Welcome back to Sound Off!, a semi-regular column where members of Speculative Chic gather together to chat about the latest BIG THING in entertainment. This time, join for the end of an era and discuss Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which premiered in the United States on Friday, December 20, 2019.
Sound Off! is meant to be a reaction, but not necessarily a review. After all, while we are all individuals, even mutual love of something (or hate) can come from different places: you may find everything from critique to fangirling to maybe even hate-watching.
Now, join Keyes, Kristina Elyse Butke, Howard Kleinman, Sherry Peters, and Shara White and as they talk about Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker! [Note: Spoiler-free until the big red warning!]
Keyes: As the credits rolled at the end of The Rise of Skywalker, I turned to my husband and announced “That was not a bad ending to a trilogy that did not precede it.” After giving the film more thought (I had to think about The Last Jedi for a few weeks before I decided I liked it), that’s still my overall reaction. Some parts if the film work better than others. The parts that tend to work better are typically the parts that had some kind of foundation to them, if not laid in the prior films than at least things that make sense with what remains established Star Wars lore. I will say that although there has been some amount of internet grumbling about the way Carrie Fisher’s General Leia was pieced and patched into the film from leftover footage, I think it basically worked. You can tell that role and that plot was meant to go deeper, but what they did with what the had to work with was better than the alternative of leaving her out of the picture. Overall, it’s not transcendent and it’s not terrible.
Kristina: It is with heavy heart that I tell you that I hate, hate, hated this film. I never thought I would say this about Star Wars. I never thought I would have it in me to have a visceral “fanboy” reaction to a work, and yet, here we are.
I absolutely wanted to love this movie — I was begging to love it — but all I felt was incredulity at the many WTF, completely illogical moments in the film, and the rage that I couldn’t enjoy myself despite seeing my beloved characters onscreen again.
When I sat down for The Rise of Skywalker, I looked at its place in a trilogy — not as the ninth film in the Skywalker Saga, but the conclusion of the saga that was The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. I rewatched both movies hours before I arrived at the theater for The Rise of Skywalker to get a fresh perspective. While each film has been its own unique story, I was able to feel like there was some sort of arc flowing between The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. Even with their differences in style and tone, I at least found some kind of tenable connection between them where they seemed to be working together to tell the same overarching story.
My grievances in rapid succession:
- The fan service was amped up and lazy. They even repeated the same “I’ve got a bad feeling about this” throwback line, dating from the original trilogy. I know this is a running gag in all the movies, but it is so old. It’s worse when it’s repeated not only verbatim but in the same tone of voice as the original. They did this in The Force Awakens and again in The Rise of Skywalker. This is emblematic of the fan service in the movie: “We will give you exactly the same thing in the exact same style, but it’s not really the same because the characters are different. Whee.”
- I was so pissed at the retconning/sidelining/erasure of characters and themes from The Last Jedi. Rose Tico’s treatment was especially egregious because it validated the wrong kind of Star Wars fan — the misogynists and racists who ran Kelly Tran off of social media. Rose had some of the best lines in The Last Jedi, and I’d argue that her line “That’s how we’re going to win. Not by fighting what we hate, but by saving what we love” is the heart (or a significant heartbeat, anyway) of the new trilogy. Poof, never mind.
- Don’t get me started on the return of the idea that power, importance, and a fated destiny come from bloodlines and birth.
- Basic botched storytelling: pacing issues, bizarre logic, undeveloped or unresolved or otherwise completely forgotten story threads (or even complete story lines), pointless characters, flimsy redemption arcs, and the overuse of MacGuffins and deus ex machina.
- The worst storytelling offender is that this is a story without true stakes. When “The dead speak!” and the dead don’t actually die, what in this world is worth dying for?
Sadly, like Game of Thrones, the handling of the finale has left such a bad taste in my mouth that I’ve lost the desire to re-watch any of the franchise and close the chapter on it forever. I will pretty much twiddle my thumbs as I whisper to myself, “Let’s pretend this never happened.”
