Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Dec. 20th, 2019 11:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lucymonsterI saw it last night! :D My spoiler-free reactions are:
I don't have much to chew on as far as the plot itself goes, honestly. There was just too much. They crammed in so many things that could have been interesting on their own but got lost in a churning sea of 'go to the place to fetch the thing that leads to the other thing that leads to the other place where you can do the thing with the stuff to the guy'. But I'm REALLY hyped for some of the extra-canon materials to come out, like the visual dictionary, which from early leaked pages looks like it'll have more info about Force dyads and the Knights of Ren and all kinds of worldbuilding I'm dying to sink my teeth into.
Kylo Ren's arc was always going to be make or break for me, and ... oh, man, this movie made it. His death (which I spent the last two years dreading and hoping to avoid) ended up being gorgeous. Heartbreaking but peaceful, right-feeling, with a real sense that he'd finally settled his inner conflicts and decided for himself (free of any voices in his head) what his legacy was going to be. He died smiling in Rey's arms - fucking grinning, radiating joy and relief. I cried my eyes out in the very best way and I'm still brimming with satisfaction twelve hours later. I loved his early scenes where he was settled in his evil power, calmer and more in control than ever, officially done with letting crusty old Force ghouls tell him who to be and focused instead on chasing his own goals (most of which revolve around getting Rey to like him, fuck, this movie did so right by me). I loved the quiet inevitability of his turn back to the light, his shattered expression when Rey stabs and saves him, his tearful scene with Han. I loved the changed costume and body language when he re-embraced his Ben Solo identity, and the completely unchanged flat, dry humour. "Ouch" was hands down the best line of dialogue in the whole fucking movie.
Rey's arc surprised me by being so well acted that it managed to more or less sell me on all the things I thought I'd hate most - the Palpatine lineage, the Skywalker surname, the 'suddenly we're a Trio (TM)' goofiness. Daisy Ridley was phenomenal. I loved her combative friendship with Poe vs her softer, more intimate bond with Finn, and the amazing Jedi training scene with Leia, every single scene she had with Ben/Kylo. But mostly what got me was her slow and terrified tilt towards darkness, the frustration and insecurity and simmering anger that gradually built before erupting in a reckless surge of fury on the Death Star. The role reversal was so striking: Kylo was fighting defensively, trying the whole time (in his twisted failboat way) to reach her emotionally, but all Rey could think about was fucking murder. And then her look of utter devastation when she realised what she'd done. Her single-minded determination to pull herself back from it, to make better choices, to resist the siren song of hatred even in the face of Palpatine himself. I felt so at peace with her ending as well: she's found her family, found her purpose.
And Finn! To be honest, there was less Finn than I hoped for, and the juiciest stuff (his discovery of a whole community of fellow ex-stormtroopers, helLO) got less narrative weight and attention than I wanted it to. But his devotion to Rey was everything I love most about their dynamic, and holy SHIT the burgeoning Force sensitivity, I just <333. That was big. Really big. My Finnreylo obsession is going as strong as ever, because obviously what's going to happen now is that Rey is going to train Finn while snarky ghost Ben looks on and offers helpful pointers. Shipping aside, I hope we get some tie-in comics or novels that shown Finn exploring his power.
So yeah! These are not all my thoughts, but they're the ones I most urgently needed to get out. I'm still bubbling with joy and looking forward to my next viewing, which is going to be inconvenient with my Christmas plans but I'll find a way somehow. I'm more in love with Star Wars than ever. I can't wait to get some writing time across these holidays, and I'm pumped for next year's exchanges so I can rewrite my requests to capture all this new excitement.
- It was timid, predictable, pandering nonsense with a plot that only felt like it hung together because it moved too fast to give anyone a clear look at its many flaws.
- Despite that, I immensely and unreservedly enjoyed every minute, with a few bits that transcended my general glee to join the ranks of 'favourite Star Wars moments ever'.
- I now worship at the church of spoilers, and I never want to see another film I'm invested in without first reading the whole plot synopsis and popcorning as many hours of batshit fan reactions as I can get. Going in like I did last night, with accurately calibrated expectations and pre-built hype for all the right scenes, was a magical experience. Turns out I get zero percent of my viewing pleasure from suspense. There wasn't a single twist that I regretted not having been surprised by.
I don't have much to chew on as far as the plot itself goes, honestly. There was just too much. They crammed in so many things that could have been interesting on their own but got lost in a churning sea of 'go to the place to fetch the thing that leads to the other thing that leads to the other place where you can do the thing with the stuff to the guy'. But I'm REALLY hyped for some of the extra-canon materials to come out, like the visual dictionary, which from early leaked pages looks like it'll have more info about Force dyads and the Knights of Ren and all kinds of worldbuilding I'm dying to sink my teeth into.
