Movie Debate #9: Star Wars - The Rise of Skywalker

[Reed Rothchild | 9,509]

 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,509]

(this is the first selection I haven't seen and thus can't vote on)

[Gloves | 11,759]

Haven't. Seen. It.

[ZeldaFreak | 3,600]

5/10 for me. I personally vastly preferred TFA and TLJ, I really think they could've handled this one way better. Definitely a bittersweet... second ending? I guess? To the series, leaning more towards bitter than sweet. There are plenty of things I liked about it, but it really was just a mess top to bottom. And, without any spoilers, the very last scene of the movie just left me confused and disappointed, which is not how you'd want to close any franchise out, much less one this huge. Overall, I was hugely disappointed by it. I still stand by what I said when both movies came out that TFA and TLJ are both genuinely very good, but unfortunately out of the three movies in the trilogy, the very last one was the one they just couldn't stick the landing to. I still did enjoy watching it, and like I said there are for sure things it got right, so for that reason it just barely crawls to 5/10 for me. For me personally, it wasn't... bad per se, it was just very disappointing.

This is all saying a lot coming from me too, I'm usually very very easy to please when it comes to movies and games. It's rare that I think a movie is bad or even disappointing, but here we are.

[TDIRunner | 2,721]

Still haven't seen it yet.  This would be a good time to push the streaming date up like they did with Frozen 2.  

[themisfit138 | 523]

Haven’t seen it. Not planing to either. You can blame The Last Jedi for that. 

[Quest4Nes | 376]

7/10. I enjoyed my time in the theatre. Stuff i didnt like prrventing me from going higher. Had a great time though. Saw it twice. Liked it more the second time and the parts i didnt like the first time werent near as jarring the second time since I was able to relax and watch more.

[SpoonMan Abrams X | 697]

I have not seen this yet so cannot rightly rate it; though given the law of trilogies and everything I've heard my expectations are low lol

[JamesRobot | 5,786]

8 It's Star Wars.  Really enjoyed Palpatine's return.  Such a great creepy villain.

[AstralSoul | 502]

5/10

By far my least favorite of the Sequels but better than Ep 1&2. It was a fun watch but not much more. Pretty unsatisfying end to the Saga IMO.

[VegHead | 127]

3/10.  Not very good.  

It had a couple of neato new Force powers, and I appreciated a certain cameo, but that was it.  I didn't like the convoluted story, the double MacGuffin, the wonky logic, the villain, final battle, other final battle, space horses, more superlasers, etc., etc., etc.  I'm just glad it's done.  I really hope they just quietly let this trilogy die over the next ten years and eventually act like it never happened.  That would be great.

[ICrappedMyPants | 302]

1/10

This movie was a joke. This capped of the superfluous sequel trilogy. Everything that happened in the OT was in vain and sequel trilogy characters were paper thin in development. This made the whole saga a Palestine saga.

Disney royally blew these movies. The only interesting movie they made in my opinion was Rogue One. Everything else was a pathetic imitation of the OT with a few twists. Say what you want about the PT, but at least Lucas built up a world and created a political universe that led to the Empire. They are flawed but he built up an intricate world. These new movies never scratched the surface. JJ tried to save face after TLJ backlash, which was deserved for demolition of Luke’s character and complete regression of Poe and Finn. Ultimately, this movie failed to do that and contradicted TLJ bringing back Palps.

I’ve removed these movies from my mind when thinking about Star Wars just like I removed Ghostbusters 2 and Rocky 5.

[the tall guy | 63]

6.

Went into it with absolutely zero expectation, thought it was ok.

[Kguillemette | 1,543]

Finally got around to watching it. I think JJ Abrams had no idea where to go after Tlj, so he recycled the plot to Lost to get it done. Fortunately I rather like Lost, but I've seen it before, so 7/10.

[RH | 4,895]

1 hour ago, Kguillemette said:

Finally got around to watching it. I think JJ Abrams had no idea where to go after Tlj, so he recycled the plot to Lost to get it done. Fortunately I rather like Lost, but I've seen it before, so 7/10.

JJ Abrams only has so many tricks which he's repackaged over and over again.  Where M Night Shyamalan is a one trick pony, JJ Abrams is much the same but... like a three trick pony.

