Somehow Rey Returned

[BoosterGold06]

At the end of the day, Lucasfilm can release whatever crap they want but if you ignore it, it's like it never existed.

This is true. I’ve still never seen Solo or Rise of Skywalker

 

[Space Jockey]

Hmmmm....I liked Daisy Ridley but they did Luke Skywalker a disservice in the last trilogy, and the story over the three was just a mess.

 

[ScoutingForToys]

This is true. I’ve still never seen Solo or Rise of Skywalker

Rise of Skywalker is a dreadful movie. Very wise to throw it into the black hole. Solo is OK. Personally I neither love it or hate it. I don't don't think you're missing much.
This policy of ignoring certain Star Wars releases is unfortunately an essential part of being a Star Wars fan these days.

 

[ironwez20]

Jeez they really wanna lose money huh? I remember people thinking Disney buying Star Wars was going to be a good thing. Look at it now. The pt everyone hated so much are being held up in such high regard and Star Wars isn’t nearly as big as it was

 

[MyenShi]

This is true. I’ve still never seen Solo or Rise of Skywalker

I wish I had never seen Rise of Skywalker.

Solo is a good little movie though.

 

[Sassafras]

Favreau is a dirty liar. It is known.

Well, he's sure lied to me about the Mandalorian more or less re Season 2 "new characters in a way we've never seen them before" - tho I suppose at this point that was more or less true - sort of.

Excellent new characters like Cara and IG are gone, Cobb Vanth is taking a spa day, and we got some new cartoon characters plus plenty of rehash.

But. Disney has been on a rampage cost-cutting, giving employees the boot, pandering to stockholders. Who knows what plans for which shows have been curtailed. Whether the Volume, real sets, etc. IMO the kind of shots we've seen haven't been cheap (even S3 of the Mandalorian has some beautiful visuals).

Maybe it's cheaper just to speed things up (like with Mando) and then do this big movie, since apparently D+ hasn't been making the billions it wanted on streaming.

 

[Sassafras]

I wish I had never seen Rise of Skywalker.

Solo is a good little movie though.

Yeah, I don't get the hate for Solo, it has its issues but it's pretty good IMO.

 

[MyenShi]

TROS is the end of the Skywalker Saga. I guess this is the Rey Skywalker Saga.

Well, I was talking more about the gnawing feeling in the back of my mind that everything we currently see in Star Wars leads to the final moments of TROS because that’s the furthest point ahead we have now.

And it’s not a great feeling because of the way the film wrapped up the ST and the “Skywalker Saga.”

So if they can make a film that tells a good story and sets up the post ST era in a better way - I know, a tall order - then I’ll be happier knowing the future leads to something better than TROS. Even if it ends up not being my cup of tea.

At this point anything has to be better than the way TROS ended.

And I’ll be happy if the ST actors get another chance with their characters because they were completely failed by powers beyond their control.

 

[Garlador]

Daisy wasn't the problem with the sequels. In fact, I thought she was very good. She and Adam Driver both put in very good performances. I thought their acting and dueling was top notch.

But that doesn't mean I'd be willing to sit through another movie with Rey. I just can't do it with the sequels anymore. I'm already on edge enough with Mandalorian knowing they're about to start trying to fix those awful movies with an otherwise good show.

Back before it all went to hell, I actually thought Rey's introduction in TFA was one of the best intros I've seen in a film in ages. It's a perfect marriage of the sort of lonely and yearnful wanderlust we saw with Luke and the intrepid and resourceful struggles I saw in seminal films like Nausicaa and the Valley of the Winds.

Just a person struggling day to day, trying to make do with salvage and scavenging the graveyards and ruins on their desolate planet. Little dialogue, gorgeous visuals, strong musical motif... it worked. I thought for sure they'd made a character that would stand as one of the all-time great new additions to Star Wars.

But, like so many other characters, Lucasfilm didn't realize that the grounded, relatable qualities from that opening were what people liked. She didn't need to be a super-powered chosen one with a direct blood connection to one of the original characters (let alone Palpatine). Bit by bit, they lost their confidence that they could tell a strong story without relying on the old movies and old characters. Finn? Rose? Poe? Snoke? None of them mattered. And the "Rey" we see in the opening of TFA quickly is erased by the time TLJ comes around. That character is gone, and thoroughly buried once she becomes a "Skywalker" in RoS's conclusion.

Which is a shame. That character was good. I liked her. I miss her.

