The Light and the Dark of ‘The Rise of Skywalker’

Written by Juanita ‘Obi-Juan’ Bonner

To the average movie goer, the hype surrounding the release of The Rise of Skywalker (TROS) probably seemed no different than the last few Star Wars movies or any other blockbuster for that matter. However, to the avid fans, the last film in the Skywalker saga is the end of an era that deserves an epic finish. Therefore, the term hyped is putting mildly. Like many of these fans, I grew up with Star Wars, particularly the movies. While watching the film, I pondered just how I would approach my review and by the end, a theme in the form of lists emerged. Here are my ranked picks of four things TROS got wrong followed by four things it definitely got right. Of course, this is not a full list, but rather what stood out to me the most. So, before you can say “Doesn’t that Wayfinder look just like a Sith Holocron?” or “Wait, what… Storm Troopers can fly now?” …let’s dive in, beginning with what went wrong…

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The Darkside or ‘What Went Wrong’

4. Introducing a new droid while somewhat leaving out the old ones
Don’t get me wrong, the new droid D-O, voiced by none other than J.J. Abrams himself, is a great addition to the fan favorite droid family. I particularly like that he speaks in a somewhat skipped language fashion. Yet, to me, this new introduction felt less organic and more like a Disney character cash grab, similar to the Porgs in The Last Jedi (TLJ). Even Babu Frik (Shirley Henderson) felt more naturally derived than D-O, and both R2D2 and BB-8 fell by the wayside, not just to this droid, but in the entire movie as a whole. To explain further, throughout all the Star Wars material, droids are often intricate parts of the story and to put it mildly, R2 and BB-8 came first. Oddly, R2 is left at the Resistance Base for most of the movie, only shown to re-store C3PO’s (Anthony Daniels) memory, then reduced to a mere co-pilot in the final battle. BB-8 fairs only slightly better as he basically becomes a counterpart to D-O (who, beyond being cute, does next to nothing by the way) and only really uses his skills twice – first to take out a Stormtrooper during the Pasaana chase scene and second to open a hatch on the main starship in the Final Order’s fleet. Even their overall droid/human interaction is scaled down, which seems strange considering the term “Never underestimate a droid,” is said twice. Twice!! I will say that seeing R2’s reaction as Leia (Carrie Fisher) passes on is heartbreaking, but beyond that, I found myself missing him which shouldn’t have happened in what’s to be the final chapter of a saga that relied so heavily on R2’s existence in the first place, right?? Sidekicks, yes!! Background sidekicks, no!!
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3. Leaving Finn’s secret unanswered
At a fairly early point in the film, we see Finn (John Boyega) tell Rey (Daisy Ridley) that he needs to tell her something. Yet, this talk never comes to fruition. I cannot help but wonder why. If this is the end of the Skywalker Saga, why wasn’t this fleshed out? I mean, yes, to me, it’s obvious through several other instances in the film, and its predecessors, that Finn is Force sensitive. Duh, right?!? But still – why leave this fully unanswered? Some fans have speculated, and with great merit, that Finn was going to reveal that he has feelings for Rey. To this, I completely disagree as it appears to me that Jannah (Naomi Ackie) filled those shoes, outshining both Rey and Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) as potential love interests for Finn. I also understand that not everything can be answered, but just as I’ll discuss with Palpatine below, this shouldn’t have been one of them. Finn is a fantastic character! He’s naturally funny and charismatic, but throughout the trilogy, his arc has always remained, for lack of a better term, somewhat token in its delivery. It would be great to see him in a spinoff series. Maybe with Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) and Jannah, who, in my opinion, along with her entire Storm Trooper platoon, also appear to be at least somewhat Force sensitive. Interesting, no?

