jedibear

If you enjoy the more gritty and grounded approach to the MCU as opposed to the more fantastical, this show will hit the mark. Less high concept than Wandavision, Falcon and Winter Soldier has strong performances and a timely story to hold interest. Worth a binge when all the episodes have been released.

Lots of spoiler talk here, beware. Star Wars has suffered a death by algorithm. Judging by the reactions I read in here, Disney was correct in their read of what the "audience" wanted. Easy, comfortable spectacle, unchanging and familiar. TLJ offered a shock to the formula and a way forward that would have been truly challenging for the characters and the audience with a real potential for good drama. Yes, it was divisive and upsetting to a lot of people, but it moved the story forward in a way that wasn't just retelling the same old story. I was stunned by some of the choices Johnson made in TLJ, but I welcomed the idea of moving on from the past. Abrams and Disney chose to take the quick and easy path. With Rise of Skywalker, they produced a beautifully rendered movie with state-of-the-art effects and stunning production. But their resurrected emperor has no clothes. Like TFA, this movie merely presents another retread of OT motifs and story. It completely disregards the last chapter and forges ahead with pretending it didn't exist. All of the main characters have regressed and have no further development. There is no chemistry between the actors at all. Attempts at humor fall flat. Rey is now Supergirl infused with her magical abilities. She can do absolutely anything and suffer no consequence. Kylo/Ben goes through the mechanical motions of the story, becoming Palpatine's stooge, completely foregoing any of his own ambitions of power, mooning over Rey. The force has become "magic" and the laws of physics, even as established in previous Star Wars movies, don't exist. Finn yells and smirks a lot and ends the movie presumably imbued with the force because, well, why not? Poe stumbles through the proceedings, finally ending in a whimper. Palpatine's "return" is handled in the most awkward fashion. Every aspect of it only raises more questions and reveals more plot holes, not only within this movie, but the whole series before it. Having him return as the main antagonist only makes the two trilogies before this one completely beside the point. The main focus of this movie (in fact this whole trilogy) has been to deconstruct the original movies characters and situations, nullifying any of their sacrifice and reason for being for the sake of a Supergirl. It's not interesting at all. It should have been called "The Death of Skywalker" - all of the Skywalkers are dead in the end...Palpatine has won! His bloodline lives on! She's taken the Skywalker name, the old home, even the iconic view of the binary sunset at the end. And is he really dead? C'mon...being tossed down a reactor shaft and being on an exploding Death Star didn't do it so why should a little boring lightening do the trick? It's nonsense. It's insulting and sad for the longtime fans of this series. Now, at the end, it's obvious that there was no plan from Disney/Lucasfilm for this trilogy other than to do what Disney has been doing as a movie studio for decades. Repacking, rebranding and rebooting everything from their vault Churning out movies that are an easy choice for movie goers, safe and familiar. They make the billion and are quickly forgotten until the next reboot. Avoiding original ideas and content like it is kryptonite to the profit line. And now Star Wars is a part of this mechanical process. What once was the vision of one man and his company is now just another bit of content added to a streaming service, barely watched and forgettable. Rise of Skywalker is the epitome of this. Dazzling and forgettable. Truly a sad and disappointing way for this long Skywalker story to end.

A clunky, now common exercise in rebranding. This is an odd entry for the franchise that manages to offend it's longtime fans in the first five minutes of the movie before proceeding to offer a literal re-do of the first two movies. The new cast members hit the marks efficiently but with no real excitement. It isn't until Linda Hamilton shows up that the movie gets a pulse. She easily dominates whatever scene she's in. Once Schwarzenegger shows up, the movie actually veers off of the strict reboot formula to offer an absurd extension of the Terminator featured in T2. It's oddly charming and the closest thing this movies offers to an original idea. The last third of the movie degenerates into over-the-top CGI infused mayhem that leaves one feeling numb and almost bored. Why the thumbs up? Despite the movie's shortcomings, seeing Hamilton and Schwarzenegger gamely attempt to inject the proceedings with some life is worth the watch. Hamilton serves up a genuine weariness and Schwarzenegger shows he still has charisma and knows the character better than anyone. If only the movie had ditched the do-over and instead focused on what these two characters could provide for a fresh story. What could have been....