Jeez they really wanna lose money huh? I remember people thinking Disney buying Star Wars was going to be a good thing. Look at it now. The pt everyone hated so much are being held up in such high regard and Star Wars isn’t nearly as big as it was

Star Wars is still pretty big, but it does say something that folks look fondly at the PT now. I grew up with those and I remember just how much people hated them. RedLetterMedia created a whole cottage industry of hyper-critical online critics because of how thoroughly and articulately they analyzed the PT's never-ending parade of missteps.

But the PT's at least led into the stuff people did like. At the very least, no matter how bad things in the PT got, you knew that the end was going to be a thoroughly satisfying, happy conclusion for our heroes. The ST took that happy ending away and put a new, far less-satisfying ending in its place.

(Look at those happy faces! Would be a shame if half of them went on to become absolute failures of parents, teachers, and political leaders, all split apart and alienated from each other, and ultimately get murdered or die tragically, never knowing that the ultimate evil they sacrificed everything for would outlive them all...)

 

[Dark_Knight_89]

The sheer audacity, stubbornness, impudence, arrogance, insolence, and nerve of Disney/Kennedy to double down on the horrible things they did with the Sequel Trilogy and announce this movie is actually impressive. She literally doesn't give a ****.

 

[ajp4mgs]

This is true. I’ve still never seen Solo or Rise of Skywalker

I sooooooo wish I could say the same.

 

[Sassafras]

Back before it all went to hell, I actually thought Rey's introduction in TFA was one of the best intros I've seen in a film in ages. It's a perfect marriage of the sort of lonely and yearnful wanderlust we saw with Luke and the intrepid and resourceful struggles I saw in seminal films like Nausicaa and the Valley of the Winds.

Just a person struggling day to day, trying to make do with salvage and scavenging the graveyards and ruins on their desolate planet. Little dialogue, gorgeous visuals, strong musical motif... it worked. I thought for sure they'd made a character that would stand as one of the all-time great new additions to Star Wars.

But, like so many other characters, Lucasfilm didn't realize that the grounded, relatable qualities from that opening were what people liked. She didn't need to be a super-powered chosen one with a direct blood connection to one of the original characters (let alone Palpatine). Bit by bit, they lost their confidence that they could tell a strong story without relying on the old movies and old characters. Finn? Rose? Poe? Snoke? None of them mattered. And the "Rey" we see in the opening of TFA quickly is erased by the time TLJ comes around. That character is gone, and thoroughly buried once she becomes a "Skywalker" in RoS's conclusion.

Which is a shame. That character was good. I liked her. I miss her.

Yep. A lot of what you write is also why I took to the Mandalorian (and Peli, for that matter), and Finn.
Just "lowly" people getting by, who are gonna be tested.

I thought Ridley was fresh and appealing, and the desert shots in TFA beautiful. And I was Skywalkered out - OK, fine, Kylo is a Skywalker, but at least he wasn't "good" but for me there was a lot of interest in which side of the coin he would fall on. IMO it was an interesting take, someone uber-powered but overshadowed by his relatives.

Well, we all know how things turned out.

 

[chrisstbh]

I don’t want to see an Empire 3.0, if it has that it’s an automatic 0/10.

 

[Mike86]

I didn’t have a problem with Daisy and the character of Rey started off fine. They definitely made her overpowered fast though. Still a Rey story no strings attached to the Skywalker Saga could be interesting.

One thing that bothers me though is how she’s rebuilding the Jedi Order. That should have been Luke’s role to in the sequels and had Rey help him in doing so. Instead we got hobo Luke who failed in trying to re-establish the Jedi.

Also I could almost see Grogu being worked in somehow. There’s no way Disney kills him. He could be like other Jedi/Force sensitive characters and be hiding out. Rey sense him and they work together to reform the Jedi. Kind of would make sense and bring things more full circle.

 

[BoosterGold06]

Solo is a good little movie though.

Yeah, I don't get the hate for Solo, it has its issues but it's pretty good IMO.

To be fair, I had no intention of watching Solo the minute it was announced. Recasting the original actors seems so unnecessary and wasn’t something I was going to support even if I had loved The Last Jedi.

 

[Mike86]

The sheer audacity, stubbornness, impudence, arrogance, insolence, and nerve of Disney/Kennedy to double down on the horrible things they did with the Sequel Trilogy and announce this movie is actually impressive. She literally doesn't give a ****.

I mean face it. As much as a lot of us don’t like the Sequel Trilogy it exists now and isn’t going away. In order to continue advancing the story they have to build off of it. Also this is just one project. There are other Star Wars films in development that are in different eras.