2. Fandom lip service
It’s no secret that there has always been a particular subset of Star Wars fans that have proven to be rather toxic in their critique of the material. I’m all for constructive criticism and legitimate complaints, but I think it’s safe to say the amount of backlash and vitriol hit an all-time high when TLJ hit theatres in December of 2017. Personally, I love the film and have praised Rian Johnson, for not only his creative vision but also his risk taking, particularly with Luke Skywalker’s (Mark Hamill) arc. Regardless, it’s not lost on Disney that these particular fans have a very loud voice by ways of the internet and social media. None suffered their wrath more so than Kelly Marie Tran who plays Rose Tico. She was harassed to the point of depression and left social media all together. In 2018, she stated the following in the New York Times: “Their words seemed to confirm what growing up as a woman and a person of color already taught me: that I belonged in margins and spaces, valid only as a minor character in their lives and stories.” And to answer this barbarism, what did Disney and the writers (Chris Terrio and J.J. Abrams) do? They let these toxic fans win by sidelining a potentially great character!! Of course, that’s not the path they’re taking now as other fans are creating some backlash of their own. Terrio himself has gone on record to say sidelining Rose wasn’t intentional and that keeping her at the Rebel Base with Leia was on purpose. Even further, he essentially blames technical issues and “photorealism” surrounding the scenes with Carrie. Seriously?? Rose is an experienced pilot and an informal engineer who was able to figure out how The First Order was tracking The Resistance through hyperspace. She easily should’ve been a bigger part of the greater plan to defeat Palpatine. At least a bit more than being tasked with analyzing ship schematics at the base and then later being just a side character in the final battle, having minimal, seemingly forced, lines throughout. Also, to use Leia as an excuse is shameful and this fan truly believes the late, great Carrie Fisher would not approve!

1. The Dead Speak! 
Finding out that Darth Sidious (Ian McDiarmid) was not only still alive, but the true mastermind behind the ENTIRE saga was awesome and truly a great way to wrap up this dark tale!! However, two things that should have been handled differently was when he was introduced and just exactly how he was brought back. Let’s take a closer look at each…

First, using his voice and likeness in the pre-film release marketing was a bad idea for so many reasons. Specifically, it gave fans something not only to anticipate, but to critique early on, often times in a negative way. Taking a page from The Mandalorian who kept “The Child” a secret, TROS should’ve done the same. Imagine, rather than a social media post, television preview, or even the pre-film crawl, sitting in the movie theatre and hearing that voice for the first time? I mean… Whoa!! This completely missed opportunity would have created a serious mystery vibe with a true and unique element of surprise, am I right?? Subsequently, how he came back was… well, brushed off to say the least. I mean, the guy was thrown down basically an endless hole that immediately blew up afterwards. How the hell did he survive that? And to reduce the explanation to a mere regurgitated sentence from Revenge of the Sith (ROTS), hoping fans wouldn’t notice, or even worse, love the callback and move on, is just absurd. Again, bringing him back and making him the puppeteer the entire time – EPIC! Preemptively doing so and not explaining how – RIDICULOUS!!!

The rest of his story, especially on a second viewing, shapes up quite nicely. I loved that he cloned Snoke (Andy Serkis) to do his bidding and how they portrayed him hooked up to machines (Vader-like) to live, which totally makes sense. I also loved that during all these years in hiding, he built a massive army with a fleet of ships by ways of support from ancient Sith followers at the far reaches of the outer rim. Still though… no one leaked this information anywhere in the galaxy? Not one rebellious child of the ancient Sith followers said, “screw you mom and dad, I just want to explore the galaxy, not be a Sith follower” (LOL)? Couldn’t they have made Palpatine in league with General Enric Pryde (Richard E. Grant) all along? That would at least lend credibility to someone on the “other side” of the galaxy keeping things under wraps for so long, am I right? Again, another missed and easily added opportunity… #SMH 

Before moving forward, a not so honorable mention in the “What went wrong” category is the newly minted Force healing which should’ve been shown early on as a surprise to both us AND Rey! For example, Rey could have been holding a hurt animal in the forest, during her training, only to realize her transferred Force energy heals it. Something this simple would’ve made the scene beneath the sand trap on Pasaana, and later with Ben Solo (Adam Driver), seem perfectly normal. Instead, the higher ups bet on the fact that The Mandalorian and video games took care of this introduction already. Weird, right? I would also like to mention that I am still torn on Luke Skywalker telling Rey to show more respect for the same Lightsaber he tossed over his shoulder in TLJ, which is obviously more toxic fan lip service (insert eye roll here). Having said that, I’m glad they addressed fear as the reason Luke behaved as he did simply because… duh, he’s human!! On the flip side, introducing Admiral Ackbar’s (Tim Rose/Tom Kane) son Aftab Ackbar (Tom Walton) felt right! Overall though, for me, the entire film was exhilarating. Its breakneck pace, comic relief, and excellent special effects along with the dazzling cinematography are fully represented throughout. And on that note, now let’s take a look at what went right…

The Light or ‘What Went Right’

4. C3PO
Obviously, having addressed droids above, it might seem odd to also have a droid make the “What went right” list. Nevertheless, I argue that C3PO has always been merely a sidekick and comic relief. Different than R2 and BB, we expect this. And aside from translation, especially in Return of the Jedi (ROTJ), he remained mostly a background character until TROS. I loved him front and center and it actually somewhat made up for the lack of R2D2 representation overall. I particularly love the interactions with Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) and all the funny background lines. And the tie in that translating ancient Sith language was outlawed by the Senate (AKA Palpatine himself) lends a bit more credence to how the sinister Sith kept his secrets for so long even after his supposed death. Quite diabolically, I might add!! All of this put 3PO in the limelight in a way that he never was before and I loved it!!

