Why 'The Rise of Skywalker' Fell Short For Me + LENGTHY Review

December 2, 2020

Much of this was written almost a year ago, shortly after seeing The Rise of Skywalker in theaters, but I didn't have an appropriate place to post it back then. This might not be the appropriate place, either; but this is my blog and I can do whatever I want, so here we are. Plus, Star Wars... Rebellion... it kinda works. So as we come up on its first anniversary, I decided to re-read, edit, add to, and finally publish my thoughts about the final installment of the Skywalker saga.

I want to begin by reminding everyone I am a huge fan of The Last Jedi and what Rian Johnson did in that film. Before I actually saw it, though, I was skeptical. In fact, I've been skeptical of all of the Disney-era Star Wars movies when they first came out -- all for different reasons. First because I was skeptical of Disney in general, then because I was worried they wouldn't take any risks, and finally because I didn't want them to ruin the risks that had already been taken.

In my opinion, each of the three movies in this trilogy had its own job to do, and though I hate to say it, The Rise of Skywalker is the only one that failed to do its job.

The Force Awakens had the job of reintroducing us to the Star Wars universe after many years away from it. It did that job very well, which is why, even though it has some unnecessary fanservice moments, it still works really well as a Star Wars movie in my opinion. I know a lot of people complain that it's too similar to A New Hope, but as a reintroduction to the galaxy and previous story, I enjoyed it. Instead of coming off as simply pandering to fans, it actually serves a purpose: to bring us back into that universe and remind us where we are.

When it came time for the follow-up two years later, I was worried that they would fall into the trap of making another movie just like TFA, which would have been easy to do, but not the right thing to do. The need for a reintroduction no longer existed. We didn't need any fanservice this time around. What we needed was risks to be taken. The Last Jedi's job was to make the universe new and exciting again, because too much of the same thing will get old fast, and we needed something that wouldn't be too familiar and therefore boring. I was apprehensive, thinking this might not be achieved. I couldn't be sure if the previous movie had been so fanservice-y for the reason I wanted to believe, or because they simply lacked imagination. But along came Rian Johnson who absolutely nailed it. As I see it, The Last Jedi had just the right amount of familiarity while also being unlike anything we'd ever seen before, not only in terms of the actual storyline, but in the cinematography itself. It was artistic and theatrical to a level we'd never seen in Star Wars before. Rian Johnson was exactly the risk-taker we needed to make this movie something incredible.

So when it was time for The Rise of Skywalker, I wasn't thrilled about the sequel being handed back over to J.J. Abrams, who I feared would throw all of Rian's stand-out choices out the window and go back to the lacking-in-imagination technique that I was afraid The Force Awakens would have been to me if it had not had the unique job of reintroduction. So I approached it with somewhat low expectations, especially after hearing about the teaser trailers from my friends.

Unfortunately, even with my low expectations, I was still disappointed on opening night. There were two major, very specific things that I had been hoping and praying for months they wouldn't do with this movie, and, of course, they did exactly those two things. It kind of ruined the rest of the film-watching experience for me, and I found myself rolling my eyes and sighing with disappointment that they had chosen to go the most predictable, most unimaginative route possible.

Still, there are some things about the movie that I love, and because I'm not the hating type of fan, I decided to give myself some time to absorb it, accept it, and realize that I just had to enjoy the movie for what it was and for the things I liked about it. After all, it is just a movie. The second viewing and all those afterward were far more enjoyable when I chose to view it in this light, but I still have a very polarized opinion of it. The things I love, I really love. The things I hate, I really hate.

But overall, the movie failed to do what I considered to be its job: continuing the story from the last two movies in a way that wrapped up all the loose ends and answered our questions. I really feel like J.J. Abrams was too busy trying to do the last two movies' jobs instead of realizing this one had its own unique place in the timeline, almost as if he isn't capable of looking past the movie to see the trilogy. It tried to use fanservice (and a lot of it), but in ways that were overdone and inappropriate. It tried to be new and exciting, but failed at that too. Instead of just continuing the story of the First Order vs. the Resistance, it tried to bring in a "new" villain, which is also an old villain (and I mean a really old villain), therefore failing at continuing the story trajectory while also failing to be new and exciting in one swoop.

