MOVIE REVIEW: Star Wars Episode XI - The Rise Of Skywalker
(Believe - Mumford And Sons)
Well, here we are. It's the end of a story that a very funny little man started telling back in the '70s. That story has spanned nine feature films, a number of cartoons, and a plethora of other mediums as well.
There's a lot to be said about Star Wars with regards to what people are calling 'The Skywalker Saga', and in that same vein, there's a lot to be said about that story's ending. Anyone even remotely invested in Star Wars will have to understand that there's no way for the final movie to be perfect, since Star Wars is so many different things to so many different people. 'Perfect' is out of the question.
Really, the only question that you -can- ask is, "Was it good enough?"
Of course, this will be a matter of opinion, and there are very few topics in the world today that attract so many varied opinions, but for my money, I think they did about as well as they possibly could have with Episode IX. It wasn't perfect, but I certainly don't think it was the horrible train wreck that many people online are claiming it is. I'm not going to address many of the popular gripes about this film because I happen to think they're utterly asinine, and giving them attention only serves to fuel them. There are a few items that I -do- want to address though. Read any number of reviews for this film and there are a few common themes that keep cropping up:
Common Theme 1 - "Episode IX is a train wreck because they spent so much time trying to undo and retcon things put into play in Episode VIII." That's one way to look at it. The other way to look at it is that they were trying to salvage Star Wars after the train wreck that was Episode VIII and this was the only way they could think to do it. Episode VIII is going to go down as -the- most hotly debated movie of the Saga. If you loved VIII, you're going to hate IX. If you hated VIII, you're probably going to enjoy most of IX. This could be talked about until the sun runs out of fuel.
Common Theme 2 - "Episode IX is a horrible film that spends way too much time trying to pat old school fans on the head and not nearly enough time trying to allow the new kids to have their own story." See, you say that like it's a bad thing. People have been waiting for the end of the Skywalker Saga for over thirty years. Many of us don't give a damn what happens to Poe, Rey, or Finn. We're already SIX MOVIES into caring about our existing crop of people. Now we have three sequel movies that are supposed to be the climactic end of one story, while also being the beginning of someone else's story too, and you can't see how that could possibly be a problem for those of us who just want to know how it all ends? Like any other debate in Star Wars, this is a matter of opinion and perspective, but rather than writing the movie off completely, maybe people should allow for the fact that Star Wars can be many things to many people. Perhaps that's the biggest problem. It's too busy trying to be many things to many people. That's a debate for another day though.
Episode IX isn't perfect, but it's good enough, and by God, if you can hang up your granny panties and simply watch it to be entertained, I think you'll find yourself in that boat as well. Both sets of stories find their way to a decent stopping point. For Luke and Company, it's a decent enough end. For Rey and Company, it's a great jumping off point for something different. Both things are quite serviceable. Neither are what either camp was probably hoping for. It's just 'Good Enough', and it's also very entertaining if you can just...be entertained. Given the massive diversity surrounding what Star Wars means to everyone, 'Good Enough' is a huge accomplishment. Someone deserves applause for it, as long as it's not JJ Abrams.
It's not a fairy tale ending. It's just the ending to a pretty good fairy tale.
HERE THERE BE SPOILERS! And they're Star Wars spoilers, so you've been warned.
This movie was -full- of hand-clapping, jaw-dropping, tear-jerking, fist-pumping and profanity-producing moments. In no particular order:
- The opening 10 minutes of this movie are GORGEOUS, and having the OG Emperor back in the saddle was done so damned well...I was really worried that they would cheese off the Emperor the same way they'd cheesed off Luke in VIII, and they didn't. I think they got just about everything out of ol' Sheev that they could, and what they did get was just ... face-meltingly gorgeous. And creepy as fuck, I might add. They really went over the top on his makeup and he looked amazing.
- The new droid, Dio? I had doubts, but he's adorable, and reminds me of a personality core from Portal 2. SPAAAAACE!
- Luke finally got to raise his X-Wing out of the water, and the music that played while he was doing it was more than enough to move me to tears. This might be my favorite scene in the whole movie, perhaps out of all three sequels. I openly, unabashedly cried like a baby during that scene. That said...that X-Wing has spent a -lot- of time under the water between Luke's stay in Dagobah and then Ach To. Are we really gonna say that didn't cause any problems? Really?
- The music that plays when Rey explores the Throne Room on Endor was a massive callback to Return Of The Jedi, and I squeed all over the place.
