#this makes so much less sense than the last one zorry

[minecr-afton]

Phone Guy's Midnight Stroll

[blacklakeinavalley]

Reylo confessions / TRoS personal review upon first watching

"You opened yourself to the dark side for a pair of pretty eyes” - in retrospect this pretty much sums up how my obsession with the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy came into being. I was here for Reylo, Bendemption, and most of all Ben Solo since around TLJ. I could and still can relate to this character’s struggles and find him physically very attractive. That’s basically how it went down.

I had only once watched the OT, a few years before TFA came out. Then, in 2015, friends dragged me to watch TFA (I was like “meh, blockbuster” aka a snob at that time). I was pleasantly surprised though when I found the movie very well-made and entertaining. I did NOT get the Reylo-vibes then but remember strongly identifying with Rey’s fear at the beginning of the interrogation and Kylo’s line “You know I can take whatever I want“ making me shiver. I cheered at Rey for beating Kylo up on Starkiller Base and (joke’s on me for the worst take ever) legitimately left the theater believing him dead because of the explosion of the planet. That didn’t make me sad, but satisfied.

I did not think about Star Wars again until January/February(?) 2017. Another group of friends planned on watching TLJ together and and I browsed the Internet for some critics to read in advance, just out of curiosity. Somehow I ended up watching the interrogation scene on Youtube again and again, the sexual tension between the two I now clearly recognized finally taking my breath away. I discovered skysilencer’s/chandrilasky’s wonderful blog (which doesn’t exist anymore) about Rey’s and Ben’s relationship and generally started reading as many metas on this topic as I could find.

I fell in love with the pairing, and especially the portrayal of Kylo / Ben. Getting to watch TLJ in the theater was a bit disappointing for me though, after having read so many raving reviews on tumblr beforehand. At that time I could not really appreciate the changes in pacing and all the depths and nuances. By now I love this movie. Strangely, I never watch it in one go, only in smaller portions. Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I like TFA just as well. Ironically, the fight on Starkiller Base is still my favorite Reylo scene ever - because there’s so much more going on than “Rey beating Kylo up“. For me, TFA definitely is a lot easier to watch, mostly because of the more conventional pacing, I guess.

Therefore I was quite happy when I heard that JJ Abrams was going to direct episode IX too. I actually never doubted that he had planted the seeds for Reylo in TFA / episode VII. Sadly, TRoS, which I finally went to see with my sweetheart yesterday, left me pretty untouched for the most part. After roughly two years of really looking forward to, actually longing for this day, seeing it was not the experience I had hoped for. This is not to say that the movie per se is only bad.

TRoS spoilers ahead!

I am a sucker for “grounded” speculation and have difficulties to keep away from spoilers. And I’m really invested in Ben Solo’s fate. This led to me reading JediPaxis’ leaks weeks ago and hanging around on this site pretty much non-stop shortly before and since the premier of the movie. When the realization that Ben Solo actually dies (or does he?) kicked in, I went through some kind of mourning that included having difficulties to concentrate, the urge to cry, listening to sad music, and definitely crying a lot while watching a camrip of him finding happiness and then dying in a loop.

And maybe that’s one of the reasons why I couldn’t enjoy the actual movie more. I already knew the whole plot, had seen lots of gifs and had already kind of processed the emotionally challenging stuff, at least to some extent. So I just didn’t feel much, neither surprise, nor joy or grief while watching. Again, joke’s on me for getting myself extensively spoiled and reading about other people’s (negative) reaction to the movie. I didn’t even look forward to seeing it anymore, tbh.

My boyfriend on the other hand, who has seen TFA once and TLJ twice in his life and went into TRoS openmindedly after only a very short recapitulation of what had happened in the previous films, actually really liked it. He found it very entertaining, even surprising and well-made, especially the camera-work. He was all for Rey being a power women, for example when she prevented the transporter Chewie was presumably on from leaving by Force powers (Chewie then being on another transporter, not the one that got destroyed, was a cheap move and sort of a plot hole for him though). He generally sees the whole thing as an action adventure and advocates for not intellectually dissecting it or expecting too much depth out of a Star War. He likes the OT as a casual fan (he was the one to show me the original films in the first place), didn’t like the Prequels at all, was not a fan of TLJ and found TFA okay. We are going to watch TRoS again early in January with friends and he’s looking forward to it. So for him, episode IX is the best sequel film.

What I personally liked about TRoS:

- the very beginning - because Kylo and all the voices in his head, the nightmarish setting of the Sith temple as a representation of (mental) darkness, hopelessness and loneliness ...

- the overall feeling of the Pasaana festival (joy! color! coming together to celebrate!)

