The Rise of Skywalker

SPOILERS. There are SPOILERS in this post, you have been warned.

For those who love the originals, for those who actually the prequels and for those who adore the latest films, this isn’t made for you. To those who don’t really watch Star Wars or were at the cinema and didn’t know what to watch, this film was made for you, so, you’re welcome. Collectively Kathleen Kennedy, Disney, JJ Abrams and that guy Chris who really has no idea what he’s doing, decided it was a fantastic idea to completely change the film, with reshoots, rewrites and cutting 30% of the film as late as October 2019. What I’d give to see the rumoured multiple endings and the original direction and ending of the film. There wouldn’t be THIS much outrage across the fandom or the tepid mediocre ‘I guess it was ok’ reactions from those who, to be honest, aren’t as big a fans as Star Wars fans. Yes, I’m saying this, because in my opinion I believe it. Let’s get started, shall we?
As a film, it offers amazing scenery, visual and practical effects galore, a few nostalgia trips that are appreciated and that’s it. The story is confusing, backtracks quite a few things from the previous films in the trilogy, adds in characters we haven’t seen in decades that were thought to be dead, cuts down characters roles to near nothing, shatters fans hopes for certain characters including the actor who plays him, cobbles together an ending that seriously flawed, denies us a scene that would have greatly improved the film, kills off a fan favourite without justification, shatters another fan base while thinking they did what they wanted, ends appallingly overall and doesn’t give us hope for the future of Star Wars.

The film jumps right into the action after a very quick intro in the opening scroll, with Kylo Ren finding and fighting his way to Exogol, the Sith home world or something near to that. There he meets Emperor Palpatine who is somehow alive and tells him to kill Rey and he’ll give him power and his Final Order, a massive fleet of star destroyer ships. Rey meanwhile is training with Leia’s guidance but as she is now struggling with the light and dark, she keeps failing. Poe, Finn, Chewie and C3PO pick up a message from a spy in the First Order about Palpatine and about the impending doom that will occur. The gang and Rey go on a mission to find a way finder that should lead to Exogol so that Rey can confront and kill the emperor once and for all.

To avoid giving a beat by beat critique that will just feel like a story explanation, similar to what I’ve seen Youtubers do, I’ll dive straight in. Having seen the film twice, I gained clarity on most of the story and characters. Meaning that the first time I just felt outraged and was over heated and immensely annoyed at the death of Ben Solo. The second time around, I could almost enjoy the mediocre tone of the film. No character was given a good send off, but on a whole the film was enjoyable IF you over looked everything that was built up in the previous films in the so-called trilogy. But my enjoyment was stunted by the incredible bad ending, not just Ben Solo dying but the fact we were all denied an actual fight between Palpatine, Rey and Ben. As well as dialogue between Rey and Ben at the end, but I’ll get into that later. We were also given a real slap in the face rip of ending that had been taken from Return of the Jedi with the Resistance or Rebels or whatever they were calling themselves by the end. The film was a mixed bag that consisted of plot and style elements stolen from other Star Wars films, note stolen, not homaged, terrible plotlines for all the rebel characters, a complete change in direction for the entire saga and a dissatisfying end for Rey and Ben.

With the reshoots in mind and the last minute changes, I’d really like to see what the original plan was and I’d also like to see the original cut of one of the final scenes which quite a few people have fixed for fans out there, yes, especially for Reylo fans, but in all fairness, it’s not only Reylo fans who are calling for justice over Ben Solo. Kylo Ren was a huge fan favourite across the ages of fans, seeing this happen with such a, let’s face it, utter shit inconclusive ending, its fair for the outrage. Having Adam Driver missing from nearly all press events was a huge tell-tale sign too. This could be explained as that he was busy promoting Marriage Story, even though that came out a month earlier, but it’s still something not to be ignored. JJ Abrams and the writer of such fan favourites as Superman vs Batman and Justice League Chris Terrio have been next to no help with trying quash outraged fans and disappointed audiences, they’ve continued to try and justify their pathetic attempt to end an epic story.

The major ridiculous plot twist that wasn’t a twist as it was basically blurted out in the first 5 minutes, making Rey Palpatine’s granddaughter was a weak attempt to try and justify Rey’s position in the Star Wars story. Making her ‘someone’ negates the whole point of what the trilogy was meant to be about. You don’t have to be famous to be someone great. But to JJ and that t**t Terrio apparently you are only worth something if you’re famous. Really shoddy character development boys. Rey’s story was set up as different and more interesting than the people of note. Believing that anyone could be a Jedi was the hope we needed and made for a great story, but JJ and Chris just burnt that-wait did the Torries write this? Rey’s story on her own was ruined but her continuing bond with Kylo Ren/Ben Solo was becoming more interesting. Confirming that they are a Dyad, the literal embodiment of the light and dark sides of the force was meant to be a bigger deal but despite being the best parts of the whole film, Rey and Ben didn’t get their epic battle with Palpatine, they didn’t even get to be happy together. Hollywood just didn’t want to give us the happy ending to the saga. This time, a happy ending would have made sense and no one would have complained.

