http://www.cbr.com/star-wars-age-of-rebellion-luke-last-jedi-plot-hole/ (http://www.cbr.com/star-wars-age-of-rebellion-luke-last-jedi-plot-hole/)
http://screenrant.com/jedi-fallen-order-lightsabers-cut-limbs-people/ (http://screenrant.com/jedi-fallen-order-lightsabers-cut-limbs-people/)
Spoiler (click to reveal)
http://www.cbr.com/star-wars-rise-of-skywalker-lobot-cameo/ (http://www.cbr.com/star-wars-rise-of-skywalker-lobot-cameo/)
http://comicbook.com/starwars/2019/06/13/star-wars-galaxys-edge-episode-ix-colin-trevorrow-plans/ (http://comicbook.com/starwars/2019/06/13/star-wars-galaxys-edge-episode-ix-colin-trevorrow-plans/)
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I was going to start a separate thread for Episode 9, but since RH already posted his opinion of the film, I'll put mine here. I thought Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was the best of the sequel films and the second best of the Disney Star Wars films, just below Rogue One.
I had spoiled myself about what the story was, courtesy of countless You Tube videos, so there weren't that many surprises. Still it's a different experience actually seeing how things unfold on a big screen.
The film looked great, though the special effects weren't flawless, and the film moved quickly, sometimes so fast that it didn't give you time to process some of the big or important moments. I felt this was the first Disney Star Wars film that had aliens that looked like they would've fit right in with George Lucas's Star Wars films. I think J.J. Abrams really tried to deliver here, Spoiler (click to reveal)
to get back fans who were turned off by The Last Jedi, though in the process, looking at the Rotten Tomatoes score, his approach has pissed off some Last Jedi fans.
Spoiler (click to reveal)
I didn't care for how Rian Johnson treated Luke Skywalker and for his addiction to subvert expectations, so I was happy that Rise of Skywalker retconned a good deal of The Last Jedi, though Abrams tried to thread the needle a bit, in an attempt to please everyone. In Rise of Skywalker we get some answers. We learn who Rey's parents were, we learn who Snoke was, we get a little info on what Luke was doing after Return of the Jedi.
Spoiler (click to reveal)
I also think Abrams tried to mollify some fan criticisms since The Force Awakens. Here, while Rey is overpowered still, we see her training (under Leia), we see her have to struggle, and it's not as easy for her as it has been in the other films. I can't say Mary Sue No More, but still I was glad that they gave her some struggles and inner turmoil. I also thought Daisy Ridley did a good job with what she was given to work with. In that, all the cast did. Poe finally got some major screen time and we got to learn more about him and he sorta had a little arc of his own, and with Keri Russell's Zori Bliss character, the door was opened for romance. Russell was fine in her small role, but I don't know why they had her wearing a helmet throughout the whole movie. If she had been a Mandalorian-which I don't think she was-it would've made sense, but it just a weird choice there on Abrams part.
Spoiler (click to reveal)
Another potential couple is Finn and new character Jannah. I liked her backstory and how it created an instant bond with Finn. I've skewered Finn over the years, but I think Rise of Skywalker was his best outing. He still was yelling "Reyyyyyy!" But it wasn't as obnoxious as before, and the film hinted that Finn might be Force sensitive, and that he shares a connection with Rey on that level, which could explain his obsession with her, something beyond unrequited puppy dog love. I wish they had been more explicit there and explained it as that. Finn wasn't that stumbling or bumbling in this film either. Even in the prequel comic Allegiance he was a joke, but not here really. Retconning Last Jedi again, the Finn/Rose Tico romance was no more. Rose Tico was barely in the film, though she did get some lines.