Kylo Ren's arc was always going to be make or break for me, and ... oh, man, this movie made it. His death (which I spent the last two years dreading and hoping to avoid) ended up being gorgeous. Heartbreaking but peaceful, right-feeling, with a real sense that he'd finally settled his inner conflicts and decided for himself (free of any voices in his head) what his legacy was going to be. He died smiling in Rey's arms - fucking grinning, radiating joy and relief. I cried my eyes out in the very best way and I'm still brimming with satisfaction twelve hours later. I loved his early scenes where he was settled in his evil power, calmer and more in control than ever, officially done with letting crusty old Force ghouls tell him who to be and focused instead on chasing his own goals (most of which revolve around getting Rey to like him, fuck, this movie did so right by me). I loved the quiet inevitability of his turn back to the light, his shattered expression when Rey stabs and saves him, his tearful scene with Han. I loved the changed costume and body language when he re-embraced his Ben Solo identity, and the completely unchanged flat, dry humour. "Ouch" was hands down the best line of dialogue in the whole fucking movie.
Rey's arc surprised me by being so well acted that it managed to more or less sell me on all the things I thought I'd hate most - the Palpatine lineage, the Skywalker surname, the 'suddenly we're a Trio (TM)' goofiness. Daisy Ridley was phenomenal. I loved her combative friendship with Poe vs her softer, more intimate bond with Finn, and the amazing Jedi training scene with Leia, every single scene she had with Ben/Kylo. But mostly what got me was her slow and terrified tilt towards darkness, the frustration and insecurity and simmering anger that gradually built before erupting in a reckless surge of fury on the Death Star. The role reversal was so striking: Kylo was fighting defensively, trying the whole time (in his twisted failboat way) to reach her emotionally, but all Rey could think about was fucking murder. And then her look of utter devastation when she realised what she'd done. Her single-minded determination to pull herself back from it, to make better choices, to resist the siren song of hatred even in the face of Palpatine himself. I felt so at peace with her ending as well: she's found her family, found her purpose.
And Finn! To be honest, there was less Finn than I hoped for, and the juiciest stuff (his discovery of a whole community of fellow ex-stormtroopers, helLO) got less narrative weight and attention than I wanted it to. But his devotion to Rey was everything I love most about their dynamic, and holy SHIT the burgeoning Force sensitivity, I just <333. That was big. Really big. My Finnreylo obsession is going as strong as ever, because obviously what's going to happen now is that Rey is going to train Finn while snarky ghost Ben looks on and offers helpful pointers. Shipping aside, I hope we get some tie-in comics or novels that shown Finn exploring his power.
So yeah! These are not all my thoughts, but they're the ones I most urgently needed to get out. I'm still bubbling with joy and looking forward to my next viewing, which is going to be inconvenient with my Christmas plans but I'll find a way somehow. I'm more in love with Star Wars than ever. I can't wait to get some writing time across these holidays, and I'm pumped for next year's exchanges so I can rewrite my requests to capture all this new excitement.
no subject
Date: 2019-12-20 01:35 am (UTC)It's interesting to me that this trilogy (or at least the last two movies in it) have gone with the LOTS OF PLOT SO MUCH PLOT PLOT PLOT PLOT direction, when the original Star Wars trilogy was much more streamlined in that regard. I've heard some grumbles about how Abrams was leaning way too hard on the nostalgia in this one, but it sounds like that's a quality he could have done with being more nostalgic about.
Especially sad to hear that they don't lean into Finn finding a community of ex-stormtroopers, that's like AN ENTIRE NOVEL right there, get with the program Star Wars!
...It also sounds like Rey super murders Kylo and then sobs over him as he dies in her arms with a radiantly joyous smile on his face, and I'm not sure if I want you to spoil that for me or not, because that sounds AMAZING and might actually make me ship it and if it's not accurate then I want at least a few days to live in this beautiful fantasy world where it is.
no subject
Date: 2019-12-21 03:13 am (UTC)I've heard some grumbles about how Abrams was leaning way too hard on the nostalgia in this one, but it sounds like that's a quality he could have done with being more nostalgic about.
This, 100%. It's definitely my biggest complaint about this trilogy compared to the others - the strong, streamlined character focus just isn't there, and it ends up feeling cluttered and overwhelming. One of the reasons I'm so extra glad I had spoilers this time is because I'm not sure I'd even have understood half the plot if I hadn't had some space to process it beforehand. On the other hand, the emotional through line with Rey and Kylo was genuinely well executed in my opinion, and the movie would have been much stronger if they'd pared it back to that instead of trying to wrap up everyone else's storylines simultaneously. But I'm so biased towards Reylo that you should probably take my opinion with a grain of salt until you've seen it yourself.
...It also sounds like Rey super murders Kylo and then sobs over him as he dies in her arms with a radiantly joyous smile on his face, and I'm not sure if I want you to spoil that for me or not, because that sounds AMAZING and might actually make me ship it and if it's not accurate then I want at least a few days to live in this beautiful fantasy world where it is.
I shall say nothing! But I'll be hanging out to hear your thoughts once you've seen it.