It introduced at least two completely new story elements that, if they had to be introduced at all, should have been at the beginning of the trilogy, not the end. It's almost as if it were a sequel to Return of the Jedi, and the two movies before it didn't even exist, because it feels like it's trying to be the start of something new rather than the end of something old, which makes it seem like it doesn't fit in with the rest of the trilogy. It failed to be shocking in any way, no matter how hard it tried, because the "surprises" were predictable. The only actual risks it did take alienated it from the rest of the trilogy. It was trying to borrow the successful elements from the previous movies and even previous trilogies, but none of them worked here because this movie's job was different. It needed to just focus on its own unique job in order to reach its full potential, and that's why it ultimately fell short.

Below is my lengthy inner dialogue on all of the things I hated, disliked, had mixed feelings about, liked, and even loved about The Rise of Skywalker; and because this is already so long, I've sectioned it off into categories in case you need to stop reading and come back. I'm starting with the worst and working my way up to the best, so keep reading to the end for the good things!

The True Disappointments

The two things I was most disappointed by I was actually expecting, and yet it somehow did not soften the blow the first time around. I guess I was still hoping my suspicions were wrong and that they would surprise me with twists and turns in directions that I hadn't considered. That didn't happen.

First let's talk about Palpatine's return.

Yeah, yeah, the dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural. We get it. But we literally saw the man fall into the Death Star's reactor core and explode at the bottom of it. Additionally, I feel like some people are forgetting that the entire Death Star where that reactor was located also exploded almost immediately after that. The fact that this character was still alive in spite of all of that, and also being 119 years old, is the main thing I just find... silly.

Yes, I realize this is a science fiction fantasy series and that cloning has always played a huge role in it, in addition to Palpatine's propaganda about cheating death from Revenge of the Sith. But I just don't get the obsession with bringing back dead bad guys, and in this case it's clear that they only did so because they wanted to or thought the fans would want it, rather than it actually being a great plot device. It felt so unnecessary because we already had a bad guy in this story: the entire First Order. What was the point in bringing in the "Final Order?" It's just more bad guys on top of the ones we already had, making us focus on a new threat that we really didn't need because the old threat still existed, and then the old threat just kind of... disappeared because we were focusing on the new one?

Also, if they were able to bring him back this time after such an obvious death scene in Return of the Jedi, then what is stopping him from returning again? How do we know this is permanent? Did they leave it open in case they decide to bring him back in yet another movie someday? Maybe I'm missing something, or maybe it's better explained in the novelization that I've yet to read, but just from watching the movie, I see no legitimate proof that it's truly over with, or any explanation of what was different this time and will actually stop him from returning, as opposed to the first time he was destroyed. How do we know he doesn't have more clone bodies stashed somewhere that he was somehow able to use his ridiculous dark side powers to transfer his soul into in some unexplained way? Because apparently seeing somebody die on screen means nothing anymore.

On a similar topic, there's the second major disappointment: Rey being a Palpatine.

The whole lineage reveal is just so tired and old at this point. The "I am your father" scene in The Empire Strikes Back was shocking because it hadn't been done before at that time. That's what made it great. The Last Jedi's similar-but-opposite scene, in which Kylo Ren tells Rey that her parents were no one special, was also great because, again, it wasn't what was expected. After all the fan theories about who her parents were, I loved that the big, shocking revelation was that they were actually nobody important at all. It's what I'd been hoping for all along. And it shouldn't have been undone.

The major difference between TLJ and TROS is that whenever I was specifically hoping they wouldn't do a particular thing -- when I was silently pleading with the movie screen, thinking "Please don't do what I think you're about to do" -- The Last Jedi always chose to pleasantly surprise me by not doing that thing. Meanwhile, The Rise of Skywalker was far more predictable and actually did every single one of those things.

The Last Jedi tried to be an interesting and unique movie, at the risk of making the fans angry. The Rise of Skywalker tried to make the fans happy, at the risk of being boring and predictable. I prefer the interesting and unique, personally.