- the Poe and Zorri dialogue on Kimiji, because FINALLY a quiet and somewhat thoughtful moment AT LAST

- Finn and Jannah bonding over being former Stormtroopers being another somewhat quiet moment in the movie

- Ben seeing Han in memory actually made me feel SOMETHING

- the scenes of the last battle to end all battles (both Rey/Ben vs Palpatine and Resistance vs First Order) were sort of okay

- somewhat unexpectedly, I also really sympathized with Poe during some moments of the final battle

- the Rey and Ben Solo stuff after his final turn to the light was beautiful and heartbreaking (side note: I like to think that all the Jedi were talking to Ben too as he was rising/climbing from that pit)

- Kylo Ren / Ben Solo is already an icon, thanks to Adam Driver’s amazing acting skills and admireable dedication to this role. And that’s also true for TRoS.

- I actually liked the Resistance base scene after their victory, their immense relieve was so palpable

- the overall visuals of the movie are fine

What I did not enjoy:

- Everything felt so rushed. There’s too much happening in too little time, especially during the first half. The movie just doesn’t take any time to breathe, the effect being that you don’t really get into the story - the exact opposite of what the fast pacing was supposed to accomplish. Maybe less would have been more. Or the movie lasting for 15 minutes longer.

- Probably the worst thing: Most dialogues/lines, especially in the first half, are just super cringey ... TFA and TLJ dialogue never felt like this - or have I just gotten used to their text script over time? I have the small hope though that everything will sound better (at least to me) in English (we had to watch TRoS in German). Kylo Ren talking through his helmet was the worst in that regard, because Adam Driver’s voice is so distinct to me by now that the German voice-over felt 100% out of place and got me super irritated. It was downright painful.

- Very personal opinion: Upon closer look, both TFA and TLJ seem to be about Ben pretty much all the time, and I am all here for it. I did not get the same impression out of TRoS. But maybe that’s just a “recipient as co-creator of a story“ thing and I might be able to construct such a reading also for TRoS over time, after getting to know the movie better.

What really matters to me in the end:

- I am still invested in the character and story of Ben Solo. A movie (TRoS) made me mourn a fictional character, which IS something, even if said character was built to a great extent in previous movies.

- As said before, I enjoy theorizing, analyzing and the quest to better understand stories. And I just don’t want to be mad at the creators already. Ben’s death was painful, but I understand this pain as an invitation to delve deeper into all if it. If in the end the script and plot keep making little sense (which is a real possibility), I will keep to cherishing the parts I liked.

Conclusion:

Yes, I found TRoS very disappointing upon first watching, script-wise way below TFA and TLJ. Very likely it will always feel rushed and badly written to me. Maybe I'll like it even less after watching it again in about a week from now.

But, for the reasons mentioned above, I will probably still give it multiple (undeserved) chances. Because there certainly are good parts in it.

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Kudos if you’re still here! And sorry for any language mistakes. Please comment, if you feel like it.

[ct-hardcase]

TROS Review

I’ll start by saying something I already did: I liked the movie, but it wasn’t a good film.

What I mean by that is, as a fan, I like some of the beats it hit. It had good trio moments, good stuff for Rey and Finn individually, as well as Leia, and I genuinely enjoyed those. The pacing, however, was interesting. The entire first quarter of the movie was driven by plot devices and shock value, and I found myself wondering, after they went to yet another planet to find the macguffin, when the real plot was going to happen. Things picked up in the second half, but there were still some weird choices made. Specifics below:

Stuff I did like: 

Force Sensitive Finn! It’s about damn time, honestly, but I’m very glad that Finn got to realize the Force within him (and I think that’s what he was trying to tell Rey this whole time? This was unclear). The fact that he had some conflict with both Rey and Poe over that was also great.

I thought I was going to hate Rey Palpatine a lot more than I did. Because of JJ spinning it into a “it doesn’t matter who your bloodline is, as long as you choose your family/destiny” theme, I didn’t mind it as much. Still kind of cheesy, but not the worst way they could have gone about it. I like Rey adopting the Skywalker name.

I was hoping for “power-drunk bastard” Kylo and I did cherish him while I had him. The fact that he was determined enough to find the Wayfinders and find actual literal Palpatine was pretty neat. The fact that he was also briefly power-drunk enough to try to turn Rey into his equal in the dark side was pretty cool too.

This movie surrounded the Force in general--Kylo and Rey are good saber duelists, but they aren’t the best, so I think it was a smart decision to focus more of their impressive feats on the Force.