3. Easter Eggs and Throwbacks
Modern film makers love to show just how much of a fan of the material they themselves are by paying homage to those that came before them in unique and fun ways. J.J. Abrams did this with The Force Awakens (TFA) and there’s certainly no lack of representation in TROS. References are not only made to previous films, but to other types of media as well. Additionally, these Easter eggs and throwbacks come in the form of both props and dialogue and they are plentiful and awesome!! To name a SMALL few, I’ll start with the Aki-Aki Festival of the Ancestors on Pasaana occurring once every 42 years which parallels the theatrical opening of A New Hope. NICE!! Next, a cameo by Dennis Lawson who plays Wedge Antilles, which for long-time fans is EPIC!! Chewy (Joonas Suotamo; formerly the late, great Peter Mayhew) finally gets his medal. YES!! John Williams, the famed Star Wars music composer, is the bartender with the eye patch seen on the planet Kijimi. Kylo Ren recovers his grandfather’s Wayfinder on Mustafar, the same place that basically birthed Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen) and where he built his castle. Very cool, right!! The throne on Exegol mimics the throne from the second Death Star which is foreshadowed when Rey searches for the Wayfinder. Not to mention the Empire Strikes Back (ESB) callback with Rey seeing her darker self just as Luke did in Vader’s helmet. Plus, Warwick Davis reprising his role as Wicket at the end of the final battle. SWEET! To round it out, there was a massive amount of recognizable ships seen when the galaxy rallies to the cause in the final battle, most notably for me, one that looked like (and I hope it is!) The Ghost from Rebels!!!! God, I love that show!! And all this barely scratches the surface. The entire film is eloquently littered with nostalgia and it’s AMAZING!!

2. Reylo
As one of my favorite parts of the entire trilogy, seeing the story arcs for both Rey and Kylo come to a close was bittersweet on so many levels. Their chemistry throughout all three movies is on point and personally, I could watch these two forever! This was made all the more real by finding out they represented a dyad in the force. I mean… HECK YA!! I love watching them fight each other mentally, emotionally, and physically. The tension AND attraction is palpable every time they’re on screen and their final scenes would melt even the coldest of hearts. Let’s take a closer look at each character, shall we?

Starting with Rey… um, Palpatine (Whoa!), her internal struggle, explained by the fact that she is the granddaughter of the most powerful Sith in existence, was something I definitely didn’t see coming. Imagine if the aforementioned Palpatine surprise was coupled with this… hmmm? Regardless, I’ve said before that if written correctly, Rey coming from no one would’ve been just fine. Instead, the writers went as far to the opposite side of the spectrum as one could imagine and I am sooo here for it!! To see Rey face this truth is deliciously evil and crazy sad at the same time. Largely, to find out an actual relative had her parents killed is truly evil. And to see that Luke and Leia already knew is just mind blowing. WHAAAT!!! At first, I thought it didn’t make sense. Why wouldn’t they tell her? But then, similar to the “From a certain point of view” original trilogy debate, I contend now that telling her may very well have sabotaged her training which is exactly how I felt with Luke and his father all those years ago. I also loved to see Rey’s progression across the three films, again akin to Luke from the original trilogy. As for Kylo…his struggle with the Dark Side, shown from the beginning in TFA, finally comes to a head as he starts to realize his place with the Sith is only that of a pawn. That Snoke, a mere tool of Palpatine’s design, stoked Kylo’s anger as a means to reach Rey – the Sith Lord’s true prize. Finally realizing this, only after Leia reaches out to him in her last moments, followed by Rey’s Force healing, Kylo dies and Ben returns. This moment is so well acted by Driver that I was in awe. Weren’t you??