Spoiler (click to reveal)
I was worried when I heard they had finally brought Lando back. But they didn't do him as dirty as they did Han and Luke. Though Lando didn't have a big role, he played a major one, and he Williams looked like he was having a blast doing it. It was cool seeing him on the Falcon again. At the end of the movie Lando and Jannah have teamed up to find where she came from, and I wouldn't mind seeing where that goes. The actor who played Wedge Antilles in the original films, also showed up for a brief cameo during the climatic battle. They used old unused footage, for the most part, for Carrie Fisher, and sometimes it was noticeable that she wasn't in the scenes with Rey or other actors, but it didn't bother me really. And I thought they made good use of her character, though I'm not sure about how they had her die. It reminded me of Luke's death in The Last Jedi somewhat. It was also neat seeing a flashback of Luke training Leia back in the day. Luke wasn't in the film a lot, but he did get to critique his choices from The Last Jedi. At first it seemed like Mark Hamill was being Hamill instead of Luke, that he was rusty, but he settled down and I was okay with his advice to Rey. It's a shame we will never get to see him in his prime in live-action. I didn't think the special effects for his Force Ghost were great .
Spoiler (click to reveal)
Palpatine is my favorite Star Wars character and I was really not enthused to see what they were going to do to him. But I knew going into it, and for the most part I was okay with it. For some reason Palpatine looks more like an older Sidious before his face is melted in Revenge of the Sith. More like he does in The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, but older and with white (blind?) eyes. Apparently he cloned Snoke, but for some reason he has other Snokes in like a vat, which made no sense. A lot of things don't make sense here. On the Sith planet he has like thousands of acolytes (Rule of Two anyone?). He also has a Sith fleet with Star Destroyers that have cannons that can take out planets on their own (which is way over the top, but that's how Abrams rolls-thinking of the Narada from Star Trek 2009 and the USS Vengeance from Star Trek Into Darkness; Abrams seems to think bigger is better). It's not really explained why he's back, but he does say he died, and I think that was Abrams trying to get ahead of any criticism that this movie wipes out Anakin's sacrifice and his role as the Chosen One. My take on it is that this is Palpatine's spirit in a cloned body. Later on he reveals that he wants Rey to strike him down so that he can possess her, and so that tells me he can possess other bodies. Presumably he was possessing the Snoke that died in The Last Jedi as well. (It made little sense why he would tell Rey what would happen to him after she struck him down, but I guess Abrams wanted to get that through to the audience and did it the simplest way he could). My biggest draw back with Palpatine was they didn't have him show off his lightsaber skills.
Speaking of lightsabers....I've seen reviewers say that the lightsaber combat in this film was great. I didn't think it was. It was probably the best of the sequel trilogy, though I can't say it was as thrilling-in the moment-as the throne room melee in The Last Jedi.
Spoiler (click to reveal)
I thought Adam Driver did fine as well as Kylo Ren. Driver's a good actor, and he's had the best written/developed character overall in this trilogy. That being said, Ren was never much of a threatening villain, and though they tried to make him more believable as a threat, sometimes Abrams went overboard with it and it came off a bit silly. I would've liked to have seen Ren actually complete his lightsaber as a sign of his growth. And later on, after his redemption, to be in Jedi robes. That could've been another action figure they could've sold. Along with a Ben Solo lightsaber. The Knights of Ren are in the film, but they barely do anything and who they aren't isn't explained. There's a comic series, The Rise of Kylo Ren, that looks to go into their backstory. I thought the first issue, which came out this week, wasn't bad. For other baddies, I thought Richard E. Grant's Pryde was an improvement over Hux, and I was glad to see how they got rid of Hux.
Spoiler (click to reveal)
I did like that Abrams tried to bring the sense of hope and adventure back in this movie, from the downer of The Last Jedi. Also, this film actually had Rey, Poe, and Finn going on a mission together, bantering, and interacting, and though the friendship between them was unearned, I was glad to see it, because they are all good actors to sell you that they had that kind of connection. I do wish R2D2 had been along for the ride, but for some reason Disney sidelines him, perhaps to sell us on BB-8. Threepio was there, and he provided some comic relief. Though when he has a great line about seeing his friends one last time and he's looking at Rey, Finn, Poe, and Chewbacca, the only one that should've applied to was Chewie. Another droid D-O was also introduced. He had some comic relief moments, but his main purpose was as provide just the information they needed, when the story needed him too. That's how Lando was introduced as well. So there was some of the coincidences and convenient stuff going on in this film.
