TL;DRI liked it, despite it's flaws.
Most of it's flaws were a result of the fixes and answers that the fanbase needed after TLJ divided us.
Don't like the sequels? Check your expectations at the door and young up.
Any Star Wars is better than no Star Wars.
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Overall I liked it. It was a bit heavy on the fan service stuff, but I thought it had to be after the mess that TLJ created. Regardless of your opinions on that film, it did create a messy divide with the fanbase even more than TFA did. JJ had an impossible task, and the film had plenty of flaws, but I enjoyed it. I mean, JJ had to explain:
- Leia Poppins. How did she do that? Answer: We see her training with Luke.
- Rey's lineage. Like it or not, she most certainly had to come from an incredibly powerful line to be filled with that much raw power without training. At least that's what a big portion of the fanbase expected, demanded, and revolted at about TLJ. Even Rian Johnson hinted that Kylo could have been lying. He gave several interviews where he commented about things "being true from a certain point of view" guiding his decision to go that route, so the door was open for us to get a different answer, and JJ took it to appease the fans.
- Palpatine. I would've preferred him to stay dead, and his resurrection serves as the biggest indicator that these 3 films were not mapped out as a single story. However, in TLJ Snoke was killed off too quickly and easily, so we needed a big baddie string puller for our heroes to battle, because we didn't get that resolution. I'm sure we will get an answer as to how he survived (my money is on a clone that was resurrected with the midichlorians harvested from another Force sensitive being - maybe Baby Yoda), but for now we can simply debate.
- Holdo Maneuver. While it was really, really cool, why hasn't it been done before? What are the chances we see it again? Not good. Like 1 in 100? More like 1 in a million. So you're telling me there's a chance...
- Lightspeed Skipping. TLJ did away with light speed being an escape option, so JJ had to explain how it still was an option, otherwise space battles would become the slow speed chase we saw in TLJ. Again, though, that was something a lot of fans hated. From now on when a ship jumps to lightspeed we will know how they escaped or why they were not even pursued, "Oh, they lightspeed skipped."
- Luke's saber throw away retcon.
- Yoda's lightning tree strike needs to be supported, so Luke catches the lightsaber and raises his X-wing.
I could go on, but this much fan service made it clear that they were trying to right the ship and bring back fans that were irate over TLJ. I have some other thoughts.
Rey's Saber:
- I love the yellow color.
- A few comments earlier on in this thread discussed it, but it is not a staff. However, it is made from the end of her staff. When she is walking around the Lars homestead, you can see it attached to her hip. Looks like it's designed to be primarily a single handed dueler, which is sort of Rey's style.
Force Power Creep:
- Admittedly, I haven't read the books like Jedi Path, but are we getting a bit ridiculous? We are bordering on video game levels here, and it seems to becoming too much of a stretch. There will always need to be an extreme level of suspension of disbelief when it comes to the idea of the Force, and I have no problems with new powers being rolled out as long as they are connections, extensions, or feasible jumps of things we have seen in the past. Or if they things that are rooted in established SW canon. For example, we saw Force jumps in the OT, so why not have Force run in the PT? Sure. Makes sense. Also, we've seen the Force be able to move objects and stop them from moving, so it makes sense that a strong Force user could stop a shot from a blaster or block a saber strike. It's a logical connection. But I think this trilogy ended up taking things too far. I half expected Rey to just lift the Death Star wreckage out of the ocean, or for some random Force sensitive to stop the blast that blew up Kijimi.
- My biggest issues with the Force in this movie were Palp's fleet killing lightning power and the teleporting items (the graflex and the necklace) between Rey and Kylo/Ben. Maybe Palp's power could be explained because it was amplified by being on Exegol, but is the ability to teleport or grab something like they did with the saber and necklace have any basis on what we have as canon? I know Luke's doppelganger from TLJ does, but what about teleporting? Similarly, do we have anything to support that people can duel through visions like Rey and Kylo did while they were separated? Maybe them being a dyad will provide answers, but for now I just ever so slightly shake my head. I am genuinely asking, though.
- I prefer the Force ghosts to be passive watchers and advisers as opposed to being able to physically interact with the world. Just a preference, though, because this is a relatively new discovery of the Jedi.
- Force Heal. Fine with it, because it's not a new ability, but the whole bringing Rey back from the dead needs to be explained. It's probably another one of those dyad things, but I don't have an issue with Force heal being in the saga.
Ben's Redemption:
- I really liked it. It was a series of massive gut punches in only a few seconds. I mean, he senses his mother has passed away, his enemy delivers a killing blow and then saves his life, and then he has a vision of his father. He wants to tell him he loves him (based on Han's famous "I know" quote), but he can't get the words out without losing it. The Dark Side has left him alone and not strong enough to best Rey. It's at least plausible that he would turn back. This was Adam Driver's best scene in the whole trilogy.
- Before that, though, I thought Adam Driver did a great job and the Kylo Ren character was the best written of the entire trilogy. I also liked him after he turned. The cocky shoulder shrug after getting the saber when surrounded by the Knights of Ren - couldn't you just see Han Solo doing something like that? And his fighting style was a good mix of more precise and artistic light side flow that he didn't use before, and it ended with a very powerful flip over, grab, and stab of the last knight. To me it was a good reflection of his overall character arc.
Leia:
- Again, another impossible task to use prerecorded footage of Carrie Fisher and also allow us to say goodbye to her. It was well done, but it was also obvious that entire scenes and the resulting dialogue were built around the handful of lines they had. It wasn't always entirely smooth, but it was good.