Next, in the final battle between good and evil, before he can join in, Ben must fight his own Knights. NICE!! Nonetheless, I would like to point out that the Knights of Ren throughout the film have a dark and sinister tone that commands attention (thanks, in large part, to the music of John Williams), but they seriously needed more representation. This is definitely one criticism from the TFA and TLJ I fully agree with and carry forward right through TROS. Having said that, when Rey passes the saber to Ben via their dyad connection, I was ecstatic!! Truly a moment I wasn’t expecting even though I knew Luke telling Rey to take both sabers meant Ben would use one at some point. I didn’t envision such an epic way of Rey giving it to him. BRAVO!! In the end, he dies by giving the last of his Force, just like his mother did, to help someone he loves. I was stunned!! I didn’t want him to die, but just like his grandfather, his fate was sealed. After a much needed kiss (YAY!!!), he falls. I hated it!! **Frowny face** But…secretly, I respected and loved it too!! I remember as a girl wishing Darth Vader would have lived. I mean, after all, he was a changed man who saved his son and killed The Emperor (*Smirk*). But then, just like Vader dying as Anakin, history repeats once again to see Kylo die as Ben. Then and now, it was poetic justice for someone so ruthless to end with such a selfless act and every time I see it, I’ll wish it was different all the while knowing it was sooo right! **Sigh**

Before getting to number one, honorable mentions for what went right include a beautifully crafted arc for Poe Dameron (Right!!), the spice runner turned resistance fighter, and the addition of Lando and Chewy at the helm of the Millennium Falcon once again to save the day (Awwww…)!! I’m still torn over the fake out of Chewy’s death, or rather, my mental breakdown (LOL!), though it did make for some great tension!! And the comedic chemistry sprinkled throughout, particularly between Finn and Poe was delightful. Finally, let’s not forget all the original voices of the many Jedi that Rey heard before she rose once more to finish Palpatine for good. I was in tears!! Some for joy, as the culmination of years of fandom washed over my ears. I was speechless!! Then, sadness! For as I heard Ahsoka Tano’s voice (Ashley Eckstein), it became clear that she, like all the others, must be gone too. **SIGH** Thankfully, Dave Filoni gave fans a possible glimpse at the future via Twitter by comparing Ahsoka to The Lord of the Rings Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) who also died only to later rise as Gandalf the White… a truly cinematic achievement to say the least. YESSSS!!!!

1. Ending with hope
From the first time I heard the words “Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope” as a little girl, I have been hooked on the space opera that changed the world. And quite honestly, I couldn’t think of a more fitting way to end this saga by way of how it started in the first place – with hope! This shining beacon is displayed throughout all of the films, the multiple animated series, countless comics, books, and virtually any other format of Star Wars in existence. After all, “Rebellions are built on hope,” and the idea that a small few can overcome even the harshest of challenges is the epitome of the vision behind George Lucas’s creation and boy, the TROS did not disappoint!! 

Leia, who is quite powerful with the force, displayed as far back as ROTJ when she expresses remembering images of her mother (likely from the womb), never gave up. Not on the rebellion, the resistance, her brother, and even her son. Using the last of her Force sensitive strength to reach out to the ever conflicted Kylo Ren was absolutely beautiful. A fitting way to not only let the character pass on, but to honor the memory of Carrie Fisher as well! Additionally, I believe that Han Solo (Harrison Ford), returning as a part of Kylo’s tormented subconscious, was in fact Leia, impressively using the medal later given to Chewy to channel Han with the last of her strength to help Kylo forgive himself and move towards the light. It was epic!! I cried and cheered at the same time as Leia, the first guiding light of hope all those years ago, became one of the last. I was in awe by the cohesiveness of this and applaud the writers in their vision!! Finally, finishing the Skywalker arc where it began, we see Rey on Tatooine where she puts aside Luke and Leia’s sabers only to reveal her own. It was made from her trusty staff and sporting a yellow glow to boot, she’s now a Jedi Master. YAAASSS QUEEN!!!! Am I the only one who thought of the Jedi Temple Guards and their yellow sabers?? As she gazes towards the two sun horizon that we’re all so familiar with, I asked myself why she went to the Skywalker home. Then, as she takes their name, the real rise of Skywalker is revealed and my mind is flooded with the idea of a new Jedi Temple on Tatooine helmed by Rey Skywalker and the thousand Jedi who live within her. I am filled with hope. Perfect!! And so, it ends…

Well there you have it. I hope you enjoyed my maiden voyage into the realm of Star Wars fandom. I know I did!! What do you think of my lists? Do you have a list of your own? Until next time…May the Force be with you. Always!!

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