I don't think that this movie really brings the 40 plus year "Skywalker Saga" to a true close. That's almost impossible to do. Spoiler (click to reveal)
For one, it left the door open to explore many of these characters more despite what Disney, or they, might say about not returning. There were nods to the history of the franchise, with the coolest thing to me being when multiple Jedi spoke to Rey as she got ready for the final showdown with Palpatine. They had Ahsoka and Kanan from the cartoons lending their voices. Which unfortunately means Ahsoka dies sometime before Episode 9. Also unfortunately they had Mace speaking, and Samuel L. Jackson was contending that Mace was still alive. We never did see the body and it would be great to see him get a more definitive send off. Perhaps he could show up in The Mandalorian.
I'm going to try to rank these films, but this is subject to change. I plan on seeing The Rise of Skywalker again. So here goes:
Live-action theatrical releases:
The Empire Strikes Back
Return of the Jedi
Revenge of the Sith
Attack of the Clones
A New Hope
Rogue One
The Rise of Skywalker
Solo
The Last Jedi
The Force Awakens
The Phantom Menace
Theatrical releases:
The Empire Strikes Back
Return of the Jedi
Revenge of the Sith
Attack of the Clones
A New Hope
Rogue One
Clone Wars (animated film)
The Rise of Skywalker
Solo
The Last Jedi
The Force Awakens
The Phantom Menace
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Wednesday, 25th December 2019
UNC Charlotte shooting hero honored with new Star Wars character
by Jordan Freiman
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A man who was killed in April while helping to stop a shooter at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte was honored by Lucasfilm with a Star Wars character named after him.
Ri-Lee Howell, named for the late Riley Howell, is a Jedi Master and historian of the Jedi Order, according to the character's new bio on Wookiepedia, the Star Wars-centric wiki.
The character appears in the book "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker — The Visual Dictionary."
The book was released alongside "The Rise of Skywalker," the latest edition in the Star Wars film franchise.
Howell's girlfriend on Monday posted an emotional video on TikTok sharing the news.
She said the two had been together for six years and planned to spend the rest of their lives together.
"But on April 30, 2019, Riley sacrificed his life tackling a shooter that decided to fire on his classroom, saving all but one other student," she wrote in one of the video's captions.
"Riley is the biggest fan of Star Wars I know, ever since he was little!!!!!" the video continues while displaying pictures of a young Howell playing with various Star Wars toys, such as a lightsaber.
The video then shows a picture of the letter Howell's family received from Lucasfilm telling them that a character had been named after the late hero.
Howell's girlfriend said they thought it was "too good to be true" until they finally saw Ri-Lee's entry in the Star Wars wiki.
"As a small tribute, our Story Group has incorporated a re-imagining of Riley's name as a character in the Star Wars galaxy," the letter from Lucasfilm reads.
The family received the letter not long after Howell's death, but couldn't share the news until the book his namesake appears in was published.
Lucasfilm was alerted to Howell's fandom thanks to a complete stranger in Florida, who took it upon himself to write to the studio after learning about Howell's story.
"I'm sure Riley would be super excited," a family member of Howell's told CBS affiliate WBTV.
"This is beyond what we could have asked for," another family member said.
Howell, 21, was an ROTC participant and has been hailed a hero for trying to stop Trystan Terrell, the 22-year-old who opened fire in a UNC-Charlotte classroom on April 30.
"He took the fight to the assailant," Charlotte-Mecklenberg police chief Kerr Putney said after the shooting.
"He took the assailant off his feet. And then the heroes that we have here were able to apprehend him."
"Unfortunately he gave his life in the process, but his sacrifice saved lives," Putney said.
Howell was buried with military honors and was also honored at UNC-Charlotte's commencement ceremony in May.
One other person, 19-year-old Ellis Parlier, was killed in the shooting.
Drew Pescaro, 19; Sean Dehart, 20; Emily Houpt, 23; and Rami Alramadhan, 20; were injured in the attack.
Would You Like To Know More?