SPOILERS BELOW
Howard: I liked the movie, but I didn’t love it. I think the only movie of the new trilogy that really made a strong impact on me was The Force Awakens. The decision to not have a three-movie plan in place really hurt this trilogy as a whole. Rian Johnson ignored what J.J. Abrams set up and then J.J. Abrams ignored him right back.
I admire a lot of what The Last Jedi tried to do, but killing off Snoke so early was a mistake. There was no way that Kylo Ren could be a lead villain. He’s far too unstable to be a competent main baddy. So I sort of understand pulling Palpatine out of the grave. And I’m all for more of Ian McDiarmid hamming it up Return of the Jedi or Revenge of the Sith-style. UNLIMITED POWAH!!! is always fun.
Kylo Ren and Rey are basically the heart and soul of the sequel trilogy. As far as their growth and relationships are concerned, the movie succeeded. I cared about what they did and what happened to them.
Poe and Finn didn’t have that much of interest to do, which is disappointing because Finn was much more enjoyable in the last two movies. I appreciate that having him become Force sensitive sort of hearkened back to Rian Johnson’s “bloodlines don’t matter” argument for the Force, but I wish he had more to do. Making Poe a former spice runner just makes him into even more of a Han Solo Lite.
As for the final appearances of the original big three, I was happy they were able to do as much as they could with Carrie Fisher’s pre-recorded scenes, but I ultimately believe they should’ve recast the part for the sake of making the most of the movie. I thought someone like Jamie Lee Curtis could’ve done the part justice. As for Luke and Hans’ scenes, they were both great, and I was happy that they could do little wrap-ups that felt appropriate for the film.
The movie as a whole was incredibly overstuffed and tried to do to much, but it still FELT like a proper Star Wars movie. It still had its heart on its sleeve and it still believed that people are capable of overcoming their worst impulses. It’s a worthy addition to the series, even if it doesn’t set a new high watermark.
Sherry: I’ll need to see it a few dozen more times to figure out what my true thoughts are on this movie, and I reserve the right to change my opinions as many times as I want to on what follows. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.
I was most interested to see how Rey’s lineage and the Force played out. From my Resolution Project post on The Last Jedi, I talked a lot about how I liked that Rey’s parents were no one because the Force is supposed to be everywhere and in all things, presuming then that anyone with the right training can use it. Since this trilogy was making such a big deal about who Rey’s parents were, and especially the trailers and all the promotion going into this movie, there was no way her parents were just no one. I’d had a feeling all along of who her parents might be. I was pretty sure she wasn’t a Skywalker. Leia would never have given up one child and kept the other, and Luke was hiding on an island. He also seemed to be a little more faithful to his Jedi vows of celibacy than his father was. Which could really only leave Palpatine. So, I wasn’t surprised when it was revealed that Rey is his granddaughter. I’m not that disappointed by it either. As storytelling goes, and since this has always been about parents and children, of course it would have to come down to Rey needing to kill her grandfather or turn to the dark side and become the Empress of the Sith.
Here, I have to talk about Princess General Leia Organa. This was supposed to be her movie, and then we lost Carrie Fisher so tragically a couple of years ago. I was interested to see how they were going to work her in. I knew clips of her from material of her previous movies were digitally inserted. It was kind of obvious, but I didn’t care. It was one last movie with her. Her connection with Ben was sweet, and they perished together. It was like we lost her all over again. Chewie’s howls of grief echoed my own.
And of course it was great to see Lando Calrissian and even have the Ewoks make a cameo appearance. So maybe I enjoyed it because it hit on so many nostalgic notes for me. Like I said at the start, I’ll need to see it several more times before I get a true handle on the story arc, but my initial thoughts are that it was well done. It ended the way it had to end. And one final thought: Sometimes the other fans in the audience make the movie all the more enjoyable. The lady sitting next to me kept saying “Oh no, oh no,” for everything. It wasn’t super loud so it wasn’t distracting. It made me smile because she was so into it, and I love that.
