The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker: Two films or Two Children Fighting over Their Favorite Toys?

 Much ink has been spilt about the quality or lack thereof when it comes to the two films, Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. This is not one of those articles. This is more of a analysis of how the directors responded to one another and the puzzling fan reactions to those responses.

 

It is inarguable that the Last Jedi chose to go its own way when it came to key story beats of the Force Awakens as Rian Johnson reportedly threw out JJ Abrams' Star Wars Episode 8 script. Essentially Rian Johnson snatched Abram's toys and said "I want to play this way." Johnson's choosing to ignore Abrams is apparent right away. The Force Awakens ends with a dramatic scene of Rey holding out Luke's lightsaber to him as the force theme plays. Clearly Abrams intended this to be a scene of immense gravitas. In the Last Jedi, however, when we pick up with that scene he has Luke casually throw the lightsaber away. Now, whether one likes that storytelling choice or not, one has admit it would be incredibly jarring to watch those scenes back to back. Johnson does not stop there, however. In The Force Awakens, Hux is a menacing rabid neo-nazi, a younger Tarkin if you will. In The Last Jedi, Hux feels like one of the home alone burglars as he is tormented by all around him from the opening momma joke to Kylo Ren throwing him around the AT-AT. Perhaps the apotheosis of Johnson ignoring Abrams, however, comes with Snoke. In the Force Awakens, Abrams has Snoke appear only a giant looming hologram. He is shrouded in mystery but oozes power and menace. The fact that this man converted Han and Leia' son to evil and the fact that this man has created a new imperial order leaves a lot of questions, but Johnson once again chooses to go his own way and just kill off Snoke without answering any of the questions. 

The reaction to these choices, among other decisions, was controversial to say the least. Some felt angered by these decisions as they felt the characters from Star Wars: The Force Awakens were being undercut. Others, however, praised The Last Jedi for not giving viewers what they expected. "Just because the story didn't go the way you wanted that doesn't mean it's a bad choice" was a frequent argument from The Last Jedi defenders. Therefore, it is intriguing that just two years later, some of those same defenders would be angry at Rise of Skywalker for well . . . going in a different direction than the defenders of The Last Jedi wanted.


When watches Rise of Skywalker, one cannot shake the feeling that JJ Abrams is desperately trying to undo as much of The Last Jedi as possible. Luke suddenly loves his lightsaber again as he says it "deserves more respect." Hux is replaced by a new imperial officer who kills off Hux without much ceremony. Since Snoke is dead, the Emperor comes back and he essentially replaces Snoke in the lore as it is revealed he was behind the First Order's Rise and Kylo Ren's turn to the Dark Side. In other words, The Rise of Skywalker is Abrams snatching back his toys from Johnson and going "NO! I want to play this way." Yet suddenly, the defenders of The Last Jedi who patiently explained that stories are not always going to go the way one wants were furious. Admittedly it is understandable that a director ignores the work of something one loves, but Abrams was doing nothing that Johnson had not already done to him. 




I want the takeaway of this post to not be "The Last Jedi sucks and the Rise of Skywalker was great" or vice-versa, but rather to be "Our opinions on stories are going to vary and let's be sympathetic to those who feel differently." The Star Wars fanbase seemed to be incredibly fractured by these two films with heavy demonization of the opposing sides, admittedly abetted by absurd actions like creating a men only cut of The Last Jedi, but actions like these were extreme examples. Many were disappointed by a sequel that seemed to ignore things set up in its predecessor. And if you think that was silly, well maybe ask why you were so angered by Rise of Skywalker. To be absolutely clear, it is fine for you to hate or love any of these films, I only ask that we be sympathetic to those who feel differently than ourselves.


Comments

  1. JacksaysgoDecember 20, 2020 at 1:24 PM

    I think this is an interesting exercise and one worth asking of the people who hated The Last Jedi as well. If you hated the choices that Johnson made but also hated Rise of Skywalker is something else at play besides the answers we do or don’t think we want?

    ReplyDelete

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