 

[MyenShi]

To be fair, I had no intention of watching Solo the minute it was announced. Recasting the original actors seems so unnecessary and wasn’t something I was going to support even if I had loved The Last Jedi.

I understand and thought it was something like that. I get it. It’s a very difficult topic; to cast new people in the shadow of legendary and iconic actors and their characters.

But the characters have long lives both in universe and out. And it was only a matter of time before new stories would be told and new people to portray them would be needed. More of that is likely to come, for good and bad.

Solo itself is not a movie that needed to exist, and it didn’t really add anything to Han Solo the character. It would’ve been a better Lando movie than a Solo one. But it’s also a harmless movie that has fun moments.

 

[Dark_Knight_89]

I mean face it. As much as a lot of us don’t like the Sequel Trilogy it exists now and isn’t going away. In order to continue advancing the story they have to build off of it. Also this is just one project. There are other Star Wars films in development that are in different eras.

I mean, yeah, of course. I'm looking forward to Ahsoka and interested in the Jedi Old Republic movie that Mangold is helming.

But Kennedy knows that they messed up with the Sequel Trilogy. She knows it pissed a lot of people off, more than anything that has come before. She could have just left it alone, made other stories around it without touching it. But no, she's gone for this. It takes a certain type of person with a certain type of mindset to do that.

 

[chrisstbh]

To be fair, I had no intention of watching Solo the minute it was announced. Recasting the original actors seems so unnecessary and wasn’t something I was going to support even if I had loved The Last Jedi.

It’s the best Disney Star Wars movie. It’s a fun ride. It’s not different from recasting someone like Obi-Wan with Ewan McGregor, it’s a young version of Han and Lando and the actors do a great job.

 

[MyenShi]

Back before it all went to hell, I actually thought Rey's introduction in TFA was one of the best intros I've seen in a film in ages. It's a perfect marriage of the sort of lonely and yearnful wanderlust we saw with Luke and the intrepid and resourceful struggles I saw in seminal films like Nausicaa and the Valley of the Winds.

Just a person struggling day to day, trying to make do with salvage and scavenging the graveyards and ruins on their desolate planet. Little dialogue, gorgeous visuals, strong musical motif... it worked. I thought for sure they'd made a character that would stand as one of the all-time great new additions to Star Wars.

But, like so many other characters, Lucasfilm didn't realize that the grounded, relatable qualities from that opening were what people liked. She didn't need to be a super-powered chosen one with a direct blood connection to one of the original characters (let alone Palpatine). Bit by bit, they lost their confidence that they could tell a strong story without relying on the old movies and old characters. Finn? Rose? Poe? Snoke? None of them mattered. And the "Rey" we see in the opening of TFA quickly is erased by the time TLJ comes around. That character is gone, and thoroughly buried once she becomes a "Skywalker" in RoS's conclusion.

Which is a shame. That character was good. I liked her. I miss her.

Star Wars is still pretty big, but it does say something that folks look fondly at the PT now. I grew up with those and I remember just how much people hated them. RedLetterMedia created a whole cottage industry of hyper-critical online critics because of how thoroughly and articulately they analyzed the PT's never-ending parade of missteps.

But the PT's at least led into the stuff people did like. At the very least, no matter how bad things in the PT got, you knew that the end was going to be a thoroughly satisfying, happy conclusion for our heroes. The ST took that happy ending away and put a new, far less-satisfying ending in its place.

(Look at those happy faces! Would be a shame if half of them went on to become absolute failures of parents, teachers, and political leaders, all split apart and alienated from each other, and ultimately get murdered or die tragically, never knowing that the ultimate evil they sacrificed everything for would outlive them all...)

I agree. Rey was set up really well and the story of her scavenger life was beautifully told in a short amount of time. Still love her theme which is the perfect balance of curiosity, hope, and melancholy.

But not having her character arc written in stone before moving forward with the trilogy tossed her characterization around like a ship in a storm.

I felt from early on that if she were to have a legacy connection, she should be a Kenobi. Turns out that was part of discussions but dropped in favor of Palpatine which is just dumb. A Skywalker sacrificing themselves for a Kenobi would’ve been a more satisfying arc that would actually have made sense.

No matter what happens, I am hoping the best for the characters and actors this time around. The actors don’t deserve the blame and vitriol they receive. They were so excited and passionate and it was heart wrenching to see their smiles wiped away by their experiences with TROS.