I think I've only seen one episode of Felicity so I can't speak about that, but my wife and I were also really into Alias and then LOST.  I didn't see Cloverfield but I remember hearing about it and even seeing the trailers. My appreciation for his work goes back years, but after a while you can tell he can get lost in his own plots and rehashes his old Oooh & Aaaah tricks.

That's not to say that he still can't make great media.  He can.  But some times I just feel like he phones in the plot a little because he doesn't know what to do.  I think he's a really hot director in Hollywood and, you know, when Disney calls you up and says "hey, we want you to make Star Wars movies", there has to be a part of you that goes "heck yes!" but a part of him, specifically, that also goes but I was more a Trek guy and I've already done that too. I'm not giving him a pass but sometimes I think his own success is partially his own worst enemy.  I think he takes on fun projects like Star Wars, but he lacks passion about it.  When the passion isn't their, those old tricks and plots get rehashed in a different form and it's just not as fun as his better work.

Edited July 30, 2020 by RH

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

I only saw it in the theater once and haven't had a chance to rewatch it and chew it over, but I"ll give it a 6.

There were some really creative parts, but just like the other movies of the sequel-trilogy, they follow too many character arcs compared to how compact the originals were.

Also the Deus ex Machina of the Exegol fleet was over-the-top, even compared to the silly "chase scene" of Ep 8. But the imagery of the rest of the Emperor related stuff made up for it.  At the time, on the big screen, it felt like the closest thing to Warhammer 40k imagery that would ever see that format in live action.

[TDIRunner | 2,721]

Well, I finally watched it.  It was ok.  Certainly better than The Last Jedi, but just about anything is better than that.  I almost took my son to see it in theaters and I'm kind of glad that I didn't.  I think it was too long and way too dark for him at his age.    

 

I still stand by my opinion that the sequel trilogy makes the prequel trilogy look like the original trilogy.  

[Kguillemette | 1,543]

 

Spoilers to follow

 

 

I should note that I hold the newest trilogy in about as high regard as I do the MCU movies. They are lots of fun if you don't take them too seriously. They have some great plot points and compelling characters, but at times can be outright silly, like the warp jump skipping early in the movie, or the random zooming in on Dominic Monaghan(I was important in Lost! Remember me?!) One other point is that JJ also had to finish the movie without Carrie Fisher, which I though he treated her character's passing with honor and respect. The reintroduction of Lando was nicely done and gave a nice mixture of nostalgia and fresh ideas. As far as the final showdown between Rey and Palpatine, it was a nice way give closure, although it was just the rehashing of the main plot of Lost(Light and Dark are always at odds, and everyone is a tool in the war between them, yeah yeah. I remember...)

All in all, good movie! Not great by any means. I used the action scenes as opportunities to use the toilet, get snacks, or put my kids to bed. Let's face it, they were pretty boring and predictable as a whole anyway.

[SpoonMan Abrams X | 697]

On 3/21/2020 at 2:38 AM, SpoonMan Abrams X said:

I have not seen this yet so cannot rightly rate it; though given the law of trilogies and everything I've heard my expectations are low lol

So I finally watched this and... good f'ing god. Really only the second movie in recent memory where I genuinely wish I could have those 2 hours of my life back (The other being the 2015 Fantastic Four reboot)

I'm just going to repost a rant in discord I had. I can't be bothered to expend the energy to retype my thoughts & feelings about this majestic clusterf**k of a movie