- Rey having her own little Dagobah Cave moment while she was on the ruined Death Star was kind of cool, but at the same time, I really felt like someone wrote Dark Rey in just to put her in the trailers and
- MOTHERFUCKIN' WEDGE ANTILLES IN THE HOUSE!
- I was really worried when I heard that Billy Dee Williams was coming back for this movie. Anyone who has seen him in the last 15 years knows he didn't look good at all. He flat out looked bad. Like, people gave Carrie Fisher grief for how she looked in Episodes VII and VIII, and I'm here to tell you, she looked GOOD compared to Williams. I'm not sure what they did, but Billy Dee was back, and Lando looked better than ever. Beyond that, I was worried that he'd be given a bit part in the film, and he got way more than that. Better still, he OWNS every scene he's in. The man is still as smooth, charming, calming, and suave as he was during Empire and Jedi, and it's so good to see him again.
- I'm not sure what they had to do to get the approval for Harrison Ford to show up again. Someone had to get a fuck-ton of money, because Harrison was on record as wanting to get out of those films. I'm sure glad they found said money though, because Holy. Shit. More tears. HOLY SHIT.
- There was absolutely one moment when I got absolutely disgusted and audibly said, "Oh, FUCK YOU" to the movie screen. You'll know when you see it. I'm sure it was supposed to be a potent, applause-worthy part of the film, but you could hear a pin drop in the theater. No one was having it. Trust me, you'll know it when you see it. It's at the end of the final fight with Palpatine.
- Yes, use of the deleted scenes with Carrie Fisher in them was ham-fisted and poorly edited. They were doing what they could with the materials they had, and they were trying to honor an incredible woman and character in the process. Anyone who has a problem with either of those things can fuck right off.
- Fuck you and your light speed skipping, Poe.
- "Hey guys, have we made Finn shout at the camera in this scene yet? No? Let's do that. John Boyega always nails it when we ask him to shout a word at the screen." Or not. Not ever.
- Kelly Marie Tran's Rose Tico was certainly a cute part of Episode VIII, but apparently they weren't interested in furthering her story arc in Episode IX, because ... reasons? I dunno.
- One of the big things people had an issue with was the side-stepping that they clearly had to do around Kylo telling Rey that her parents were no one, people who sold their child for drinking money. Now...on one hand, Kylo didn't know who her parents were in Episode VIII, so you could chalk that up to him talking out of his ass. On the other hand....yeah.
- The whole Force Diad thing, or whatever it was? Yeah, that was stupid. It becomes even more stupid when you tie it into the end of the film. Palpatine is all about how Darth Plageus could stave off death, and Palpatine clearly figured out how to do that himself, so why did he need Rey to kill him? Just suck her life out. And instead of that whole Diad in the force thing, just sort of be like, "Oh, look, TWO people strong in the force! Even more life for me to suck out!" Unnecessary complications everywhere!
- In a nod to the Return Of The King, we will not allow the scene with Rey and the emperor to end promptly. She's dead...she's not!....she's dead....she's not!
- Let's talk about lightsabers for a moment, hmm? First, they don't even touch on how they fix Luke's saber or HOW THEY GOT IT OUT OF THE BOWELS OF BESPIN. (They took it off of Luuke, duh.) Then there's the thing with Leia's saber. Yes, it was a bit of cool backstory with her, and yes, the digital restoration of her face was pretty great, but...really? Just have Luke give her his green saber and be like, "Hey, you might need this when you go kick the Emperor's ass." I honestly think that would have gotten a better reaction out of people, and I know -I- would have enjoyed seeing it more than yet another random saber. Though God knows there'll be lots of Leia Saber toys running around now, so... yeah.
- Pointless desert flying stormtrooper scene is pointless. Seriously, if The Force Unleashed taught us anything, it's that you Force Pull those people into close range and casually saber them. A lot.
- Pump-faked Chewie Death was pointless, IMO. Even if there was a point, someone should have asked Daisy Ridley to reshoot that screech of hers when she realizes what she's done. And while we're on that subject...
- Can we talk about Rey destroying that transport for a moment, please? She's enough of a trained Force user at this point that she should know the difference between one power and another, so how do we go from pulling a ship to LIGHTNING? That just seems like a huge reach. Yes, I know it was a tie-in to her being a Palpatine, but there are other ways they could have done it.
- The chemistry between Poe, Rey, and Finn was really good in this film. This was more like 'Empire' in that I could clearly feel the history that they had together. This should have been how Episode VIII felt.