The "reveal" in this movie was not shocking the way "I am your father" and "They were nobody" were shocking. It wasn't even surprising in the least. I was hoping it wouldn't happen... it happened... I rolled my eyes. Because in a galaxy made up of countless star systems and who knows how many billions of sentient beings, it makes sense for everybody to be related, and to randomly meet up with people they didn't know were related to them, over and over? And the Force, despite connecting every living being, is only accessible to a handful of families, such as the Skywalkers and the Palpatines, because that makes sense... right?

One positive thing I can say about this choice is that if they were going to insist on making her the descendent of somebody important, I'm glad they chose to go this way instead of making her a Skywalker, Solo, Kenobi, or the descendant of any famous good guy. At least this way the story is more interesting and it does have a valuable message as well: that you are not defined by your parents or grandparents, which ultimately is the same message that her parents being nobodies would have given. Rey makes the choice to be a good person in spite of her grandfather being the most evil person the galaxy had ever seen, which sends an important message to young people who may be struggling with things their ancestors have done in real life. If even Palpatine's descendent can overcome what he did, you definitely can. It does fit in with what I feel is the overall message of this new Star Wars trilogy, which is that a new generation can bring hope and change things their ancestors failed to. It's about progress. Kylo Ren's advice to "Let the past die; kill it if you have to" is ultimately what Rey chooses to do -- at least when it comes to her family.

But I still believe that, if this had in fact been Abrams' plan since the beginning, he should have just made it clear from the start instead of trying to do the "shocking reveal" that fell so flat. They should have just introduced Rey as Palpatine's granddaughter from the get-go. Even if they wanted to keep the character herself in the dark until later on, I think it would have been better for the audience to know. Then it could have been approached from the perspective of "Look at what good things she's about to do in spite of her family history" -- instead of just a failed attempt at making us gasp.

Additionally, presenting her only as his granddaughter in the film, saving the fact that her father was actually a Palpatine clone for the novelization opened up a lot of questions about exactly how Palpatine had a child and who their mother was. Canonically, we have answers to those questions thanks to the book, but if you're just watching the movie, you have no idea.

Rose being removed from 99% of the movie. It isn't that I loved her character so much that I wanted to see her again, but it bothers me because it's obvious they did this simply because of the jerks that hated her character so much in TLJ. It makes me sad for Kelly Marie Tran, who did a great job playing the character and received a bunch of unfair, misogynistic, and racist abuse online afterward. I really would like to have seen the makers of the movie stand up for her by giving her good scenes and not just making her an extra. If people hated the character that much, they could have developed the character in the follow-up and given her better scenes that made her more "likeable." Not to mention she kissed Finn and told him she loved him (in a round-about way) at the end of the last movie and that fact was just never mentioned again.

Smaller, More Nitpicky Complaints

Force users have become so powerful at this point that it seems they can do almost literally anything, and it just feels like it's a bit much. I understand that it's a fantasy movie, and therefore almost anything is possible, but some of the things they do in this film (such as pulling an entire transport ship back toward the planet after it's already taken off) make it feel a bit like a video game, fan fiction, or a bad EU novel come to life.

Dark side Rey. It was just so unnecessary. Daisy looked gorgeous in the costume, I'll give them that, but just... why?

Poe's ex-girlfriend Zorii. First of all, what's up with her Power Ranger helmet? It's a small thing, I know, but another one that makes me feel like I'm watching a video game. But also, it just feels like they went out of their way to give Poe a female love interest just to prove the character isn't gay and give him more reason not to hook up with Finn like most people wanted. It didn't really help, though, because now they both just come off as bisexual.

Poe and Finn bickering. Again, it seems like they went out of their way to make it look like the two didn't like each other as much. At the beginning of the movie, they could have just been having a bad day (especially since Poe was being "difficult" with Rey as well), but then when Poe points out that he isn't Leia, and Finn's response is an angry "That's for damn sure," it just seemed unnecessarily hurtful. Eventually their close relationship from the previous movies returns, but I could have done without all the fighting in-between. If they were trying to make them seem less like a couple, they failed, especially right after the quicksand scene, where it seems like Poe is jealous of the relationship between Finn and Rey.