Quote

Spoiler

[3:42 AM] SpoonMan Abrams X: So finally watched rise of skywalker
[3:44 AM] SpoonMan Abrams X: I'm not the biggest starwars fan and generally think the prequel trilogy is ok. I think I like so 2 the most over even original trilogy tbh
[3:44 AM] SpoonMan Abrams X: But that movie, what in the balls lol
[3:44 AM] SpoonMan Abrams X: So much shit just happens
[3:44 AM] SpoonMan Abrams X: For the sake of happening
[3:45 AM] SpoonMan Abrams X: Its nomura levels of "what even is this plot anymore" lol
[3:45 AM] SpoonMan Abrams X: I really had a hard time watching it until the end
[3:45 AM] SpoonMan Abrams X: And even then
[3:45 AM] SpoonMan Abrams X: Final battle was kinda cool
[3:46 AM] SpoonMan Abrams X: But like
[3:46 AM] SpoonMan Abrams X: Why can rey and Ben just heal ppl and bring back the dead now?
[3:46 AM] SpoonMan Abrams X: Where even was Palpatine?
[3:47 AM] SpoonMan Abrams X: Why did Leia just decide to die 3/4 of the way through when she seemed fine up til then?
[3:48 AM] SpoonMan Abrams X: Also was she properly a Jedi? Pretty sure that was a whole plot point early on in 7 and 8 where she explicitly didnt train to become a jedi
[3:49 AM] SpoonMan Abrams X: What even were those scenes where they were battling across space? I know luke essentially force skyped his way into ep 8 but jebus
[3:50 AM] SpoonMan Abrams X: Poe is pretty useless btw
[3:50 AM] SpoonMan Abrams X: Is finn force sensitive? They really played up him being able to sense the force or something(edited)
[3:51 AM] SpoonMan Abrams X: What even was that shit with c3po?
[3:52 AM] SpoonMan Abrams X: Like they allude to r2 being able to restore his memory but like even then
[3:52 AM] SpoonMan Abrams X: The movie was all over the place
[3:52 AM] SpoonMan Abrams X: And I dont say this lightly
[3:53 AM] SpoonMan Abrams X: But I want those two hours back lol
[3:54 AM] SpoonMan Abrams X: Just what a shit movie overall
[3:57 AM] SpoonMan Abrams X: More then a couple times they seemed to try to agressively drop a plot point only to pick it back up later dust it off and be like "no really this is important!"
[3:58 AM] SpoonMan Abrams X: In particular that with dagger or whatever
[3:58 AM] SpoonMan Abrams X: Rey literally throws it away in the pit
[3:58 AM] SpoonMan Abrams X: Chewie picks it back up
[3:59 AM] SpoonMan Abrams X: And rey picks it back up again later and fucking then is like " oh yea this is an important part of the plot I now realize!"(edited)
[4:00 AM] SpoonMan Abrams X: And it wasnt before? Conviently the force didnt decide to tell her this the first time around lol
[4:00 AM] SpoonMan Abrams X: There are some real issues when you literal plot device power cant even deus ex machina shit in a timely fashion

 

On it's own, it might have worked, i don't know, but as the cap to a trilogy... it was one of the most chaotic, retconny self indulgent and ignorant messes of a movie I have ever seen.

0/10

[DoctorEncore | 3,690]

I'm skipping over the comments to avoid spoilers since I still haven't watched. I'm not a huge Star Wars fan, so I actually enjoyed The Last Jedi (minus the whole casino business and Poe's irredeemable stupidity) since it shook things up. I'm very wary of another JJ Abrams film since the complete lack of originality made Force Awakens a snooze fest. My prediction is 5/10. Will update after I watch.

[PII | 1,883]

I didn't want to see it, but I was curious about it so the day it came out I read through the plot and since then have watched some clips and commentaries on occasion.  Not voting since I've never seen the whole movie front to back.

I firmly believe that these sequels were deliberately made horrible in order to traumatize the public (Yes I'm 100% Serious.)  The Jedi/Skywalker Line was Killed Off (I don't believe that can be done by accident) and Palpatine would seem to have achieved his goal of swapping his consciousness into Rey, followed by the extermination of his old body and perhaps Rey's consciousness as well.  Palpatine then usurps the Skywalker name, passing himself off as a counterfeit Skywalker like a wolf in sheep's clothing.  The message to the masses would seem to be "Evil Wins In The End."  

I suppose there may be worse movies out there, but this had "Star Wars" in the title and is supposed to be regarded as canon.

It's called "Star Wars", but they made "Suspiria", instead.

@7:20 could provoke laughter or tears...

 

[maxlords | 36]

I barely managed to get through The Last Jedi on a DLed version.  There's no way in hell I'll be watching this.  This entire trilogy is brutally pandering and horridly written.  Absolutely infantile.  I loved Abram's excuse that the 2nd movie ruined everything that the first set up, like the first one was any good at all.  My wife and I both hated The Force Awakens so much that it's hard to describe in words.  You can put a bow on a turd, it's still a turd.  For that matter, I hated the prequels so much that I only watched a DL of the 2nd movie and couldn't finish the 3rd.  Easily some of the most disappointing sci-fi of all time. 

For perspective, I enjoyed Rogue One (though I hated a few things they tossed in) and thoroughly enjoyed Solo (though again hated a few details).  I also enjoyed The Mandalorian, excluding the two bad episodes.  You know which ones.