- Can we decide on the sacred Jedi texts being important or not please? Either they're important -- Rey did take them after all -- or they're not, in which case, why hang the plot on them? And while we're on that note...
- Episode VIII goes out of its way to explain the flaws of the Jedi, yet Rey immediately leaps into Jedi training in Episode IX, and no one bothered to explain to her that the real secret that Luke was trying to espouse to her was -balance- in the force, not an over-reliance on one side or another. This might be another one of those things that folks tried to ret-con for IX though, so...
- Anyone else notice the round dish on the Falcon?
- The dagger thing was stupid. Period. Just. Fucking. Stupid.
- The new, crazy-ass Force powers in the sequel trilogy are things that people have huge problems with, but I sort of elected to just kind of lean into it. My problem with them is that they aren't consistent at all. Let's talk about reaching out to someone using the Force. It clearly takes a lot out of you, especially if you manifest in another place. Hell, it zorched Luke. By Episode IX, Kylo is doing it without incident. Leia does it though, and she gets zorched. And while we're on that subject...
- It's not enough that we're reaching out to people in the Force to avoid long distance charges, but we're now TELEPORTING OBJECTS through the Force? The necklace? Vader's wrecked face? What the fuck? If you can teleport shit through the Force, that opens up a zillion different holes in storytelling.
- Where was Ben's force ghost? No love there?
- Who were the Knights of Ren?! That never gets explained.
- Why repair the mask? It's on again, it's off again, it's on again, it's...
- The voices of the Jedi at the end, when Rey asked them for help? Sort of cool, and sort of telling. I heard Qui-Gon, Yoda, Anakin -- Bring balance to the force, like me! KILL EVERYONE LIKE I DID! Fuck you, Anakin. -- Obi-Wan, Kaanan, aaaaand I'm pretty sure I heard Ahsoka. That last one's interesting, because it means she's quite definitively dead. That's a huge blow for anyone who's been watching Rebels. That show leaves off without anyone knowing what happens with Ahsoka. Well...somewhere along the line, she gets dead.
- "Leia'd want you to have this, Rey." Awesome! I SHALL BURY IT!
- Why is Rey flying around in the Falcon at the end of IX? Why not continue to use Luke's T-65? I mean, by the time we get to Episode IX, it's a really old ship, but still...Vintage! But seriously, the T-65s were old back when Luke was flying them in Episode IV. The Rebellion couldn't afford new shit and had to rely on older, out of date craft. It speaks to the sheer usefulness of the X-Wings that even the older platforms were still insanely potent snub fighters. By the time Episode IX rolls around, even the T-70s in use are out of date.
- It took the Death Star to produce a Planet Killer weapon, and it took a considerable amount of time to charge up each time. Then they made a second, MUCH BIGGER Death Star that had a weapon that could be fired much more rapidly, but was more for taking out capital ships. Then they made Starkiller Base, a planet-sized weapon that ATE STARS, but could destroy multiple planets in one shot. Then...they made a battering ram with the tech that was still fucking massive, but pretty much just broke big walls down. And finally, in Episode IX, they have Death Star 1-class Planet Killers mounted on the underbellies of old Star Destroyers. That's...that's something, anyway.
- Standard I-Class Star Destroyers had a crew compliment of around 50,000 people between officers, enlisted men, Stormtroopers, and other militia. Based on the shots of all of those Star Destroyers in the trailers, there were well over 200 destroyers that Palpatine had been hiding, which means tens of millions of people needed to crew those ships. Where did he find them? Where did he train them? What have they been doing for the last 30 years? Where did the resources come from? How did no one hear about a ship-building or arming project of this scale?
- The fight at the end between Rey and Palpatine is cinematic enough, but also sort of stupid. There are a hundred different ways Palpatine could have snuffed Rey out. Lightning not working? Great, just choke her. Push her into orbit. Pull her arms off. FIGHT HER WITH YOUR OWN LIGHTSABER. Let's be real here, Rey wasn't a stunning lightsaber combatant. Palpatine would have given her the biggest dark side curb smiley in the history of curbs and smileys without breaking a sweat. And on that note...
- I'm not sure who the hell was choreographing the saber combat in this movie, but excepting the flashback between Luke and Leia, the saber combat in this film was weak sauce.
- Adam Driver deserved better.
- So, what, Finn's Force-Sensitive now? Hey, good news! Rey is burying lightsabers everywhere, so we can just dig one up for you when you start your own training in Episode X! Nothing but love for Boyega, but christ, would Finn make an annoying Force user.