After delivering such a brilliant cinematic masterpiece, Rian Johnson’s excellent story telling was ignored, negated and just plain disrespected by JJ. Johnson gave us a Rose Tico. JJ just cut her out of the story, even getting her to actively say she’ll miss out on the adventure to do some paper work or study something. Appalling. Finn, who was and is force sensitive was reduced to just screaming everyone’s names, mostly Rey’s. Finn and Rose were great characters, but clearly all JJ and Chris cared about was….was….actually no idea. Did they even care at all? They cared enough to put out rumours of Poe Dameron being gay. They definitely spent time on that. Even adding in a whole new female character from his past to flirt with a bit. Pointless. Oscar Isaacs has said that Poe was gay so I’ll take the actor who advocated for FinnPoe or StormPilot to be cannon. We were robbed of a genuine pairing here. These were just the tip of the iceberg. With plot holes and pointless detours galore such as why bother making Hux a spy just to kill him seconds later? How the hell did Palpatine survive the Death Star, really, how? Cryptic warbling doesn’t cut it. Where is Ben? He wasn’t a force ghost at the end so where is he? Why was Rey more emotional when she healed Ben than when he died? Actually, I can answer that, he wasn’t meant to die. Who the hell had sex with Palpatine? How the hell did Rey’s parents manage to be anonymous for so long? What was the point of death teasing C3PO and Chewie, seriously what was the point?? Also why the hell did Disney and LucasFilm think this terrible mess of a film would satisfy fans and non-fans alike? Its not even a case of all those who liked TLJ hate TROS, it’s a mix of hate and ‘meh, it was ok’. They wanted to avoid further discourse but instead shot themselves in the head with this mess. They could have just given what we all wanted, they would have made money either way.

The Rise of Skywalker Was a Huge Mistake

THIS IS NOT A REVIEW this is just a discussion peice. 

For any poor soul who follows me on Instagram or Twitter you have unfortunately been dragged into my Star War breakdown. Also apologies for Twitter especially as I tried to not to post about it but everyone else had and there were a few choice tweets that were just too good to not share, obviously I mentioned there would be spoilers on there so now I say there are spoilers galore in this post and the next so read on only if you’ve seen the film(s) or you like spoilers.

Long have I waited to see the final Star Wars film in the saga. And its rushed production issues, reshoots, script changes were its undoing.

To start with, I wanted to state that I have always been a huge fan of Star Wars. It is my childhood, my teenage years and now my adulthood. I grew up watching the originals on VHS tapes that we used to record of the TV. I even went to the cinema to watch The Phantom Menace and of course I watched the new trilogy films multiple times in the cinema. Star Wars is close to my heart and as much as I love the originals (prequels I do not like) I really liked the new characters and the story of the newer films. I was devastated by TROS. My immediate opinion was that the film was entertaining (mostly) and apart from the abomination of an ending, it could be saved but after a second watch, I have decided that, for me, the film is clearly a mess.

The film has been plagued by reshoots, last minute script changes and rumoured test screenings with Disney folk, this has all been confirmed by cast members, crew and yes in the media. This was a production that was cowering under the weight of its own gravitas. Heavy is the head that wears the crown. There was also a rumour that there were several different endings which gives me hope that the better ending is somewhere and at the same time makes me nauseous as this explains why the film, especially the end is a complete mess.

Some people out there have praised the film and JJ Abrams for his efforts saying that it wasn’t too bad after what he was left with after Rian Johnson. This infuriates as not only because The Last Jedi is the superior film and actually followed on from the previous, The Force Awakens, but also, JJ Abrams was also involved in making TLJ. He was executive producer as well as Johnson confirming that he and JJ discussed plot but as there was no end, yet, he worked from TFA. So, idiots of the galaxy, stop blaming Johnson for something that your precious JJ was involved with too. Johnson has been the voice of reason throughout this whole saga since his involvement. He has rightly said ‘Catering to Fans, Rather Than Challenging Them, Is a ‘Mistake’ and has been nothing but a true filmmaker and gentleman throughout TLJ discourse that still rages across the internet. Someone on twitter even wrote a letter to Johnson asking for help and getting involved with Star Wars again and while its amusing there is so much truth in it. You can read it HERE.

