Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker

[Gatefan1976]

Red Carpet was Monday. Review embargo lifts at midnight PST. Opens in part of EU Wednesday.

I don't know what standard practice is. Should another thread be started for people who've seen it?

Nah, for those of us who see it early, we will either have the good taste to be quiet, or put it in spoiler tags.
Trust the force

[Annoyed]

Agree.
But good intentions aside, do the fans (and given the toxic nature of SW fans right now I hate to use it), have a right to be PO'ed?

But hasn't that been the issue?
We have not had one chef?
Chef 1 decides where we are going, and chef 2 says "bollux that, I'm going where I want".
If JJ really wanted SW, he should have stuck with it, and I guess that is really what annoys me. He got SW, he got ST, and (IMHO) he's screwed both of them by not going forward with his vision.
I'm not saying he "wrecked my childhood", but if you truly want such an impactful brand, have the guts to stick with it, and not pass it off.

Could we maybe at least be in the same book on this? If JJ or any other director/producer/whatever wants to work with an existing property like trek, he ought to work it in its existing form, rather than remake it in his own image such as JJ did with "Star Trek"(2009).

How many times and variation do we need to see Spiderman's origin as different people head movies?

If someone wants to work an existing franchise, work with that existing material. If you want to make something else, create your own universe and do that.

[Teddybrown]

So... I feel like this is going to be a marmite movie. I enjoyed it, if it was a bit outlandish at times...

Interested to see what others think

[DigiFluid]

One or two wonky spots, but on the whole I very much enjoyed it. Hit almost all the emotional notes I wanted it to, did some new things, and plenty of pew-pew flash and spectacle. I'm very satisfied with this as an ending to the Saga storyline, and this was easily my favourite of the sequel trilogy.

[Kilgharrah]

I could not belive it. The moment when everything was ending. I was in a shock. I couldn't really believe this saga is really over after all those years.

[DigiFluid]

Some spoiler-tastic thoughts:

Spoiler:

For the second time, your warning, these spoiler tags contain spoilers for The Rise of Skywalker:

Spoiler:

Last chance

Spoiler:

- I was pretty impressed at how effectively they were able to use four year old Carrie footage. Yeah you could tell she wasn't reacting in real time to the lines written for Daisy Ridley years later, but I think a good chunk of that is down to us in the real world knowing what's going on. I bet if a kid grows up watching this movie, they'll have no idea until they're older and find out.

- I was amused at how they've learned to use CGI (re)creations in a way much more believable than CGI Leia at the end of Rogue One -- flashback Luke and Leia in the dark, only illuminated by blade colours, or as a Force Ghost at the end but 'well, let's have her 'stand' 20 feet back from the camera, that plus the transparency should disguise it'

- Babu Frik was great, but he's no Baby Yoda

- Looooooved the Sith planet Exawhateveritwascalled. Very horror film-inspired

- Very curious about all the old Jedi voices during the climax. Was that repurposed old recordings, or did they call up Hayden Christensen and Samuel L Jackson and the rest and ask them to come into a sound studio to record a few lines?

- legit did not expect Hux to get offed so unceremoniously, so that was a heck of a surprise. Not unwelcome though, I thought he was a lame wannabe ever since TFA

- the arrival of the fleet of just people who collectively stood up to say "no more" was a real triumph

- really, really liked how this movie didn't actually throw away the "let the past die, kill it if you have to" theme from TLJ, but instead reframed it much more upliftingly as "where you come from doesn't define you, you can choose to be better"

- rolled my eyes super hard at the "Reylo" fan service (I hate shippers), but had to stifle a laugh when he died two seconds later

- the fan service I really did appreciate though was how they chose to close out the Saga storyline by returning to where it all began for fans, the Lars ranch on Tatooine, and give Rey her own watching the suns set scene

- when the heroes get back to the Resistance planet, and that admiral from TLJ tells them that Leia is gone....Chewie absolutely howling and collapsing to his knees was a farking misty-eyed gutpunch for me

- I don't know where the fark Richard Grant's character was for the first two movies, but he seems to be higher-ranking than Hux? That's a bit weird....but I still really liked the character

- great to have Lando back, though I'm not sure why it took so long to invite him. And the last scene with him....do we figure The Adventures of Lando and Jannah is going to be a novel, or a comic series?

- I was somewhere between a chuckle and an "ohhhh" when Kylo first went to Palps's temple (or whatever you want to call it) at the beginning of the movie and he walks past a tank that has like 3 or 4 Snoke clones floating in it

- was hoping for a bit more expansion on Zorri Bliss, but given that this was already nearly 2.5h long and crammed with story, I guess there just wasn't room. Ah well, that's what the books and comics are for

I'm sure there's more that I'm forgetting, but those are the bits that spring to mind off the top of my head.

[Kilgharrah]

Spoiler:

I wasn't really content with the Leia scenes. They just seemed off somehow.

This movie felt determined to undo TLJ in every way.

There were very few surprises in the movie but overall, it was all predictable.

Even though I knew it was all ending, I was both in a shock and sadness when everything was destroyed.

I was hoping for a crossover that just never came, unless you count the voices of Ahsoka and Kanan as one.
I'm referring to when all Jedi were speaking with Rey. I read somewhere Ahsoka and Kanan were there and also Qui Gon but I didn't recognize their voices during the scene.
I was really hoping to see the characters from TCW or from Rebels but I was so disappointed.

[Teddybrown]

Spoiler:

Did I miss the explanation of how Palpatine came back?

They salvaged the "You're no one" part from TLJ having her parents hide her like she was no one.

The ending was a nice touch but you just know 5/10 years down the line someone will go to Tattoine and uncover those lightsabres. Also agreed about "The Adventures of Lando!"

I was shocked when the transport exploded "killing Chewie" but glad he got his medal at the end

Oh, and the kiss... not needed... haha and the Knights of Ren were again wasted.

[Kilgharrah]

Spoiler:

the Jedi voices we heard.

[DigiFluid]

Spoiler:

the Jedi voices we heard.

Oh cool!

Spoiler:

I definitely caught Luminara, but I definitely did not catch pretty well any of the other animated character voices!

[Kilgharrah]

Unfortunately,

Spoiler:

that's the only crossover we got.

I don't know the ones from TCW, but the only Jedi voices I recognized were Luke, Yoda and Anakin.

[DigiFluid]

Unfortunately,

Spoiler:

that's the only crossover we got.

I don't know the ones from TCW, but the only Jedi voices I recognized were Luke, Yoda and Anakin.

Spoiler:

It's not often that crossovers flow 'up' from TV to movies. I mean heck, prior to this the only TV-to-movie SW crossover we had were splitsecond cameos of Chopper and the Ghost in Rogue One.

Oh and I suppose Boba Fett technically debuted in the Holiday Special, but it's best if we all just agree that the Holiday Special never happened

[Kilgharrah]

I never noticed the Ghost on Rogue one.

[DigiFluid]

I believe there's an aerial shot looking down at the parked Rebel ships on Yavin where part of it is visible, but it's most noticeable just as the Rebel fleet is arriving at Scarif:

https://i.imgur.com/Y4mk6kC.png

[Kilgharrah]

I would never have noticed it even if I'd watched the movie a million times.