Shara: I loved it. I wanted to see it again as soon as it was over. I know I’ve said before that it takes me time to process movies, especially when I go into ones with high expectations, and The Rise of Skywalker is no exception. But one of the things that cemented my love was near the beginning, when we get to see Rey, Poe, and Finn interact together for the first time and the bond they have is clear: Rey and Poe banter like they’ve known each other for years (and they likely have at this point), and Finn very much seems to be the peacekeeper between them. But they all care about each other, and that much is so, so obvious. And it reminded me so much of what the best of the now-defunct Expanded Universe had to offer: great relationships with people who are trying to do the right thing by each other and their cause. Seeing those three together made me realize just how much I love this trio, perhaps more so than the original trio of Han, Leia, and Luke. Don’t get me wrong, I love them too. But Rey, Finn, and Poe have something that I truly identify with, and I want all of their adventures.
I loved Leia’s role in this movie. I teared up when Rey called her “Master,” because of course she is. Of course she would’ve been Luke’s first student, even if she ended up taking a different path than that of a Jedi. I loved Kylo/Ben’s arc as well: his turn to the light was wonderfully done, and I loved the final battle when Rey and Ben used their link to help each other instead of hurt.
As far as mixed feelings go, I feel like J.J. Abrams felt the need to cram two movies into one. I’m pretty sure he’s gone on record saying he wishes he’d directed the whole trilogy, which I both agree and disagree with. I agree, because I think this movie would’ve had a better set-up for the Big Bad and the reveal of Rey’s parentage. I disagree because as I’ve said before, I think The Last Jedi is going to become the shining jewel of the trilogy, because it pushes our expectations of what Star Wars is and should be on so many levels.
I was sorry to see that Rose didn’t have such a big role in this film, though I’m glad she was still here and still an integral part of the cast. I love that in every movie, Finn gets to act opposite of whatever new female lead that is introduced: first Rey, then Rose, and now Jannah. For a former Stormtrooper, he’s quite the ladies man!
I still have mixed feelings about the Emperor’s return, as well as the revelation that Rey is his granddaughter. Not because I think someone willingly conceived Palpatine’s children the old fashioned way (let’s be real: there’s a high possibility that any offspring Palpatine has was created in a lab), but because I just don’t know how I feel about his return in this movie. Don’t get me wrong: all of it was handled very, very well story-wise, but it does undermine the theme of The Last Jedi, which reminds us that one doesn’t need a powerful bloodline to have a powerful connection to the Force, and I think that’s unfortunate. That said, it’s going to take two, three, maybe even four viewings of The Rise of Skywalker before I’m truly ready to submit an opinion on the matter.
I have decided I could’ve done without the kiss between Rey and Ben. No, not Kylo, Ben. They were both wonderful in this scene, and I absolutely get the connection they have. I also like how the kiss is an inverse of the fairy tale trope (while the kiss doesn’t kill Ben, he does die and fade immediately thereafter because he gave his life force to Rey). I just didn’t need that ship “confirmed” so to speak, and a hug would’ve been wonderful in its place.
But there’s so much to love in The Rise of Skywalker: Rey’s very own lightsaber; Chewie’s medal; Chewie’s grief over Leia’s passing. The best cameo after Rey and Kylo’s fight. Lando’s return. Poe’s struggle to be a leader instead of simply a hero. The way BB-8 wiggles like a cat. Our new droid, D-0, was appropriately cute.
I could go on and on, but I’ll stop. I have every intention of seeing it again as soon as I’m able, but in the meantime, I’m going to keep myself entertained with the Rey, BB-8, and Lieutenant Connix Funko Pop! figures I bought right after, and reading Resistance Reborn, the book that bridges The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker.
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