I am a Star Wars geek. I feel like it is more than a movie, it has become a piece of American culture. Like many, I was BEYOND disappointed with The Last Jedi. As far as the franchise goes, it was a pile of steaming garbage. I get what Rian Johnson was trying to do, but you don’t do that with characters who have that much history. Some people liked it and that is fine, but Solo was a far better movie that suffered based on backlash. Speaking of backlash, the fanbase as a whole does need to take a step back and breathe. Who would’ve picture Star Wars fans as bullies?
All that being said, there is another movie coming and we really don’t know what it’s about and whether people actually care about Star Wars!
All we are hearing is, “Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker” is the conclusion of the “Skywalker Saga.” I don’t feel the excitement that I should about the impending climax of a story I’ve watched unfold over my entire lifetime. Understandable considering you’d be hard pressed to find anything that feels like the first two entries in this new trilogy moved things toward some big finale. And frankly, it’s impossible to watch the previous eight numbered “Star Wars” movies and think, “Yes, the next one could be the end of the story” without being told it is.
Here’s what we know about “Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker”: The characters who survived the last movie will be in it. Even though he’s dead, Luke Skywalker will pop up, probably as a Force ghost. Although, JJ should retcon things and let him be flesh and blood. Emperor Palpatine will be there, even though he also is dead. Lando is coming back too, but I don’t think he has died yet. Our heroes will go to a desert planet, and it may or may not be one we’ve seen before. There is a place where giant icebergs float in the sky. It looks like C-3PO is going to sacrifice himself for some reason, judging from his “taking one last look, sir, at my friends” line. The resistance — sorry, we mean the Rebellion — somehow acquires a huge new fleet. Our heroes are also gonna go to where some Death Star wreckage is.
What we don’t know is what anybody is actually trying to do in this movie. We don’t know the central plot beyond “good guys fight bad guys and probably there will be a twist.”
And looking back on the previous two films in this trilogy, “The Force Awakens” basically remixes “A New Hope” without actually explaining anything about the universe 30 years after “Return of the Jedi.” And nothing about “The Last Jedi” says “we’re nearing the end of this epic” — it actually plays more like the tragic end of a trilogy than a middle chapter.
It was basically the same ending “Revenge of the Sith” had — the bad guys won, the good guys have lost almost everything, and the hope for the future rests with children. But in the case of “Revenge of the Sith,” the story was leading into an 18-year time skip between the prequels and the original trilogy. In the case of “The Last Jedi,” the story was apparently supposed to be setting up the climax of the whole Saga, but there aren’t any leftover threads to pick up. The resistance is gone. The First Order is in control of everything. And for some reason, it was plainly stated that none of the things we were expressly or implicitly told would be a Big Deal in this new trilogy mattered at all. “Let the past die” and all that. I am curious more than excited.
I am fired up about the new OB1 series that is coming and of course The Mandalorian
I love everything I have seen so far including the latest trailer…..
This looks good and the first episode is about a week away. Maybe that galaxy far, far, away is better served on streaming platforms.