I find Babu Frick annoying. Not to the point that it could ruin the rest of the movie, especially since his scenes are limited, but it's another thing I could have done without. I like the idea of showing a bit of Poe's backstory, but Zorii and Babu could have been replaced by more likeable characters, in my opinion.

Implying that Jannah might be Lando's daughter. Come onnnnnn, guys, it's a HUGE galaxy, not everyone is RELATED. Holy cow, give it a rest.

There's just. So. Much. Fanservice. I'm not 100% against it, and there are even a few parts that make me sentimental myself, maybe even a few that I will mention in the "things I loved" section, but it's really just a lot this time around. There are so many scenes that I feel only exist to remind us that we're watching Star Wars, as if we somehow forgot.

Really, really wanted to see Kylo Ren/Ben Solo dominate General Hux in a fight. Remember in TLJ when he threw him against the console of his command shuttle on Crait? Yeah, I wanted more of that. Nothing would been more satisfying than seeing Hux go out in that manner.

They never even addressed what it was Finn had wanted to tell Rey when they were sinking in quicksand. Thanks to cast and crew commentary (and it also might be in the novelization), we now know that he was supposed to tell her that he thought he was Force-sensitive, but in the movie, they completely dropped it and never actually gave us the answer. It's almost like this movie gave us more unanswered questions than it did answers to previous questions.

Things I Have Mixed Feelings About

The kiss.

This is the scene I have the most conflicting emotions about. When the scene was happening, as Ben and Rey were holding each other and had that look in their eyes, I was silently saying to myself, "Don't kiss, don't kiss, don't kiss." But then they kissed. And... I kind of liked it. Maybe I think the scene would have been better, and in a way, even more emotional, without the kiss -- especially if he'd survived -- but at the same time, his death immediately after that kind of changed my opinion, making me almost happy for the characters that they shared one kiss while they still had a chance.

I've been noticing the sexual tension between Kylo and Rey since The Force Awakens, but at first I thought I was imagining it. Then came The Last Jedi, where it became obvious that I definitely was not imagining it. But I was never a "shipper" and I never would have wanted anything to happen between them unless I was convinced Kylo Ren was dead and Ben Solo had taken over. Evil people aren't sexy and I don't want my main protagonist hooking up with the bad guy. But at the same time, Adam Driver's acting in the role of Ben Solo was so convincing (he even looks like a different person), I knew that Ben had truly turned his back on the dark side for good, so it was kind of satisfying to see them finally lock lips. Honestly, if I were Rey, I would have gone for it, too.

But really, it's Ben's smile that makes this whole scene. Generally, people who fall to the dark side do so because they're miserable, and it's definitely been made clear how miserable Kylo Ren was throughout the past few movies. When you finally see him happy and see him smile for the first time, it's such a noticeable change. It actually makes me really happy for the character, and if a kiss before dying is what it took to make that happen, then so be it. I see it as less of making an actual move romantically, and more of a sign that she knows the change in him is permanent and she's completely forgiven him. Words would have been clunky and awkward in that moment, but this one gesture said it all.

Now, I'm not saying that every awful thing he did as Kylo Ren should be immediately forgiven, and if he'd lived, he'd have spent years regretting and trying to repent for all of it; but there's really no difference (aside from the obvious) between this scene and Luke helping Vader take his mask off and holding his hand as he dies. You could argue that Luke also forgives way too fast considering everything he knows his father did. Other than the familial relationship being replaced by a potential romantic one, nothing has really changed, so if you complain about one, you have to complain about the other.

Chewbacca's fake death. I honestly think that Chewie should have actually died when Rey accidentally destroyed the ship she thought he was on. The heart-wrenching way Rey screams his name when she thinks she just killed him is one of the greatest moments of the movie in my opinion, and Daisy Ridley nailed it with her emotional acting. I didn't feel sad about Chewie dying because he's never been a character I'm particularly attached to, but my heart broke for Rey when I heard that high-pitched scream of anguish. The scene is so impactful that I think it's kind of a shame they undid it afterward, and I think they should have followed through with showing more of Rey's guilt at accidentally killing someone she cared about. Killing a beloved character was one of the very few risks the movie actually took and then they played it safe anyway by undoing it.