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/unc-charlotte-shooting-hero-honored-with-new-star-wars-character/ar-BBYjWk4?li=BBnbcA1 (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/unc-charlotte-shooting-hero-honored-with-new-star-wars-character/ar-BBYjWk4?li=BBnbcA1)
I'd give the movie a B+
I enjoyed it overall, though there seemed to be a couple of 'false' endings cued up before the movie finally ended.
I'm glad that Finn had more consistent (relative) competence this time around, lol. Also, it seemed as if the Janna character was set up to be a kind of love interest but that thread seemed to be abandoned by the epilogue..
A Finn/Janna spinoff series could be great.
RH,
It was hinted-and I'm guess cut from the theatrical cut-that Spoiler (click to reveal)
Lando was Jannah's father.
Spoiler (click to reveal)
(though I wonder if they will change Jannah's parentage whenever/if ever they do a comic, novel, video game, or television show about Jannah and maybe Lando).
http://ew.com/movies/2019/12/21/the-rise-of-skywalker-companion-book-lando-final-scene-twist/ (http://ew.com/movies/2019/12/21/the-rise-of-skywalker-companion-book-lando-final-scene-twist/)
HS,
I agree with you about the fake outs and about Finn. This was his best outing. Even in the prequel comic Allegiance, he was depicted as still being bumbling and incompetent so I was pleased to see they didn't do that in The Rise of Skywalker. It''s not perfect yet with the character, but this is a good start to redeeming the character. Spoiler (click to reveal)
And now he has some Force sensitivity so that could deliver on the 'promise' (which I never put much stock in, not sure why) of Finn holding the lightsaber in the poster for The Force Awakens, which led some to believe that he would be a Jedi.
Spoiler (click to reveal)
he kept the Rey/Ren connection, though he also tried to have it both ways, giving Reylo fans a moment and then taking it away for people who weren't Reylo fans, and I'm assuming Abrams also wasn't, because he's said in an interview that the Ben/Rey kiss was more like siblings than romantic. So I wonder if all along his plans were not to go the romantic route, but some fans and Johnson took it there, and Abrams had to 'clean up' that, like he did with other sequel storylines).
I hope the novels and comics will now keep it going with rehabilitating Finn, Spoiler (click to reveal)
perhaps developing a Finn-Jannah romantic relationship, delving into both of their Stormtrooper pasts, and having Finn become a Jedi. Even though Rise of Skywalker did end some stories, but there's still a lot of story left.
Ironically Lando was left pretty unscathed by the end of Episode 9. They had deconstructed all of the other heroes and Lando being less 'important' meant they didn't think him important enough to come up with anything with in the other sequel films, and now with Billy Dee Williams the last major actor from the original trilogy not to appear until Rise of Skywalker, and Disney wanting to bring disgruntled fans back, making them, IMO, averse to deconstructing Lando, and he pretty much was the same heroic, swashbuckling character was last saw him as in Return of the Jedi. Spoiler (click to reveal)
He got to give as important a pep talk as Force Ghost Luke in the film and he helped save the day, back in the Falcon no less, toward the end of the film. Surely it made no sense that Dameron or the Resistance didn't defer to him and give him control, but I wasn't tripping off that. He got to save the day in the end. He wasn't a deadbeat, he wasn't a coward, he wasn't too bad of a failure.
http://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/star-wars-kiss-totally-incest-172924342.html (http://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/star-wars-kiss-totally-incest-172924342.html)
It was...fine.
As well made as any piece of cinematic cowardice I've ever seen.
The movie goes out of its way to retcon ALL the most interesting parts of The Last Jedi: (you don't need to be anyone in particular to use The Force, The Jedi and the Sith aren't the be and end all of the Galaxy).
It then replaces them with dopier premises that are kinda badly explained.
Spoiler (click to reveal)
You mean to tell me Ray's Dad is Lord Palpatine's son and this imperial aristocrat can't think of anything better than to strand her on a desert planet
Spoiler (click to reveal)
I get how Lord Palp can build a fleet with the Empire's resources. But how did he do that as a half dead DarkSide zombie at the bottom of a pit? What'd he do create an army of Zombie Engineers?