn't enjoy TFA much because it was a shameless rehash of A New Hope - with a gender change, a Darth Vader wannabe who throws tantrums and a bigger death Star ( with a built in ski resort) but otherwise it's pretty much the same movie. The three leads didn't have much chemistry and the plot relied on a bunch of contrivances that weren't great ( Luke's lightsaber just happened to be there...... how did they retrieve it from the bottom of Cloud city, uh wait that that's too hard, we'll skip that part) . I can understand how it would be fun if you've never seen a SW film before but it just pissed me off.

Probably its worst sin is having Rey defeat Kylo at the end - which undermines him as a villain and legitimate threat, I mean in ANH Vader kills Obi Wan, in ESB he cuts off Luke's hand and shakes his core beliefs, it isn't until ROTJ that Luke beats him, it feels like he earned it - whereas Rey doesn't.

If he had simply remade A New Hope with the same characters played by younger actors it would have felt a bit more honest. A 5/10 for me.

TLJ has a bunch of unnecessary stuff crammed into it and does a big disservice to the original trilogy's main character. However I did like Luke's ending, Rian Johnson has enough story telling skill to set us up with Luke's bitter " I'm gonna walk out and face down the whole First Order ?" and then have him do it in a way that makes sense. There were a couple of twists on Empire Strikes Back ( a salt planet rather than a snow planet) but it was pretty forgettable otherwise. Still it was more original than TFA.
A 6/10.

Finally we get to ROS. Again lots of unnecessary stuff crammed in, no explanation of how Palpatine survived or built a massive fleet on a planet so well hidden that there are only 2 macguffins in the universe that show where it is ( I mean he would have needed literally tens of thousands of people to build and then crew those ships, how did he get them there ?). Another load of contrivances ( " I have a Captain's medallion which gets you onto any ship" and then 2 minutes later " We need to get onto Kylo's ship. Oh wait a minute...."

Chewie's death might have had some impact if they hadn't revealed he was alive 5 minutes later.

The twist, that Rey is a Palpatine is a great idea but revealed in a really boring way ( compared to " No, I am your father" ). Daisy Ridley has pretty much the same expression for the entire film, until she smiles at the end. She would be a more compelling protagonist if she occasionally failed , was defeated in battle or had to learn a lesson the hard way - which is what made Luke Skywalker interesting, he goes from whiny farm boy to Sir Galahad over the 3 movies but goes through a lot of crap to get there - he actually struggled to learn the Force and doesn't simply manifest whatever force power the story requires. Again, her earlier victories feel unearned although I did like that she took out Palapatine at the cost of her own life.

John William's score from the original trilogy is iconic, a word I dont use lightly, I can listen to the score and tell you what's happening- it uses leitmotifs effectively has a lot of variety and sets the mood well to reflect the events onscreen ( eg " Into the Trap" " the Dark Side beckons" ).
Throughout the Abrams trilogy the music has felt very generic with the classic themes thrown in, particularly the Force theme.


IMO the best characters were:

Ben/Kylo, because the redemption arc worked and Adam Driver can act.

C-3PO, who was funny rather than just annoying for a change.

All in all it was better than I expected, so a 6/10.

I would sum up by saying that the original Star Wars trilogy feel like more than just movies, going to see them was a massive thrill and seeing them now is still awesome- the only thing to come close this century is Lord of the Rings and maybe parts of the MCU. In comparison Abrams trilogy are okay but just feel like run of the mill space opera films, nothing special.

 

[AndrewGilkison]

I just finished this movie... what the **** did I just watch?

Some think Last Jedi ruined Luke Skywalker (because it made him a jaded old man who lost his way), but this movie completely pisses all over the OG trilogy by bringing Palpatine back from the dead in the opening crawl in the dumbest way possible. And also revealed to be the puppet master all along, manipulating Kylo Ren from the beginning. And they also tie Rey's backstory to him, making her his granddaughter (which makes no sense of course, but that doesn't matter!).

The finale also wanted to be Avengers Endgame so bad, with its own Portals Moment. But it doesn't work, because the movie doesn't earn it.

Nothing in this movie feels earned, because they panicked over negative reviews over Last Jedi and let JJ Abrams try to retcon everything Rian Johnson set up. Kyo Ren kills Snoke and becomes the big bad? NO! Bring Palpatine back and make him the main villain! Rey's parents are nobodies? NO! Make her Palpatine's granddaughter who's parents tried to protect her from him... by hiding her on a desert planet alone, because that makes so much sense! People ship Finn and Poe? NO! Give Finn a Female Finn, with literally the same backstory, so he can have a romantic interest in a girl that isn't Rey.

Chris Terrio should never write a script for a big franchise blockbuster ever again.