I like the character of Jannah, learning that there are other stormtroopers out there who abandoned, and I think her chemistry with Finn is the best he's had with any character besides Poe. Their witty, flirtatious banter worked well. But it kind of feels like a betrayal that they added a new character while sidelining Rose almost entirely.

Smaller Things I Think Are Neat

Everything involving C-3PO. I have a soft spot for Threepio, and I have always felt bad at how mistreated and disliked he is, both in-universe and by fans. He really had a chance to shine in this movie, though. He was involved in a lot of cute little scenes, and actually had a chance to be heroic -- and although being frightened, he took that chance and made a sacrifice to help the others and maybe even save the galaxy. There are a few things that bother me about this memory-wiping plot device. First of all, how quick everyone was to volunteer him. Second, if he knew exactly where the wayfinder was located but simply couldn't translate it... couldn't he have just taken them there? Droids can fly spaceships. Threepio piloted or at least co-piloted Padme's cruiser to Mustafar. The whole "I know where it is but my programming doesn't allow me to translate it" thing seemed kind of weak. But ultimately, Threepio had to make the decision of whether or not he was willing to give up all of his memories to save his friends, and he was very brave. Other cute scenes of his: wearing a hooded robe (not a great disguise, but so adorable) and the part where Rey, Finn and Poe all join hands and Threepio runs across the room to join them, grabbing Poe's free hand to show he's part of the group.

John Williams' cameo. Star Wars would not be Star Wars without this man. I was so happy to see him finally immortalized on screen, and not just his amazing score!

After Rey heals the sand serpent, BB-8 is curious about what she did, and she tells him that she merely transferred some life-force from herself into the creature, adding "You would have done the same." Later, when BB-8 meets the droid D-O, he has the chance to do exactly the same thing when he transfers some of his own battery power into D-O so the latter can come back to life. This was such a small thing that I think a lot of people missed it, but I thought it was very clever, and is yet another great example of droids being sentient. (I like droids a lot.)

An important fact that maybe not everyone realized: initially, when Kylo Ren said "I will finish what you started," he was referring to what Darth Vader had started, meaning tyranny and evil. But eventually he did actually finish what his grandfather Anakin Skywalker had started before his fall to the dark side: learning to save somebody from death (and in many fans' opinions, it was also the woman he loved). Anakin had once set out to save Padme, but failed. Ben, however, was able to figure out the secret to saving Rey, even though he had to give his own life to do it. And as it turns out, it was possible to do it with the light side.

Also, has anyone else noticed that, despite the actors not being related in any way, Ben has his grandfather's smile? Compare his final scene with Rey to the one where Padme tells Anakin she's pregnant and you'll see what I mean. It actually made me go, "Aww" when I noticed the resemblance. Considering how much time he spent idolizing his grandfather (even if for the wrong reasons), I thought it was really cool that he actually looks like him when he smiles. I'm not sure if it was done on purpose or not, but knowing Adam Driver's dedication, maybe he was actually imitating Anakin's smile from Episode III. After all, he imitated a lot of Harrison Ford's demeanors during this movie as well.

Lesbian kiss. They couldn't follow through with Poe and Finn, despite both actors (especially Oscar Isaac) advocating for it, but at least they gave us something to piss off the homophobes.

