Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Wow, was this a stupid movie.

A great-looking stupid movie, but stuuuuuupid. “What’s our plan?” “Uh, ‘hope’, I guess”.

“You’re general now.” “Uh, OK”

That was a lot of crap story-telling and tedious fights. The more I see of light-sabres, the less I like them...as they are used in the movies.

Glad that all is over.

[Greg]

Wow. When you lose the Yeti, things are really bad.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

One thing I did like was giving Carrie Fisher top billing. That was classy.

[Drunk Monk]

And Chewie got his fuckin medal. It only took 9 films to give props to the noble savage. But that was so random. Like Greg said, J.J. tying up loose ends. 

Watch the Siege of Mandalore (S7e9-12 of Clone Wars http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFor...7#pid37947). It's a better film and it'll rekindle your lightsaber passion. 

Aw let's just cut to the chase:

[Greg]

I'm going to watch that this weekend to pass the time until I can see the baby do the magic hand thing again.

[Drunk Monk]

[color=var(--color-grey-900)]Star Wars: How Colin Trevorrow’s Episode IX Compares to The Rise of Skywalker[/color]



[color=var(--color-grey-500)]Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly's Star Wars Episode IX script has leaked. Here's how it compares to The Rise of Skywalker...[/color]

By [color=var(--color-grey-900)]John Saavedra[/color]

[color=var(--color-grey-400)]|January 16, 2020[color=var(--color-grey-400)]|[/color][/color]