- Finn and Poe don't kiss at the end of this movie. Get over it, people.
Well, here we are. It's the end of a story that a very funny little man started telling back in the '70s. That story has spanned nine feature films, a number of cartoons, and a plethora of other mediums as well.
There's a lot to be said about Star Wars with regards to what people are calling 'The Skywalker Saga', and in that same vein, there's a lot to be said about that story's ending. Anyone even remotely invested in Star Wars will have to understand that there's no way for the final movie to be perfect, since Star Wars is so many different things to so many different people. 'Perfect' is out of the question.
Really, the only question that you -can- ask is, "Was it good enough?"
Of course, this will be a matter of opinion, and there are very few topics in the world today that attract so many varied opinions, but for my money, I think they did about as well as they possibly could have with Episode IX. It wasn't perfect, but I certainly don't think it was the horrible train wreck that many people online are claiming it is. I'm not going to address many of the popular gripes about this film because I happen to think they're utterly asinine, and giving them attention only serves to fuel them. There are a few items that I -do- want to address though. Read any number of reviews for this film and there are a few common themes that keep cropping up:
Common Theme 1 - "Episode IX is a train wreck because they spent so much time trying to undo and retcon things put into play in Episode VIII." That's one way to look at it. The other way to look at it is that they were trying to salvage Star Wars after the train wreck that was Episode VIII and this was the only way they could think to do it. Episode VIII is going to go down as -the- most hotly debated movie of the Saga. If you loved VIII, you're going to hate IX. If you hated VIII, you're probably going to enjoy most of IX. This could be talked about until the sun runs out of fuel.
Common Theme 2 - "Episode IX is a horrible film that spends way too much time trying to pat old school fans on the head and not nearly enough time trying to allow the new kids to have their own story." See, you say that like it's a bad thing. People have been waiting for the end of the Skywalker Saga for over thirty years. Many of us don't give a damn what happens to Poe, Rey, or Finn. We're already SIX MOVIES into caring about our existing crop of people. Now we have three sequel movies that are supposed to be the climactic end of one story, while also being the beginning of someone else's story too, and you can't see how that could possibly be a problem for those of us who just want to know how it all ends? Like any other debate in Star Wars, this is a matter of opinion and perspective, but rather than writing the movie off completely, maybe people should allow for the fact that Star Wars can be many things to many people. Perhaps that's the biggest problem. It's too busy trying to be many things to many people. That's a debate for another day though.
Episode IX isn't perfect, but it's good enough, and by God, if you can hang up your granny panties and simply watch it to be entertained, I think you'll find yourself in that boat as well. Both sets of stories find their way to a decent stopping point. For Luke and Company, it's a decent enough end. For Rey and Company, it's a great jumping off point for something different. Both things are quite serviceable. Neither are what either camp was probably hoping for. It's just 'Good Enough', and it's also very entertaining if you can just...be entertained. Given the massive diversity surrounding what Star Wars means to everyone, 'Good Enough' is a huge accomplishment. Someone deserves applause for it, as long as it's not JJ Abrams.
It's not a fairy tale ending. It's just the ending to a pretty good fairy tale.
HERE THERE BE SPOILERS! And they're Star Wars spoilers, so you've been warned.
This movie was -full- of hand-clapping, jaw-dropping, tear-jerking, fist-pumping and profanity-producing moments. In no particular order:
- The opening 10 minutes of this movie are GORGEOUS, and having the OG Emperor back in the saddle was done so damned well...I was really worried that they would cheese off the Emperor the same way they'd cheesed off Luke in VIII, and they didn't. I think they got just about everything out of ol' Sheev that they could, and what they did get was just ... face-meltingly gorgeous. And creepy as fuck, I might add. They really went over the top on his makeup and he looked amazing.
- The new droid, Dio? I had doubts, but he's adorable, and reminds me of a personality core from Portal 2. SPAAAAACE!
- Luke finally got to raise his X-Wing out of the water, and the music that played while he was doing it was more than enough to move me to tears. This might be my favorite scene in the whole movie, perhaps out of all three sequels. I openly, unabashedly cried like a baby during that scene. That said...that X-Wing has spent a -lot- of time under the water between Luke's stay in Dagobah and then Ach To. Are we really gonna say that didn't cause any problems? Really?
- The music that plays when Rey explores the Throne Room on Endor was a massive callback to Return Of The Jedi, and I squeed all over the place.