What I LOVED

First of all, the cast. My favorite thing about this entire trilogy is the characters and what a fantastic job all the lead actors did. Adam Driver is outstanding and I'm continuously amazed by the subtle differences with which he plays Kylo Ren and Ben Solo, making them into two entirely separate characters. As I mentioned before, Daisy Ridley's acting chops really stood out to me in the moments after she thought she'd killed Chewbacca, but can we also talk about how convincingly she plays a dead person? I almost thought Driver was holding a Daisy Ridley doll because of how lifeless she appeared. The two of them also have a chemistry that somehow blew actual romantic pairings like Padme/Anakin and Han/Leia out of the water. I'll never understand how two people who were playing mortal enemies had such strong chemistry on-screen, but without it, the movies -- especially The Last Jedi -- wouldn't have been the same. John Boyega and Oscar Isaac are just too wonderful for this world, and when you put the two of them together (speaking of chemistry)... just pure joy. Their bromance is so wholesome in real life, and the characters definitely would not have been the same without it.

I might be in the minority here, but I actually love the dyad concept. Though it didn't have a name yet, this was obviously set up in TLJ with Ben and Rey's "Force Skyping" sessions, which I found to be one of the most interesting plot threads and such a unique way of building a personal relationship between two characters who are enemies, against their own wills. Snoke claimed to be the one who had bridged their minds, but even after his death, it was shown that they still had that ability, meaning there were other reasons for it. At some point between the end of TLJ and the beginning of TROS, Kylo Ren somehow learns (or assumes?) what the reason is, telling Rey that they are "a dyad in the Force -- two that are one."

Now, what I'm about to say is not canon by any means (as far as I'm aware) but a theory that I read and am personally choosing to believe because it makes sense to me. Since Ben and Rey are "two that are one," something that was unseen for generations according to Palpatine, the truth of the matter is that they -- both of them put together -- are actually the chosen one, as prophesized so many years ago. Together, they destroyed the Sith and brought balance to the Force as the prophecy foretold. Ben, a descendant of the Jedi who turned evil, and Rey, a descendant of the Sith who turned good. Yin and yang, so to speak. But they did eventually need to be on the same side and join forces to fulfill the prophecy, so until Ben made his choice and truly joined Rey's struggle, this couldn't happen.

This doesn't make Anakin Skywalker's story useless as some people think, though. The idea of Anakin not being the chosen one isn't new; Yoda admitted in Revenge of the Sith that the prophecy could have been misread. But without Anakin, there could have been no Leia, and therefore no Ben, which makes Anakin's place in this story just as important as before, whether Anakin himself was the chosen one or not. Personally I love the idea of Anakin's grandson and the other half of the dyad actually being the chosen one together. If you're into the romantic Reylo pairing, this means that they were quite literally soulmates, but more importantly, it gives reason for their bond to exist to begin with and explains why the dyad was so rare or even unheard of.

I adore the fact that, in the end, the war was won by average Joes, so to speak. Poe's quote, "Good people will fight if we lead them" proves true when Lando manages to use his legend status and skills of persuasion to amass an enormous fleet of people from across the galaxy who are willing to stand up against evil without any training or incentive -- all they have are their armed vehicles and the desire to affect change. "That's not a navy, sir. It's just... people."

Although the idea of Rey being a nobody was sadly abandoned in this film, it makes up for it in a way (not entirely) by creating an entire army of nobodies who are ultimately responsible for saving the galaxy, continuing the message that anybody can do good things. And the galaxy will likely never know who any of those nobodies were, but they still made that stand -- not for money or fame, but just to do the right thing. This scene, along with Ben's redemption and Rey's choice to defy her lineage, prove that there is more good in the galaxy than there is evil -- something we'd like to believe about planet Earth, as well.

Okay, maybe the actual war was technically still won by Rey when she destroyed Palpatine, whose crazy-ridiculous Force powers disabled most of an entire fleet. Which brings me back to why I dislike crazy-ridiculous Force powers as I mentioned earlier. No matter how powerful a Force user someone is, it's just too much that they're able to do something that big. I choose to see the makeshift navy as the real heroes here and ignore the fact that one person somehow managed to disable hundreds of ships with Force lightning, technically ruining that powerful moment.

The Han Solo scene. Honestly this is one of the deepest and most meaningful moments in Star Wars to me, despite my earlier talk about being annoyed by the constant bringing-back of dead characters. But what I love about this scene is that Han Solo isn't appearing as a ghost -- or worse, still alive despite his obvious death scene -- but as a memory. Unlike with Palpatine, this isn't the writers actually bringing a dead character back to life, and it isn't the same as a Force ghost, either. It is literally Ben re-living the moment he killed his father, and imagining how it should have gone, what he could have done differently. Earlier in the film, Rey tells him, "You can't stop seeing what you did to your father" and that's exactly what's happening here.

