[SuperMatt18]

I really enjoyed it too. Wrapped up the storyline nicely and didn’t go too far deep into the fan service as it seemed like they might.

It was really faced paced and didn’t really leave any time for the big moments to breathe, but its wrapping up a 9 part saga so maybe that shouldn’t be a surprise.

As somebody who liked the Last Jedi I actually think that the movies do actually support each other more than people think. The character development is TLJ is what allows for a lot of the storylines in this one to have a solid conclusion. Even stuff like Luke’s fear of training Rey make more sense when it’s revealed the Leia and Luke knew of her parentage. Also the character growth of Kylo, Luke, Poe, and Finn in TLJ are what allow this conclusion to hit home emotionally. The plot in that movie wasn’t the greatest, but the characters and their growth was great.

Also I think we may have been wrong that Disney didn’t have a plan here, the complete plot in the background may not have been exactly mapped out but I do think the story arcs of the character was always mapped out to go this way.

Rey - she is the proxy to Luke in this storyline. Constantly in a battle between the light and the dark. I think her relation to Palpatine was always planned, and was even hinted at in TLJ too in retrospect, saving the reveal for this movie did make it stronger overall I think.

Kylo - Think his redemption arc was always planned. The third movie was always supposed to be focused on Leia, and Leia was Kylo’s last connection to the light side of the force in both TFA & TLJ (Didn’t take the shot). Meant to be the Vader proxy but I think that redemption being the plan from the start made him a less effective villain, whereas it worked for Vader since at the start he was just supposed to be the menacing villain then plans changed in the OT.

Poe - Grows from the hot headed pilot to the clear general. His plot in TLJ is completed after Leia’s passing in TROS

Finn - Once again the character growth from being just a deserter trying to get freedom, to a guy chasing after Rey’s affection, to being the guy willing to make the sacrifice play was evident in all three movies.

Also having Finn start to feel the force more, and revealing the rest of deserters might be force sensitive too was nice. Since I did like that the angle of you don’t need to be a Skywalker to harness the force was a good angle they continued to probe after TLJ.

Also in the original trilogy we never saw Palpatine in person until the third act, and in the prequel trilogy we didn’t see Palaptines true plans/form until the third act. So Palpatine not being revealed here until the third movie also is in line with the previous trilogies.

Originally Posted by zukes

I was very satisfied with the movie. The first half I was totally into it, the Hux part kind of brought me out of it for a bit (though my 12 year old son pegged it and thought it was great so what do I know?). The end felt a little too rushed and I can see why they debated doing part 1, part 2. My only other gripe is the kiss, not needed there, the sacrifice was enough. (Trying to be somewhat spoiler free)

The kiss was my least favourite part of the movie and this trilogy I think. IMO it cheapens that moment. Ben and Rey had a special bond, they were two ends of the force, and had grown to this moment together. Making it about a sexual relationship in the end was just unnecessary and took away from it.

Originally Posted by N-E-B

Way better than TLJ. Really enjoyed it.

But man, what an absolute missed opportunity to have Ben and Anakin appear alongside Luke and Leia at the end.

Edit: I also think Rey should have owned the Palpatine name at the end to.

Yeah it just being Luke and Leia was weird at first to me too, but Thinking about it more I guess it makes sense in some ways too. They were the two “pure Jedi” of the Skywalker clan, and they were the only two that trained Rey. Ben is the only real absence due to their connection.

People had criticized the revised version of force ghosts in ROTJ because Luke never saw knew that version of Anakin. Well it would be similar here if suddenly Anakin (or some of the other Jedi appeared) since Rey had no connection to them.

Originally Posted by N-E-B

I think it would. They could have shown all the force-sensitive Skywalkers together. Would have brought all three trilogies together.

I’m also okay with Rey’s backstory. I’m glad she wasn’t a clone.

I can see the pacing issues. It really felt like they tried to fix a lot of what TLJ did wrong (saying Holdo’s hyperspace maneuver was 1 in a million, Luke admitting he was wrong, etc). I wish JJ had done the entire trilogy.

The only only I think was truly a shot at TLJ was the Holdo thing. Also showing Leia having some force training maybe, since that was also a point of contention.

Agree with Rey being the granddaughter of Palpatine being the right backstory here.

Originally Posted by zukes

I will say that I do actually care about these characters now. JJ did a good job making us care. I echo the statement that he should have done all three. His two have the Star Wars feel, 8 only kinda does.

I think TLJ does deserve some credit around making us care about these characters too. TLJ is what made Kylo a sympathetic figure due to Luke failing him, it’s what made Poe’s transition to the general make more sense, and it’s where Finn grew as a character too.

JJ made it work by bringing those characters back together for us to care about them as a group, but individually all their character growth was in TLJ.

I think a lot of the more emotional notes around Rey, Kylo, and Luke’s relationship in this film only work because of how they were built up in TLJ.

I have a gut feeling now that people see how the story ended in TROS, they will look back at TLJ more favourably. IMO the tone and pace of TLJ is slower than TFA and TROS but in some ways it was necessary and is better with the whole trilogy as one now. (From the character development perspective, the plot itself in TLJ is still a little weak).