- Rey having her own little Dagobah Cave moment while she was on the ruined Death Star was kind of cool, but at the same time, I really felt like someone wrote Dark Rey in just to put her in the trailers and
- MOTHERFUCKIN' WEDGE ANTILLES IN THE HOUSE!
- I was really worried when I heard that Billy Dee Williams was coming back for this movie. Anyone who has seen him in the last 15 years knows he didn't look good at all. He flat out looked bad. Like, people gave Carrie Fisher grief for how she looked in Episodes VII and VIII, and I'm here to tell you, she looked GOOD compared to Williams. I'm not sure what they did, but Billy Dee was back, and Lando looked better than ever. Beyond that, I was worried that he'd be given a bit part in the film, and he got way more than that. Better still, he OWNS every scene he's in. The man is still as smooth, charming, calming, and suave as he was during Empire and Jedi, and it's so good to see him again.
- I'm not sure what they had to do to get the approval for Harrison Ford to show up again. Someone had to get a fuck-ton of money, because Harrison was on record as wanting to get out of those films. I'm sure glad they found said money though, because Holy. Shit. More tears. HOLY SHIT.
- There was absolutely one moment when I got absolutely disgusted and audibly said, "Oh, FUCK YOU" to the movie screen. You'll know when you see it. I'm sure it was supposed to be a potent, applause-worthy part of the film, but you could hear a pin drop in the theater. No one was having it. Trust me, you'll know it when you see it. It's at the end of the final fight with Palpatine.
- Yes, use of the deleted scenes with Carrie Fisher in them was ham-fisted and poorly edited. They were doing what they could with the materials they had, and they were trying to honor an incredible woman and character in the process. Anyone who has a problem with either of those things can fuck right off.
- Fuck you and your light speed skipping, Poe.
- "Hey guys, have we made Finn shout at the camera in this scene yet? No? Let's do that. John Boyega always nails it when we ask him to shout a word at the screen." Or not. Not ever.
- Kelly Marie Tran's Rose Tico was certainly a cute part of Episode VIII, but apparently they weren't interested in furthering her story arc in Episode IX, because ... reasons? I dunno.
- One of the big things people had an issue with was the side-stepping that they clearly had to do around Kylo telling Rey that her parents were no one, people who sold their child for drinking money. Now...on one hand, Kylo didn't know who her parents were in Episode VIII, so you could chalk that up to him talking out of his ass. On the other hand....yeah.
- The whole Force Diad thing, or whatever it was? Yeah, that was stupid. It becomes even more stupid when you tie it into the end of the film. Palpatine is all about how Darth Plageus could stave off death, and Palpatine clearly figured out how to do that himself, so why did he need Rey to kill him? Just suck her life out. And instead of that whole Diad in the force thing, just sort of be like, "Oh, look, TWO people strong in the force! Even more life for me to suck out!" Unnecessary complications everywhere!
- In a nod to the Return Of The King, we will not allow the scene with Rey and the emperor to end promptly. She's dead...she's not!....she's dead....she's not!
- Let's talk about lightsabers for a moment, hmm? First, they don't even touch on how they fix Luke's saber or HOW THEY GOT IT OUT OF THE BOWELS OF BESPIN. (They took it off of Luuke, duh.) Then there's the thing with Leia's saber. Yes, it was a bit of cool backstory with her, and yes, the digital restoration of her face was pretty great, but...really? Just have Luke give her his green saber and be like, "Hey, you might need this when you go kick the Emperor's ass." I honestly think that would have gotten a better reaction out of people, and I know -I- would have enjoyed seeing it more than yet another random saber. Though God knows there'll be lots of Leia Saber toys running around now, so... yeah.
- Pointless desert flying stormtrooper scene is pointless. Seriously, if The Force Unleashed taught us anything, it's that you Force Pull those people into close range and casually saber them. A lot.
- Pump-faked Chewie Death was pointless, IMO. Even if there was a point, someone should have asked Daisy Ridley to reshoot that screech of hers when she realizes what she's done. And while we're on that subject...
- Can we talk about Rey destroying that transport for a moment, please? She's enough of a trained Force user at this point that she should know the difference between one power and another, so how do we go from pulling a ship to LIGHTNING? That just seems like a huge reach. Yes, I know it was a tie-in to her being a Palpatine, but there are other ways they could have done it.
- The chemistry between Poe, Rey, and Finn was really good in this film. This was more like 'Empire' in that I could clearly feel the history that they had together. This should have been how Episode VIII felt.
- Can we decide on the sacred Jedi texts being important or not please? Either they're important -- Rey did take them after all -- or they're not, in which case, why hang the plot on them? And while we're on that note...