General Poe! I really wish it didn’t have to happen like that, but I’m so glad to see Poe Dameron get his due in this regard. His fear at leading and everyone comforting him along the way was a good story to tell.

The actual creepy, cultlike aesthetic of the Sith was really fun in the last half, complete with faceless crowds and soul-transfer rituals.

I have wanted Rey with a yellow lightsaber for SO LONG and I finally get it, yeehaw everyone.

The entire trio dynamic was really great. They promised a movie with them and it delivered. In particular, the Poe and Rey dynamic really picked up the slack from the last two movies. Finn’s dynamic with Poe and Rey were the sweetest things, and the end of the movie really showed that he found family and love with those two.

Chewbacca is great, and I’m glad he got a scene where he could mourn.

I’m also glad he at least got to say hi to Lando.

Jedi Master Leia!!!! I’m so happy that it’s canon that she got trained as Jedi and that she’s Rey’s Master and Rey feels connected to her which makes sense because Leia actually put time and effort into training her (no offense Luke, your Force Ghost cameo was really powerful too and nice).

Loved Jannah’s plot with the group of deserter stormtroopers (and the fact that all of them are implied to either be in-tune with each other or Force Sensitive???? Hello??? Some of Rey’s first students there perhaps?)

Rey jumping toward Finn, yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

Despite my feelings toward bendemption, the moment with Han legitimately got me. Ben finally being candid with Han, Han talking to his son frankly, Ben finally accepting Han as his father, and Ben throwing the bled saber into the ocean called back to tlj really nicely and makes that moment hurt a bit less for me now.

(also, it paid off to read Rise of Kylo in this instance--because the lightsaber is the “Ren” he was effectively throwing his title away when he threw that out and that’s also probably how the Knights knew he was gonezo)

Palpatine getting defeated by his own hubris is very very nice. You can’t outfight Palpatine. You’ve got to beat him Ezra-style: by having him underestimate you.

If Kylo had to get redeemed, at this point in his career, redemption through death is a good path for him.

Hi Knights of Ren!

Stuff I didn’t like:

Bye Knights of Ren!

I’ll just be blunt and put the rylo kiss up here. That kiss was nowhere near necessary. A romance with Ben wasn’t pursued after the fact and he died, so it didn’t even fulfill rylo that much, and so now we have a kiss where nobody’s happy. Congrats.

I’m conflicted on Leia dying in order to give save Ben/give Rey the opening to kill him. On one hand, I’m glad she died for the mission, on the other, it put such a weird taste in my mouth that I couldn’t even mourn when she died because I was so conflicted.

I also felt :/ about Rey healing Ben because of my obvious anti-bendemption bias, but also, if we’re going to commit to killing people and Rey fearing her inner darkness, go all the way with it. If she’s trapping herself on ach-to, have it be because she did kill Kylo, finally, and she’s feeling conflicted about it.

I’m usually not one to say that a m/f romance is “making a character straight” because I’m bi and I don’t like that erasure, but Zorri definitely felt like a way to “no-homo” Poe because so many people thought he was gay. It was unnecessary, super straight, and really felt like a bird flip to LGBT+ fans.

Also, Poe being a spice runner both ignores his canon backstory of being a new republic military brat that went into the resistance, but is also just straight-up racist. Thanks for having your latino character be a drug runner, lf.

RIP Hux. Domhnall Gleeson played the part so well and he deserved better. I like the spite direction, both Rian and JJ can stick the fact that they made him comic relief where the sun don’t shine. I like the impunity with which he was killed but he was way neutered. Glad Finn got to shoot him.

They way overused the “did [x] die??? did they not?????” in this movie. It loses its punch after a while. Chewie, Threepio (in terms of memory), Kylo, Kylo again, Rey, and then Kylo for real this time.

I loved Finn being Force Sensitive but they really dropped that thread and kind of ignored it after they introduced Palpatine. If you’re going to introduce him as FS, commit.

Ditto Jannah and the deserted stormtroopers.

[dramafanforever]

Negativity sucks - I want to see the ending of TRoS as something hopeful

The ending of “The Rise of Skywalker” is disappointing. No news there, I know. We got Kylo’s redemption, there was a kiss and we saw the love between Rey and Ben, but then the hero dies never to be seen again. No mourning, no force ghost Ben. Instead we get a Rey who calls herself a Skywalker and watches the binary sunset on Tatooine, a desert sunset just like Jakko. Her only companion is a robot. No happy ending for any of the Skywalkers. No happily ever after for Rey? Well, mayben not everything about the ending is as dark as you might think.

