My Thoughts on "The Rise Of Skywalker" (2019)

Who designs these cool posters, anyway?

Okay, so, lots and lots of thoughts comin' at ya. I can't promise they will be nicely, fully formed ideas, either - probably more like a splattering of illogical, excited feelings. But hopefully it will pull into some sort of cohesive form.

(*Disclaimer* Also, for the record, spoilers will ensue, so please come back after you've seen the film!)

I went into this movie with no grand expectations, having read no spoilers or even theories about Rey's bloodline etc. All I knew was that it was supposed to be the epic end to the grand saga, we were supposed to find out more about Rey's parents and I had no idea which way Kylo Ren was going.

As soon as the introduction mentioned the words Palpatine and Kylo Ren going off to destroy whatever threat he had brought forth, the idea that Palpatine had a lot more to play immediately struck, and for some odd reason, the image of Kylo going to destroy him made me suspect they were going to try turning Kylo around to the good side. (A story of a villain destroying a villain to no avail but to be beaten by the heroine is quite a rare one.)

That said, basically everything else in the movie came as a shock. (Like when Rey thought she'd killed Chewie when lightning escaped her fingers - wasn't expecting that! That's when I had a sinking feeling that somewhere her origin lay with the sith...) I left the cinema completely surprised, with many mixed feelings and a desire to go back and watch it all unfold again. Some parts seemed a little rushed, and I felt like there was a lot of small things to appreciate, although I did pick up on a lot of tie-ins to former movies - especially with the music. That was one of my favourite things about this film - all the little references to former movies. That really tugs on the heartstrings.

The crew lookin' so dang fine

The actual story line didn't seem incredibly original, but hey, I could say that for almost all the Star Wars films. :P The cast was as good as ever, and some of the special moments actually gave me goosebumps. I can't say I was a fan of everything but overall, I did really like this movie. It gave me everything I wanted, except perhaps the right ending with Kylo Ren/Ben... and I have to say it:

I couldn't bring myself to support Reylo.
And the kiss at the end? I inwardly sighed in disappointment; I was hoping they wouldn't.

I mean, I kind of do understand - I can see what other people are seeing, but I'm not FEELING it, you know? Rey is pretty awesome going solo - I didn't feel as though Ben (or even Finn or Poe, for that matter) were really the right fit for her. And Ben had such a roller coaster past, I felt like he needed to sort himself out a bit more before they were officially a 'thing' (but he didn't have time for that... *cries*). I am sad about what they did to Ben, but at the same time, it did feel "right", in a way, that he didn't stay. It would have been a little weird to have him come back to the Rebellion on the good guys team (and as Rey's boyfriend! Like, what a shock to the other people, haha)!
After all we'd seen Ben go through, it really hurt to see him die. But I think that was the point. And I'm happy for his character, that they at least gave him that ending, because I must admit, I expected them to leave him on the Dark Side. To be honest, he seemed like a rather pathetic villain, so I thought they'd turn him into a much stronger, fiercer one in "The Rise of Skywalker"... and soon realized they took the other route. ;)

Anyone else get Anakin/Obi-wan's lava fight scene vibes with the water?

I still have mixed feelings about the whole "bringing Palpatine back" thing. It kind of feels like a cheat move, in a way? :P I mean, he certainly seems evil enough, haha, but... it seemed like an awfully easy win for the script-writers; although I'm glad they explained a bit more about what was up with Snoke, because he seemed very random and insignificant as a villain. Also, that scene where Rey goes down underground into Palpatine's 'arena' area, and all those spooky hooded things were chanting... that honestly reminded me of one of my nightmares! So creepy!

Admittedly, it did give me warm, fuzzy feelings inside to see Rey and Kylo/Ben fighting side by side. I could picture them, in my head, fighting together for the Resistance, and it made me very happy. ;) (At this point, I was warmed up to Ben's redemption, but not warmed up to any romance. I was hoping a nice, healthy friend zone would remain between them, but nope!)

Also, one of the most powerful parts to me was when Rey healed Ben, right after she 'killed' him. It seemed bizarre at first, and then quite poignant. When I saw Ben pause before he was about to strike Rey, I felt relief, feeling that surely he would listen to Leia and turn. Then when Rey used the opportunity to attack him, I felt so angry - if only she knew!!! Like, wouldn't she have noticed that he had paused and was considering something?? I guess it was a survival impulse... but seeing her regret and hurt and confusion after she killed him, and then her choice to heal him... it really was quite powerful.
For some reason, it didn't seem quite so powerful when Ben healed Rey, at the end, because I could see it coming, and it seemed a much more obvious thing to do at that point. (Whereas when Rey did, I actually wasn't expecting it!) Still, after he smiled and then faded away, I realized how much a sacrifice he made for her, when he used his remaining energy to bring her back. So that definitely made me like him even more, obviously. (And also, the whole 'healing sacrifice' thing reminds me of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, and that is always a very moving depiction.)

And one last additional random note: I love love LOVED the scene of Luke and Leia completing Leia's jedi training... it answered a question that I have been asking ever since I first saw Star Wars: why isn't Leia a jedi??? So yes, Very Happy about that.

I feel like this has been a very disjointed 'review' (that's why I'm just calling it "my thoughts", haha) but believe me, this is extremely organized compared to what was swirling around my brain after I saw the movie, haha. ;) One last thing I want to add, though:
Is it just me, or was anyone else REALLY excited to see that Rey had a new lightsaber?!! AND IT WAS YELLOW?!!! :D :D :D It made me really, really happy. I was so ready for a new colour, haha. (From memory, we've only had red, blue, green and purple before, yes? Yellow seemed like such a nice fit for her!)

I'll wrap this up here. Have any of you seen this? Please tell me - what did you think?? And Reylo - yea or nay??!!