- Episode VIII goes out of its way to explain the flaws of the Jedi, yet Rey immediately leaps into Jedi training in Episode IX, and no one bothered to explain to her that the real secret that Luke was trying to espouse to her was -balance- in the force, not an over-reliance on one side or another. This might be another one of those things that folks tried to ret-con for IX though, so...
- Anyone else notice the round dish on the Falcon?
- The dagger thing was stupid. Period. Just. Fucking. Stupid.
- The new, crazy-ass Force powers in the sequel trilogy are things that people have huge problems with, but I sort of elected to just kind of lean into it. My problem with them is that they aren't consistent at all. Let's talk about reaching out to someone using the Force. It clearly takes a lot out of you, especially if you manifest in another place. Hell, it zorched Luke. By Episode IX, Kylo is doing it without incident. Leia does it though, and she gets zorched. And while we're on that subject...
- It's not enough that we're reaching out to people in the Force to avoid long distance charges, but we're now TELEPORTING OBJECTS through the Force? The necklace? Vader's wrecked face? What the fuck? If you can teleport shit through the Force, that opens up a zillion different holes in storytelling.
- Where was Ben's force ghost? No love there?
- Who were the Knights of Ren?! That never gets explained.
- Why repair the mask? It's on again, it's off again, it's on again, it's...
- The voices of the Jedi at the end, when Rey asked them for help? Sort of cool, and sort of telling. I heard Qui-Gon, Yoda, Anakin -- Bring balance to the force, like me! KILL EVERYONE LIKE I DID! Fuck you, Anakin. -- Obi-Wan, Kaanan, aaaaand I'm pretty sure I heard Ahsoka. That last one's interesting, because it means she's quite definitively dead. That's a huge blow for anyone who's been watching Rebels. That show leaves off without anyone knowing what happens with Ahsoka. Well...somewhere along the line, she gets dead.
- "Leia'd want you to have this, Rey." Awesome! I SHALL BURY IT!
- Why is Rey flying around in the Falcon at the end of IX? Why not continue to use Luke's T-65? I mean, by the time we get to Episode IX, it's a really old ship, but still...Vintage! But seriously, the T-65s were old back when Luke was flying them in Episode IV. The Rebellion couldn't afford new shit and had to rely on older, out of date craft. It speaks to the sheer usefulness of the X-Wings that even the older platforms were still insanely potent snub fighters. By the time Episode IX rolls around, even the T-70s in use are out of date.
- It took the Death Star to produce a Planet Killer weapon, and it took a considerable amount of time to charge up each time. Then they made a second, MUCH BIGGER Death Star that had a weapon that could be fired much more rapidly, but was more for taking out capital ships. Then they made Starkiller Base, a planet-sized weapon that ATE STARS, but could destroy multiple planets in one shot. Then...they made a battering ram with the tech that was still fucking massive, but pretty much just broke big walls down. And finally, in Episode IX, they have Death Star 1-class Planet Killers mounted on the underbellies of old Star Destroyers. That's...that's something, anyway.
- Standard I-Class Star Destroyers had a crew compliment of around 50,000 people between officers, enlisted men, Stormtroopers, and other militia. Based on the shots of all of those Star Destroyers in the trailers, there were well over 200 destroyers that Palpatine had been hiding, which means tens of millions of people needed to crew those ships. Where did he find them? Where did he train them? What have they been doing for the last 30 years? Where did the resources come from? How did no one hear about a ship-building or arming project of this scale?
- The fight at the end between Rey and Palpatine is cinematic enough, but also sort of stupid. There are a hundred different ways Palpatine could have snuffed Rey out. Lightning not working? Great, just choke her. Push her into orbit. Pull her arms off. FIGHT HER WITH YOUR OWN LIGHTSABER. Let's be real here, Rey wasn't a stunning lightsaber combatant. Palpatine would have given her the biggest dark side curb smiley in the history of curbs and smileys without breaking a sweat. And on that note...
- I'm not sure who the hell was choreographing the saber combat in this movie, but excepting the flashback between Luke and Leia, the saber combat in this film was weak sauce.
- Adam Driver deserved better.
- So, what, Finn's Force-Sensitive now? Hey, good news! Rey is burying lightsabers everywhere, so we can just dig one up for you when you start your own training in Episode X! Nothing but love for Boyega, but christ, would Finn make an annoying Force user.
- Finn and Poe don't kiss at the end of this movie. Get over it, people.
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