[i]This [color=var(--color-grey-900)][b]Star Wars[/b] article contains spoilers for [color=var(--color-grey-900)][b]The Rise of Skywalker[/b][/color].[/i]
[i][b]Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker [/b][/i]may have made [color=var(--color-grey-900)]$1 billion at the box office[/color] but its also become one of the most polarizing chapters of the Skywalker saga. Some love it, while others, [color=var(--color-grey-900)]such as our own reviewer[/color], found the movie to be seriously lacking. In general, critics disliked the movie, and it currently has a 53 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, tied for worst live-action [i][b]Star Wars[/b][/i] movie with [color=var(--color-grey-900)][b][i]The Phantom Menace[/i][/b][/color]. Giving three trilogies a proper conclusion that satisfied everyone was never going to be an easy (or even achievable) task for director J.J. Abrams and co-writer Chris Terrio, but it’s safe to say that even they couldn’t have expected this chilly critical reception. 
The movie may have left some fans wondering what could have been had original director and writer Colin Trevorrow ([color=var(--color-grey-900)][b][i]Jurassic World[/i][/b][/color]) been able to bring his own vision to the big screen. Trevorrow was originally tapped to direct [i][b]Episode IX[/b] [/i]before being replaced by Abrams due to creative differences with Lucasfilm. But before Trevorrow left the project, he finished a draft of the script, co-written with Derek Connolly ([color=var(--color-grey-900)][b][i]Kong: Skull Island[/i][/b][/color]), which some speculated to be the main reason the studio fired him in the first place. Unsurprisingly, the contents of the Trevorrow/Connolly script remained a well-kept secret…until now. 
Trevorrow and Connolly’s [i][b]Episode IX[/b][/i] script, which was titled [b][i]Duel of the Fates[/i][/b], [color=var(--color-grey-900)]has leaked on Reddit[/color], giving fans a deeper look at what the duo planned for the saga-ender. While you’d normally have to take this leak with a healthy amount of salt, [color=var(--color-grey-900)]AV Club[/color] and The Playlist has confirmed the legitimacy of the breakdown. So what have we learned about Trevorrow’s [i][b]Episode IX[/b][/i] and how does it compare to [i][b]The Rise of Skywalker.[/b][/i][/color]
For one thing, much of the basic structure of [b][i]The Rise of Skywalker[/i][/b] was actually established in Trevorrow and Connolly’s script, which was completed on Dec. 16, 2016, just a week before Carrie Fisher’s passing. As described in the Reddit breakdown, [b][i]Duel of the Fates[/i][/b] also featured a search for an old Sith master, Rey’s quest to become a Jedi, and a big battle above a First Order stronghold. But while much of the puzzle is the same, some of the pieces look a bit different. 
The Sith master Kylo Ren is searching for is Tor Valum, the 7,000 year old “Lovecraftian” alien that trained Palpatine in the ways of the Sith. Kylo trains with Valum on a Sith planet called Remincore instead of Exogol. Palpatine himself appears only as a hologram inside a Sith holocron Kylo finds on Mustafar during his search. 
Fans of the Prequel Trilogy will be elated to hear that much of the action actually takes place on a First Order-controlled Coruscant, which Hux now rules as Chancellor. Rose, Finn, R2-D2, and C-3PO eventually sneak onto Coruscant in order to activate an old “Force beacon” to reach allies after the First Order strangles communication between planets. The beacon allows the Resistance to reach out to “50 planets” to join them for the final battle on the city planet. 
Meanwhile, Rey struggles with the legacy of the Jedi and is unsure about her destiny, not unlike her journey in [i][b]The Rise of Skywalker[/b][/i]. In this draft, Luke’s Force ghost trains the young hero instead of Leia, who eventually commands the Resistance fleet in the battle of Coruscant. (Leia also survives [i][b]Duel of the Fates[/b][/i].) Rey, Poe, and Chewbacca travel to the planet Bonadan to meet a “Seer” who can help Rey unravel her visions from the previous films. At some point, the Knights of Ren show up and Rey has to fight them off with a new, double-bladed lightsaber she’s constructed from what’s left of Luke’s weapon and her staff.
The third act is split between a space battle and “citizens uprising” on Coruscant and a duel on Mortis, a mystical Force realm first introduced in [color=var(--color-grey-900)][i][b]The Clone Wars[/b][/i] that represents both the light and dark sides. It’s a fitting location for the final fight between Rey and Kylo Ren. In one of the script’s biggest twists, it is revealed that Kylo Ren killed Rey’s parents at the behest of Supreme Leader Snoke. This is likely the revelation that finally allows Rey to break from Kylo ([color=var(--color-grey-900)]until now, she’s still hopeful that she can save him[/color]). It’s basically the antithesis of the Reylo kiss in [i][b]The Rise of Skywalker[/b][/i]. [/color]
As you’d expect, the good guys win over the villains, and the galaxy is saved, with Kylo Ren perishing on Mortis. (During the duel, the Force ghosts of Luke, Obi-Wan, and Yoda show up to try and save Ben from the dark side but he is “extinguished.”) There is once again peace.
Other big moments in the screenplay include Luke’s Force ghost haunting Kylo Ren, the Supreme Leader dueling a hallucination of Darth Vader inside a Force cave on Remnicore, Chewie zipping through the Coruscant space battle in an X-wing, Lando Calrissian uniting the galaxy’s smugglers to fight for the Resistance, and a Han Solo cameo. Like [i][b]The Rise of Skywalker[/b][/i], [i][b]Duel of the Fates[/b][/i] aims to be a fun-filled, easter egg-y [b][i]Star Wars[/i][/b] adventure. It’s impossible to say what the pacing of the script is like without reading the full screenplay, but Trevorrow and Connolly’s vision seems as snappy and fast-paced as what we eventually saw on screen. 
So, is [b][i]Duel of the Fates[/i][/b] better than [i][b]The Rise of Skywalker[/b][/i]? That really depends on what you thought of Abrams’ movie. There are certainly elements of the script that negate some of the biggest complaints lodged at [i][b]The Rise of Skywalker[/b][/i]. Rose Tico has a more prominent role in the movie, for example, fighting alongside Finn and the others in the explosive opening scene on the planet Kuat as well as on Coruscant. Rey is no longer a Palpatine and no convoluted explanations are given for her background. In this script, she remains “no one.”
While Palpatine’s return in [b][i]The Rise of Skywalker[/i][/b] felt like an out-of-place retcon to some viewers, [i][b]Duel of the Fates[/b][/i] seems to more organically follow the events of [color=var(--color-grey-900)][i][b]The Last Jedi[/b][/i], although Kylo’s search for an old Sith Master does feel like it comes out of left field. Yet, without the Palpatine storyline, there[i] is[/i] more of a focus on Kylo as the piece’s villain, one who ultimately [color=var(--color-grey-900)]proves himself irredeemable[/color].
But [i][b]Duel of the Fates[/b][/i] also [color=var(--color-grey-900)]denies Leia her Jedi Master status[/color], and Finn isn’t Force sensitive either. Colorful women characters like Zorii Bliss and Jannah are nowhere to be found. As far as I can tell from the breakdown, the script adds no new women to the story, while there are a few male additions, which is troublesome to say the least. The introduction of a new Sith master seems random at best. Tor Valum has even less of a connection to the Sequel Trilogy than Palpatine did. [/color]
Of course, this was only a first draft, and certain parts of[b][i] Duel of the Fates[/i][/b] would have undoubtedly evolved during the course of production. There would have been additional drafts, notes from Lucasfilm and Disney, and reshoots, all of which would have altered the script further. It’s hard to definitively say that Trevorrow’s movie would have been better when so much of [i][b]Duel of the Fates[/b][/i]‘ structure eventually made it to [b][i]The Rise of Skywalker[/i][/b]. At best, this script (or at least its breakdown) is an alternate look at the adventure with some pieces moved around. And it’s possible that even this version would have ended up more closely resembling [b][i]The Rise of Skywalker[/i][/b] by the time it hit the screen. 
The real takeaway from this leak is the deeper look into the creative process behind [b][i]The Rise of Skywalker[/i][/b], how the movie took shape, and how much of its story was already in place by the time Trevorrow and Connolly completed their script. We can only hope we’ll get to see even more of that process when the making-of art book is released later this year.  
[i]John Saavedra is an associate editor at Den of Geek. Read more of his work [color=var(--color-grey-900)]here. Follow him on Twitter [color=var(--color-grey-900)]@johnsjr9[/color][/i][/color]

