‘The Rise of Skywalker’ Spoiler Discussion

December 19, 2019 at 11:28 pm | Posted in Episode IX, Movies, Opinion, Star Wars | 1 Comment

So we’ve seen the movie. You liked it. You loved it. You hated it. Who knows? But here’s what I thought…last warning, full spoilers below…

The crawl was cheesy, but not necessarily bad cheesy. I took it as a reminder that these are supposed to be George Lucas’ take on Buck Rodgers serials. It’s space opera. It’s fun. So yeah, right off the bat we get PHANTOM PALPATINE threatening the galaxy and Supreme Leader Kylo Ren wanting to stop him. And before you know it, we’re off with Kylo killing people and flying across the stars. And sure enough, BAM, we get Palpatine. No holding back in this one, it’s just full throttle into it. Now you could look back on it and think “Wait a minute, why didn’t Kylo just kill this guy right then and there?” But hey, Palpatine is the master manipulator. Last time Kylo took out his master, he had Rey there backing him up. Why not do the same thing again?

Then we get to the lightspeed skipping thing. I have to admit, that was a bit of a stretch. Not so much the idea of skipping in and out of lightspeed, but the visuals of them zapping in and out of bizarre landscapes. Dropping right into a city and zipping around, that was pushing it. Regardless, the movie kept going, and eventually I was able to settle into the film and let go. The immersion was slow, but it eventually happened. Then we get to the first big reveal, at least in my viewing experience – Rey is Palpatine’s grand daughter. Holy Shit! I had a giant grin on my face. Way back at the beginning, that’s what I wanted to happen. I just loved the symmetry of Rey being the good person but descendant of evil, and Ben being the bad person but the descendant of good. Both of them grandchildren of Sith, and now facing off against each other. I was elated. Now the movie was fun on a whole new level.

Lots of stuff happens, lots of action, lots of aliens, not always the best dialog or laughs, but it’s still all fun and enjoyable. The showdowns between Rey and Kylo, however, kept stealing the show. Each one was dramatic. There’s not a physical conflict so much a battle of desire. Kylo wants Rey, but he wants her to be on the dark side with him. He doesn’t want to kill her. Rey doesn’t want to kill Kylo, but she will not let him win and bring darkness to the galaxy. She’ll kill him if she has to. But Rey won’t go dark. And she can’t kill Kylo. Their duels all lead to an impasse, to the very point that she kills him, and then brings him back to life because she can and because she cares. As much as she wants to stop evil, she can’t help but find compassion for what might still be Ben Solo. Say what you will about this movie, but there’s a really nice story about these two.

Then there’s the big showdown. Rey goes up against her grandfather. Whether it was really his plan or not, he says this is what he wanted. She’ll kill him, his spirit will take over her body, and he wins – Darth Rey, Empress of the Galaxy. But Ben Solo has been redeemed. Yes, undead Han spoke to him. Force ghost? Mental manifestation? Doesn’t matter. Leia touched his heart and undead Han broke through and brought him to his senses again. Rey is faced with an impossible dilemma, so it’s up to Ben to save the day, and he does. Together they…wait, no, actually together they make the Emperor’s day and he becomes stronger than ever. He sucks their life force, zaps everyone in the sky, and enjoys his last moment of greatness. Let’s face it, this was always going to have a happy ending. That’s George Lucas canon right there. So Rey and Ben stand off against the Emperor, they back him down, and Rey, with the astral help of disembodied Jedi voices, Mace Windu’s the Emperor and kills him for good.

Ah, but then we have the whole “Rey’s dead!” scene. Wasn’t that a scare? Then Ben saves her, they kiss, and we’re all warm and fuzzy and enjoying this great moment. I’m sure the Reylo’s who didn’t spoil themselves were all aglow and radiant with happiness. I mean I wasn’t a Reylo and I loved it. They did a great job with making Ben’s redemption believable. It was no small thing because I was adamantly against him being redeemed because he killed his father! He killed Han Solo! That’s a hard one to get over…unless we see Harrison Ford come back and convince us all that Ben is worth a second chance. Unless we see Ben go out on his own to help Rey defeat the Emperor. Unless we see Ben crawl out from a chasm of certain death to help her fend off ultimate evil. Yes, my heart was melted when they kissed.

And then he freaking died.

But you know what, I was okay with that. However, I can see how that could be the breaking point for some people. There were a lot of fans invested in Reylo. There were a lot of people who wanted to see Rey and Ben have a happy ending together. Yet I was okay with it. It was one of those little things I wanted going into this movie, but I would have been okay if it didn’t happen. Seriously, I had like three things I wanted. Number one – I wanted Rey to be Palpatine’s granddaughter. Check. Number two – I wanted Kylo to die. Check. Number three – I wanted Ewoks. Go freaking figure, I got all three. No wonder I liked the movie. I have no idea how me and J.J. got on the same wavelength, but we did. But to be honest, with the way they handled the redemption, I would have been okay if Kylo lived.

Nevertheless, we get the resolution afterwards. There’s celebrating, there’s Ewoks (yes, yes, YES!!!), and Rey goes to Tatooine to bury the lightsabers. And there, with the rising suns, she’s faced with her moment. Are you Rey Palpatine, or are you Rey Skywalker? Ben rose up from the baggage of his Sith sins, he rose up from death, and he literally rose up from the chasm of death, but in the end, Rey rose up as the last Skywalker. The ending let her lay unequivocal claim on the sequel trilogy as her hero story. Ben was an essential part of it, but it was hers. As a Rey fan, I thought it was a perfect ending.

Even with all that said, there’s still plenty more to dive into. And we’ll have plenty of time to do that. Was the film perfect? Hell no, but it was fun, and in the end, that’s all that mattered to me. I try not to be too precious with Star Wars. It’s meant to be fun, and if it succeeds in that, that’s good enough.

Posted By: Skuldren for Roqoo Depot.