Chewie:
- I'm glad he didn't die that way. If he does die, then he deserves a better send off than to die in a Force tug-of-war. Like Luke, Han, and Leia, I think the fans should be given an opportunity to say goodbye on screen. That being said, because Wookiees can live for a really long time, and the reality of it being a costume, I'm fine with him (along with R2 and 3PO) being the carryovers into a new trilogy if they make one. It would work.
- He didn't need to get the medal. A nice little, but unnecessary, nod. Another fan service moment that is more about pleasing the vocal fans than anything else.
Death Star 2:
- If it was orbiting the Forest Moon, then why did the vast majority of it crash on the Ocean Moon?
Zorii Bliss:
- SW always needs a scoundrel, and she served as one. Shady backstory with shifting allegiances? Yeah, I liked her, even if she did look just a little too much like a Power Ranger.
Babu Frik:
- Yes sir may I have another?!
Wedge:
- Nice, subtle nod to the OT that worked really well. I was glad to see him flying with Lando if we couldn't get him in an X-wing.
Force Sensitive Finn (and Jannah):
- The Force Awakens now seems like an incredibly appropriate title that was hinted at by the broomstick kid from TLJ. The Force has indeed awakened in a lot of beings across the galaxy which gives us a lot of new story options going forward, because I don't think this is the last we will see of these characters. I'm ok with Finn being Force sensitive to explain why he (and Jannah) would suddenly walk away from the First Order as well as his strong bond with Rey.
- That being said, I'm not ok with Finn being Force sensitive as a way of answering the question a lot of people had, "How could Finn wield a lightsaber so well if he wasn't Force sensitive?" First off, he did have some melee weapon training as a FO stormtrooper, so he would have a working knowledge on how to block and strike with a weapon like a lightsaber. Secondly, however, he didn't wield it very well. That stormtrooper in TFA kicked his ass in only a few seconds, and so did Kylo after he stopped toying with him. Finally, you don't need to be Force sensitive to turn on and use a lightsaber. Han proved that on Hoth.
Time:
- Please stop giving us the timestamps of 16 hours, 8 hours, and so on. Let us debate if things would have taken days, weeks, months, etc. to play out. Part of fandom fun is us trying to figure out how long Luke trained with Yoda, while also figuring out how much Han, Leia, and Chewie had to endure on Bespin. Another reason to do away with this is the fact that we are not going to crisscross the galaxy in a matter of minutes, so the whole sequence of events in TLJ and TROS would need more than hours to accomplish.
Music:
- John Williams is the GOAT when it comes to movie scores. I sat there as my wife and sons stood up during the credits. They asked me if there was something at the end. I simply replied, "No. I may never get to here these songs again in a a theater, so I'm going to enjoy it."
My Overall SW Skywalker Saga Closure Thoughts:
Preface: If I get some numbers wrong here, I apologize. I'm going in with no fact checking.
Star Wars will always hold a special place in my heart (as I'm sure most of yours as well), but I think we need to realize that these movies were designed to be attractive to a younger audience, and I wish we would all remember that with each new chapter, movie, series, etc. I grew up with the OT being "my Star Wars." The Special Edition re-release happened when I was in high school, the prequels came out in my late teens to mid 20s, and the sequels came out after I became a father. My sons are currently 8 and 5. I have had a chance to experience this franchise through 3 very distinct phases of my life, and every portion feels different. My sons have seen nearly everything SW except for Episode 3, Star Wars Resistance, and a good portion of TCW series. I've had the chance to experience it through my own and my brothers' young eyes, my wife's eyes when she came to appreciate SW after marrying me, my adult eyes, and through the eyes of my young sons and their friends.
We have all been blessed with 42 years of incredible films and shows (Christmas Special doesn't count!
). When it comes to 9 saga films, 5 stand alone/spinoff films, and 4 spinoff series, there will inevitably be some content that we do not like due to opinions and preferences, but most of all because we have changed over those 42 years. The fans, the creators, the technology, the characters, the actors, the world in which we live - all of us have changed.
When ROTJ came out, I loved the Ewoks, but I was also a child. When TPM came out, I thought (and still do think) that Jar Jar was one of the most annoying things I've ever seen in a movie. My sons? They love him. When I see how they react to him, it's not hard for me to picture my younger self loving Jar Jar too. The sequel trilogy? It's probably their favorite 3 movies in the franchise. These movies will be "their SW." This is what they will grow up with like I did with the OT. When they ask to watch SW, it's almost always TFA, TLJ or TPM. It is rarely Episodes 4-6, which fans my age almost always rate as the strongest part in the whole SW franchise. I doubt I'm the only SW fan/parent who experiences this. Talk to a fan born in the mid 80s to mid 90s, and they would probably rate the prequels as their favorite, because that is what they grew up with.
My point is this. It seems like those of us who dislike the sequels and "what Disney has done" are the ones who are in my boat - the fans who were around at or near the beginning of this wonderful journey and/or those who devoured and still cling to the EU content, but I think we have forgotten something. Star Wars was, and always will be made for the younger crowd, although there is usually enough adult themes that make it relevant in our grown up lives. It's no different than virtually anything else. My wife and her family love Star Trek. Her parents loved the original series and cast. She loves Next Generation. Think about your favorite genre of music. It it as good as it used to be? Probably not. Nothing is hardly ever as good as we remember it when we "discovered it."
And you know what? That's ok.
My hope is that the older fans remember what it was like when there was no new Star Wars content (outside of the books) for nearly 20 years. It sucked. You have every right to your opinion and to agree or disagree with anything and everything I've said in this novelesque post, but please realize that any Star Wars is better than no Star Wars, and try to find that young place in your heart where you can just sit back and enjoy the ride the filmmakers take us on, despite anything that may fall short of our expectations, because that is where the overwhelming majority of disappointment originates - unmet expectations.
MTFBWY. Always.