He even says some of the exact same words he did during that tragic scene in The Force Awakens ("I know what I have to do, but I don't know if I have the strength to do it.") This is the same scene as in TFA, but with a different outcome; the outcome that Ben knows the first moment should have had. Ben himself even says "You're just a memory," to which the vision of his father replies, "Your memory."

So why is this so meaningful? Because it means that everything Han Solo says during this scene is actually Ben's thoughts. It's Ben talking to himself. When you keep this in mind, all of the dialogue that Harrison Ford utters in the scene takes on a completely different meaning. Especially when he says, "Kylo Ren is dead. My son is alive." This is Ben finally admitting to himself that Kylo is dead, essentially killing off that identity willingly in order to truly become Ben Solo again. When he turns and throws the lightsaber he used to killed his father into the ocean (maybe not a practical choice, but a symbolic one), he does the closest thing he possibly can to undoing the murder of his father.

I think it's a beautiful, almost perfect moment within a movie that was generally kind of messy. There are a handful of these beautiful moments scattered throughout.

Another absolutely perfect scene: Ben Solo, fully returned from the dark, being passed a lightsaber through the Force, and completely dominating the Knights of Ren in a fight. I love this Ben Solo. I want to see more of this Ben Solo. I would watch him killing bad guys like a total badass for hours. The fighting style is so passionate as he desperately tries to get to Rey and save the Resistance, and it's all made even better by the fact that he's finally wielding his grandfather's lightsaber. Not only is the blue color of the blade symbolic of his return to the light, but the fact that he so desperately wanted this lightsaber throughout the rest of the trilogy, and now, not only is he using it, but he's actually worthy of using it. This scene almost makes the entire movie to be honest.

Also, have you seen the video of these shots edited together with Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out For a Hero" playing? If not, please look it up because it's great. Here, I'll make it easy for you.

Ben Solo's redemption in general. I have a lot to say about the psychology behind Ben's fall to the dark side and return to the light. Originally, I actually began typing it as part of this review, but this is already almost 6,000 words, so I cut that and will save it for another time. I could write an entire essay on this subject, and might do just that in the form of another blog entry in the future.

For now, let me just say that Ben's redemption is the one thing that this movie needed to get right for me to not entirely hate it, and thankfully, they did get it right. I really don't think I would have been able to forgive them if they'd let Ben die as Kylo Ren. After all of the character development that had taken place in The Last Jedi, there was just no way. We'd known ever since the last movie that he was teetering on the edge between good and evil, "unbalanced" as Snoke said. It would have been the biggest tragedy of the entire series if he had died without being redeemed.

Everything else in this movie could have sucked -- and in my opinion, as you already know, several things about it kind of did -- but as long as they got this one thing right, I would have been okay. Apparently in Colin Trevorrow's original plans for the script, this redemption did not happen and Kylo Ren was killed. So as much as I dislike a lot of J.J. Abrams' choices, I would have been a lot angrier if he hadn't taken over the writing. Everything else might have better if we'd gotten the other version, but I would forever be sad that the potential of Ben Solo's character had gone completely untapped.

Again, I might be in the minority with this controversial opinion, but I'm going to say it anyway: Kylo Ren is the most interesting character in Star Wars. I know it's trendy not to like him, but from a psychological standpoint, everything about the character is fascinating to me. I will dive further into my love for Kylo in the future when I discuss his rise and fall as I already mentioned I would do someday. Despite some of the disappointments I had with The Rise of Skywalker, the thing that's most important to me is that it cemented this trilogy as the story of Ben Solo's fall and redemption. And not only that, but this is the movie where he reached his full potential and truly became a badass. It is the movie that made me fall in love with Ben Solo as a character, so even though it's one of my least favorites to watch, the movie cannot be all bad.