From Disney’s point of view, they won’t take risks so when half the Star Wars loved TLJ and the other half hated it, they took no notice of the former. For them the whole point of TROS was to squash any greedy needy fanboys/girls out there who wanted nothing but fan service and no consistent story and just give them what they wanted. This film was to appeal to the masses AND the TLJ haters. But in doing so, they created an even greater divide, they didn’t get the peaceful end. They instead got more discourse and an uproar. They didn’t just end the film so terribly, but several characters were not given what they deserved. They also acknowledged quite a few fan fuelled ideas that came out of characters’ chemistry but didn’t act on it. Some of these naturally evolved with the story others were just ignored. Disney seemed to flat out refuse FinnPoe, even though this was known and loved by the actors and wasn’t just a passing comment, the fans wanted this. But Disney doesn’t take chances. Instead they make a huge deal about 2 second kiss between two women that can easily be cut out and sold to various territories. Ridiculous. Reylo was the other huge shipping but this, as I said, evolved from the story as well as the great chemistry between the actors. This actual pairing was a huge part of the story BUT JJ Abrams stammered to say that its platonic while in the script Rey and Ben Solo are named soulmates. JJ really doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

The way the trilogy was set up was that three different directors would take the reins of each film. JJ Abrams gave us TFA which was about introducing new characters, story and still paying homage the originals, fan service basically but it worked here. Rian Johnson gave us what we needed for the story to continue and to show that new ideas fuel new stories but in order to do so, you need to let the past go. What was then needed was a director who could give us a fulfilling ending while continuing the story and themes. BUT instead Disney and Lucas Films made the mistake of getting JJ back and then collectively ruin one of the greatest sagas in film history. How will they ever recover? 

The fact that this is the last film in the Skywalker saga doesn’t mean no more Star Wars films not by a long shot as Disney wants money above all things. But with how the film ended, I’m worries no will get closure on the glaring plot holes of TROS. The idea scenario would be new characters, new stories BUT Rey without Ben alone on Tatooine needs to be fixed or an alternative ending needs to resurface. With the amount of backlash over the film, this terrible end needs to be addressed. Through all the videos, posts, features, reviews and tweets the most consistent opinions I’ve seen about the film is that it’s a mess (not even kidding) that the ending was terrible and most of all, Ben Solo should have lived, he deserved so much better. This is a cry for resurrection or he’s trapped in the worlds between worlds or something. But THAT needs to be answered. And not by JJ who didn’t even know how the film was going to end until October this year. 

All this and I haven’t really got into the film yet.

If you can stand to read my writing any longer, I’ll be writing just about TROS next.

There Is No Balance

 THIS IS NOT A REVIEW OF THE RISE OF SKYWALKER BUT THERE MAY BE SPOILERS FOR OTHER STAR WARS FILMS.

I've been keeping away from writing about Star Wars as I think it would turn into a rant or it wouldn't be a rant and end up being a series of short venting posts about Star Wars and the fanbase and the fact that TLJ was really good and there some idiots out there that are being too precious about the films so I'll just go with this. 

Having invested many hours and devotion to SW, I’m really worried this final film, as they’re calling it, in the saga, will disappoint. There have been stirrings that it will end up going the way of Game of Thrones. An amazing television show that completely lost its way in the final series. Everyone felt cheated. This time, it’s different in how the final instalment was conceived, in the wake of the backlash of ‘The Last Jedi’. It was either loved or hated and for the latter, they moaned and whinged about everything they could. These self-serving fanboys could potentially, only potentially as I haven’t seen The Rise of Skywalker, have ruined what could have been a great finale. What would have been superb is if Disney had listened to those who praised the film because there was just as many of those fans as there were doubters. As Rian Johnson said ‘catering to fans rather than challenging them, is a mistake’ and my gad, he’s right.

Bringing back Star Wars after the Prequels almost squashed and killed the memory of the originals, using CGI everything, was a very big risk. There may be a fanbase ready-made but as all comic book films can go by, these fans are demanding and if you disappoint them, they will try to take the system down. ‘The Force Awakens’ was a brilliant thrill ride that introduced new characters as well as providing nostalgic moments and paying homage to the originals all over the place. The story, the characters, the premise is set up and gets you ready for the adventure complete with a cliff-hanger, this is the perfect first film in a trilogy.  ‘The Last Jedi’ is a perfect second film. Looking back at trilogies, planned or otherwise, they serve as a turning point in the story or as a filler with the tagline ‘the journey/adventure continues’. ‘The Last Jedi’ is the turning point which fanboys should have seen coming. The story continues but along the way, there are casualties, there are revelations and again there are new developments and new characters because that’s what happened in the previous Star Wars films at this stage. If we had let the saga run the way it was meant to we could have a fantastic end but with the negative fanboy petty reactions I fear we are heading for a fan service trap. Early reaction also have me thinking this. As soon as the title of the final film was announced my heart sank to the bottom of the Sarlacc pit, ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ aka, what the ‘fans’ demanded. But true Star Wars fans don’t want fan service, they want to a story. The descriptions for the TROS have just had, Rey and friends continue their fight or something along those lines. THAT is not a final film plot, that’s a filler! TLJ set up the final film so well it’s ridiculous that this has happened. At this point I’m just hoping for decent enough.

I’m seeing the film on Friday with my best friend who loves Star Wars probably more than me, so hopefully we have something ‘decent enough’ to review. If not… may the force be with us all at this rate.