First Episode 9 Review
Reading that post first will help you understand because it addresses my thoughts on the other Star Wars movies, and also my first thoughts on Episode 9. And as a general warning, spoilers are all over the place in that review, and in what's to follow here.
Episode 9 review, part 2
In the previous review I said I like episode 9 despite a list of problems I have with the movie. I think I can refine that response a little. I like the movie despite problems I have with the movie in the context of the previous two movies.I've said in other places in my reviews that I lament the missed opportunity for a good movie in Episode 7. I like the new characters just fine and think the actors did a good job, but Episode 7 could have started with the original trilogy characters to ease us back into Star Wars and show us what's been happening in 30 years. The 9 episode series of movies is after all the story of Anakin Skywalker, and his children. I expected Episode 7 to focus primarily on Luke, Leia, and their friends. I expected Episode 7 to introduce the new characters that the action adventure would focus on, and I expected some of the new characters to be the children each of them had. I hoped they would take cues from the Extended Universe books to have the New Republic growing and to have Luke training Leia in the ways of the Force and starting up his Jedi Academy. I did NOT expect the Empire to essentially still be the biggest power in the galaxy and the rebels to still be rebels. I did NOT expect the original trilogy characters to essentially not matter to the new trilogy.
So, we have a copy of episode 4 stuck in as episode 7 instead of something that progresses the setting. Then we get episode 8 which is just a pile of garbage that drags the trilogy down. It includes the explanation that the most hopeful person in the galaxy has turned into a pessimist that was willing to consider murdering his nephew. That's appalling. Big pile of garbage.
Given that Episode 7 failed to give us a good re-introduction and that it set the groundwork for winning that war at the end of Episode 6 not mattering even a little, and given that Episode destroyed original trilogy characters and basically took a big steaming shit on Star Wars, Episode 9 did a remarkable job of feeling like a Star Wars movie. I give it a lot of credit for dealing with the broken setup of episodes 7 and 8, and I give it some slack too because I know it's hard to overcome the damage episode 8 did.
I'm even going to add two problems I have with Episode 9 before explaining a little more why I still like the movie.
New Problem #1: Rey is a Mary Sue character. I guess I knew that all along. I wanted them to explain that Rey had suppressed her memories of early childhood which included the beginnings of Jedi training from Luke at the academy. It would at least explain why some of her use of the Force just happened. In Episode 9 it goes to new levels... she's a Mary Sue. I think they could have trimmed back the climax of the movie a bit to make it a little less ridiculous. Emperor Palpatine didn't have to be the big bad guy, and Rey didn't have to be his descendant. It's another copy of the original trilogy when the descendant has to face their evil ancestor. And Luke facing his father in Return of the Jedi is the best scene in all of Star Wars (my opinion)... without putting in the entire Sith history and entire Jedi history and trying to be the "infinity plus one" argument. If the first order had been the underdogs in Episode 7 and were just coming back into power, the scary hidden fleet might have been awesome. They could even have used the Thrawn idea to suggest he has been the one collecting ships and crew for 30 years... I'm digressing. This point is about how Rey is a bit too powerful without a satisfying explanation.
New Problem #2: I don't think it registered with me until I watched someone else's review of Episode 9, but the effort to find the hidden Sith location was too drawn out and silly. I mentioned part of it in the first review I did where they added unnecessary complication by making C3-P0 refuse to tell them the translation for the location. But that wasn't the only step. They followed Luke's path. They ran into Lando who was still in the desert there for some reason. They found a dagger with the location written on it... and why is it on a dagger again? They accepted that C3-P0 wouldn't tell them the translation and flew somewhere to hack his brain. They figured out something that lead them to the crash site of Death Star 2. Somehow the dagger had an edge that lined up with the remains of the Death Star to point out where to go (and boy is it lucky they were standing in the right place). Somehow seeing the dagger clue allows Rey to find her way through the Death Star remains to the right spot. They find the Sith homing device. My memory is fuzzy on this part now... didn't they lose the device and Rey had to find another way? She rage quits and goes back to Luke's island? And then he helps her find a way... or something? And then Rey sends a signal back to the Rebels to say to follow her path in so they can attack the big fleet that needs a nav signal to get out? But when the rebels show up they're just spread out and charging through the clouds instead of in a single file path or something? The plot points that lead to finding that place at the end are convoluted and weird. And the way to stop the whole fleet is weird and hard to accept. It made the story extra long and a bit off-putting.
Yes, I really still like Episode 9
Yes mistakes were made and the movie could have been better, but I'm acknowledging the mess episodes 7 and 8 left for them to work with, and then pointing back to the feel of the setting. I have a very strong memory of a quick view we're shown in Episode 9 that struck me and made me happy. When Rey and Ben are heading to the emporer for the final fight, they arrive in separate star fighters. Rey arrives in Luke's X-Wing... the one painted with the marking for Red-Five. The iconic X-Wing. Ben arrives in an old-school TIE fighter... the ubiquitous enemy for space battles that was simple and unforgettable. The quick view we're given is those two star fighters sitting next to each other at the entrance of the evil lair. It hit the right nostalgia point for me, and felt like a wonderful nod to the Star Wars that I love.Another thing they did that felt right despite it having to be computer graphics was showing Luke and Leia lightsaber training. Some of the fluff description going on during the scene wasn't necessary, but it gave me a small piece of what I wanted from the beginning... to know that Luke trained Leia... to know a little of what happened in the 30 year gap... to see the people I cared about being part of Star Wars again.
While I'm not a fan of how drawn out the scavenger hunt, the scenes and writing for the new characters was pretty good. It felt lighthearted in the right ways with quips, and felt still like they were plucky good guys standing up to mean odds. It was the first time I think that the new characters felt like part of the Star Wars universe to me. Episode 7 had some writing I'd consider good, but Episode 9 had writing that felt like the endearing adventure story of the original trilogy again.
I would like very much if they had started down a good path from the beginning with Episode 7, and if they hadn't made the mistake of giving Rian Johnson any power at all. I would have liked a better overall trilogy that didn't require the final episode to deal with so much baggage. I'm impressed they managed to get over some of the hurdles to make a decent movie.