In an interview Abrams said Kasdan and he knew they wouldn’t be able to please every fan so they didn’t even try but followed their own hearts in writing the storyline. Being responsible for the film they have every right to do as they please, but Abram’s message does not strike me as completely honest since there is certainly quite a lot of fan service throughout “The Rise of Skywalker”.

I am a positive human being and try to find sense behind things that seem to make no sense at all. As a piece of art films are open to interpretation and as long as we don’t get more information by the creators themselves we can follow our own hearts in understanding the film the way we like.

Am I OK with Ben’s death? Actually I am. Ben has made the wrong choices throughout his life. He was a victim but he is responsible for his actions. He did kill his father, and he did not stop the destruction of the Hosnian System and he did order his troopers to kill innocent village people and he did struck down Lor San Tekka, and he did bring his missles to Crait even though he should have known that his mother was there and could die. He also wasn’t willing to talk to Luke but was overcome with the desire to strike his uncle down. Ben himself did not believe that he deserved to be forgiven. To give his life selflessly for another person was his true true redemption.

However, even with Ben’s death the film could have ended in a less bitter and more hopeful way. So why did Rey not mourn her souldmate’s death, why did she return to a desert planet and why was there no force ghost Ben?

Well, I do think that Rey mourned, but there are some reasons why we didn’t get to see it. The first one is that Abrams tends to forget how people grieve. Do you remember the odd scene when Chewbacca returned to the resistance base on D’Quar after the death of Han Solo in “The Force Awakens”? He walked right past Leia but they did not acknowledge one another at all. Leia had only eyes for Rey - an unknown girl to her at that point of time.

Another reason why Rey’s mourning was omitted is that the film rushed from scene to scene so that there was no time for a devastated Rey. Plus, Rey might have felt compelled to flee the planet right away out of sheer survival instinct. She would not have paid much tribute to Ben’s sacrifice if she hadn’t tried to survive that final battle.

On the one hand, Rey might not feel as mournful as we Reylos since she still felt connected to Ben. A force bond transcends death after all. Moreover, Ben gave his life force to Rey, he exists in her. This might even be the reason why we don’t see Ben as a force ghost. He is not out there, he is in her, they are still bonded and Rey doesn’t feel alone.

Plus, Rey finds belonging in being a Skywalker. That’s why she didn’t call herself a Solo. Even Ben seems to identify more with the Skywalker lineage than the Solo one. Leila trained Rey, was Rey’s master and probably acted like a surrogate mother to Rey. Luke had an important role in Rey’s life too. He was there when Rey lost all hope and wanted to leave everything behind. He made her face her fears when she had already decided to stay on Ahch To for good. Thus, both Skywalkers played a bigger role in Rey’s life than Han Solo.

On the other hand, Rey actually did mourn. Back at the resistance base on Ajan Kloss she hugged her friends Poe and Finn and I am pretty sure that all of them have lots of things to grieve about. However, they find comfort in each other, and that is a good thing. Star Wars is as much as about the love between a man and a woman as it is about the love between friends and family.

But why did Rey return to a desert planet? Does that not feel like a regression? Only if she returned for good, but we don’t see her making preparation for a life on Tatooine. She only visited the planet to bury Luke and Leia’s lightsabers. It’s a pilgrimage and nothing more. Her sliding down the sand serves to show that she can feel OK with some aspects of her former life. She found closure and is now able to move forward.

Besides, BB8 accompanying her shows that Rey is not planning on staying on Tatooine. The robot would not leave his owner and friend Poe for an indefinite amount of time.

All in all we don’t have to be as upset with the ending as it seemed at first. There is hope, there is belonging, there can be happiness.

There are better endings, for sure. Abrams could have given us a Rey who is flying into the binary sunset indicating that there is so much more that is waiting for the scavenger turned jedi.

However, there is enough room for the audience to pull out what they want from the ending and the whole movie. Abrams addressed lots of issues and didn’t bring them to an end. Some examples are Jannah’s heritage, Rose’s wish to stay at the base, the thing that Finn wanted to tell Rey, Zorri and Poe’s past, Palpatine’s resurrection, Kylo Ren’s lack of reaction to Palpatine’s announcement that he was every voice in Ben’s head, Snoke being nothing but a clone and Rey’s parents suddenly being rather special in spite of of Kylo Ren’s statement that they are nobodies. The list is long and you can put everything concerning Ben’s death right on top of it. 

But I refuse to get stuck in negativity like some fans after “The Last Jedi” even though I do have quite a lot of questions I would like to ask Abrams. However I will concentrate on the positive aspects of “The Rise of Skywalker” and let my fantasy run wild to get an ending that feels satisfying.

There is hope in the galaxy and no one is ever really gone.

picture by Kyle V. James