A DOOM ninja might have access to this leaked script - dm DM if interested.

[Greg]

I always got the feeling that Rise of Skywalker was a negation of The Last Jedi. Trevorrow set up a bunch of interesting narratives and then JJ killed them. Watching Skywalker made me appreciate Last Jedi more.

Maybe they can do a Rise of Skywalker Trevorrow cut?

[Drunk Monk]

There's talk of it, even some discussion that the Lego version might be inclined that direction. I did find it more engaging, although it's difficult for me to visualize from scripts, especially something so effects laden. It falls back on the original trilogy more with Leia, Luke, Han and even Vader, Yoda and Obi-Wan, all playing much more significant roles.

[Drunk Monk]

I have completed my live action feature film Skywalker saga binge.

http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFor...5#pid70965

http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFor...p?tid=8025

http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFor...p?tid=8026

http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFor...2#pid71012

http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFor...1#pid71031

http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFor...p?tid=8027

http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFor...p?tid=8030

http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFor...p?tid=8032

http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFor...3#pid71173

http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFor...7#pid71187

And now this. 

I was astonished how much of this film I forgot - pretty much all of it except for a few key scenes. It’s a bit of a jumbled mess, and yet some of it works well as the conclusion of the Skywalker saga (I suppose if the rumored Rey film happens, it goes on since she’s taken the Skywalker name now and anyone who knew the truth is a force ghost).

There’s bits that simultaneously work and don’t work. Han as a non-force ghost. Rey returning to Tatooine to bury the lightsabers (shouldn’t Leia’s have gone to Alderaan?), the kiss (force dyad - whatev), Chewie’s medal, the Knights of Ren, D O, Leia’s posthumous appearance, Hux’s double cross, Zorii never unmasking, Snap’s death, Wedge’s reappearance, all the stormtrooper cameos, Luke’s X-wing, Lando, Ashoka’s & Kanen’s force ghost encouragement (especially Ashoka because she was ‘no jedi’)… I could go on.

But the story is so big now, tying up all those loose ends into a neat bow is nearly impossible. Consequently it is what it is. 

Seeing it all in timeline order was rewarding because the flow works well overall. It’s not as extraordinary as Harry Potter because that was filmed linearly and we got to watch the characters grow up. The release order is all sideways in the timeline, but it still works for the most part. The most jarring is the original trilogy because it defies many of the ideas that came later. Nevertheless, it was a good way to milk my vacation to Galaxy’s Edge for a little longer. 

I do enjoy the Star Wars galaxy. It remains one of my favorite escapes.