In my defense, any ranting/bitterness I may have engaged in is springing from genuine, lifelong love of something that I simply hoped to see a wonderful continuation of. I didn't get that in these movies, and it stung a bit more than I thought it would. The blown/missed opportunities, top to bottom, really dig at me if I let it.
But, just to show that I'm not a complete ogre or "hater", I really liked Rey in this movie. Now that the passage of time, training (we see it) and her studying those Jedi journals, her huge powers/abilities are now earned and make sense. Plus, factor in who her grandpa turned out to be, she's gonna have a lot of Force mojo flowing through her veins. But it was fun watching her this time because you're not sitting there thinking "she just picked a lightsaber up for the first time and is somehow besting a trained Jedi-turned-Sith devotee". In this movie, I was happy to see her so strong and capable...because now it makes sense, and there's reason behind it. She's put in the time, training and is fully exploiting her natural abilities. That's cool to see.
For the first time in three movies, I thought Rey was pretty damn awesome. And in much the same way I wanted to see further adventures of full-tilt Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, post-ROTJ, it kinda bums me out that now that she's at that same sort of level, we've probably seen the last of Rey.
See, this is why I liked the final five minutes of
The Rise of Skywalker so much (I touch on this upthread): I'm being optimistic(!) and holding out hope that their next big project (standalone movie, new trilogy or even a Disney+ project) does indeed center around Rey as she trains/leads a new generation of Jedi. I'd like for some time to pass, both in-story and real-life, so she believably grows in her powers/abilities (and so the actress, Daisy Ridley, can maybe get a few years on her, maybe a line or two around her eyes, a silver shock of hair, etc.). We've seen her pretty much looking the same throughout this trilogy, but close your eyes and imagine a slightly older (3-5 years?) Rey in a desert-friendly take on Luke's black Jedi outfit, and sporting a funky, edgy hairdo (or just letting her hair down...something different than how we've seen her) and sporting her new yellow/gold staff-based lightsaber (they didn't show it in the movie, but if you look at the think the yellow/gold blade shot out of, it looks pretty much dead on to her staff she used in
The Force Awakens (go Google pics and you'll see...they're out there). In fact, she was so good with the staff in TFA, I really thought that would've been her saber style of choice in
The Last Jedi. But maybe as an apprentice, you're required to train with a standard one and then when you become a full-tilt Jedi and construct your own, you can do something that suits you? Darth Maul shouldn't be the only double-blade user in these movies, and it's cool to imagine Rey with a yellow/gold double-bladed lightsaber, playing on her fighting prowess with that staff.
So, anyway. I hope we haven't seen the last of her because in the past couple of days, I've really come to like the image of her I painted above.
And let's be real: if Disney really wants to lock into that whole Girl Power™ thing they've been pushing so hard for four years now, there here's your perfect platform. A strong (because she fought and earned it), fully-formed Jedi and leader who can take care of herself, train/lead/inspire others, use her powers for good, loves/protects her friends, etc. There's a proper role model for any little girl or young woman to look up to and admire. They wouldn't be able to keep those Halloween costumes on the shelves!
I don't believe anyone dislikes Daisy Ridley in any real numbers, it's just her character was too perfect out of the gate and it gave her nowhere to go, until now, to where she should be at this level of ability/power. But we were denied the opportunity to see her growing/learning in the way that made Luke such a relatable, popular character. If they'd just tweaked that aspect a bit, that would've gone a long way toward improving a few big issues. That's why this movie is the best depiction of Rey, because it's not eyeroll-inducing. Now she is on par with Luke from ROTJ, and that's awesome. I have zero problem with that. No real man would. But nobody wants to see perfect, infallible Mary Sue types immediately out of the gate because it's boring, lame and unearned (and especially when it's mandated from on high by some dipshit producer looking to make a statement or score points in the culture). And it's hard to relate to, big picture. We all like to see our heroes struggle a bit, and grow/learn. Girl Power™ should still have some sort of grounded, realistic roots. It just can't be Force Jesus Perfection with Breasts, from frame one. That doesn't fly, and it doesn't endure.
But Rey, along with Adam Driver in several scenes, is the best part of this movie. You can't help but root for her.
So, yeah...as much as I disliked this trilogy - and how Rey was handled for the first two - I think she could carry a new project. Whether or not they want to explore Finn's obvious Force-sensitivity is up to them (and whether or not Boyega wants to sign on for more), but they've now got the seeds to lay out the kind of story/saga they could've (and should've) in 2015. The torch has finally been passed, IMO...let her shine.
And it works structurally as well because if you think about it, characters from each trilogy, chronologically, have carried over to the next one. Obi-Wan, Yoda and Vader/Anakin went from the prequels to loom large in the original trilogy. Then Luke, Han and Leia went form the original trilogy to this sequel one. So why couldn't Rey (and certainly BB-8 and maybe Finn or even Jannah, who is similar in her "defected stormtrooper who has feelings/abilities she can't quite put a finger on or understand just yet") carry on a new set of movies? There's no law saying you can't have Chewie too? With Mayhew's passing, they've got that new guy in the suit and he's young so he'll be around a good while (I thought he did fine in this movie). And if they can ever clean up/groom Hamill a bit, he could always put in a Force ghost appearance, as Obi-Wan did in the original trilogy on a few occasions.
But you don't need to remake those, or any other, already-done movies. Strike out, do what should've been done and give Rey and her friends an all new adventure(s). I think without the burden of constantly having to shout-out/acknowledge/pay homage/crib from the original trilogy, most folks would go along on this journey. I think people are naturally wired to want to see familiar characters mixed in with all new elements and not just feel like "good grief, I saw this already, 30+ years ago...".
As much money as these not-trying-very-hard sequel installments have made, can you imagine if some true thought and planning went into a truly new story, one that hits viewers as hard as 1977 did? We never got that from any of these movies, so I see nothing but opportunity and untapped potential.
Star Wars isn't dead, and I don't ever want it to be. But it does need to take a break, gather its thoughts and reassess some things, going forward. We don't need another movie in 1-2 years, cobbled-together via checkbox moviemaking and obsessed with such wall-to-wall fan-service and giving us unearned victories and "moments". If they can set that aside and take things seriously from here out, there's no reason
Star Wars can't be amazing (and unifying) again.
They just hired the wrong people on this go-around, that's all. That's fixable. Look more toward the Favreaus and Filonis of the world, vs. the Abrams and Kennedys. It really is that simple...you can easily tell who truly loves/gets this property, and who's just been hired to go by the numbers and deliver a product. We've given the latter four years and five movies, so it's time for another group to step in.
Star Wars cannot continue on its current course, I do know that. It seems, going solely by box office numbers, folks are finally tiring of it. So some big decisions will have to be made if they truly want to be in it for the long run, and put out the best stories they can. They've literally got a universe worth of stories to tell, heroes to follow, villains to jeer...whether or not they realize/embrace that, who knows? I hope they would. I'd love nothing more than to talk about
Star Wars with adoration and passion, and positivity. I don't think that's out of reach or impossible. Some things just need to be tweaked/addressed.
Okay...
now I've said all about this movie/trilogy I have to say.
I've run the full gamut: complaints/gripes, rants and mockery, humor, nerdy questions/pondering/confusion, prediction tallying and, here at the end, I've wound up on a positive, uplifting tone, hopeful for the future of the franchise and genuinely eager to see what they do next (knowing they can't possibly do
another unasked-for soft reboot). The ball is squarely in their court and they're going to
have to stand up and deliver, now that they've completely mined the original trilogy for any and all direction and inspiration.
So
there.