What if JJ Abrams did choose to make a great movie?
I was almost 8th year old when I watched Star Wars: A new hope on TV for the first time. Then I rushed to every other episode or book eager to know more of this galaxy far far away. Then, I felt like jumping into a world of endless possibilities where hope rises despite overwhelming evil. It is a movie with a few special effects, but a rock-solid story that did not explain everything but great enough to forge a generation, making a point.
Thirty years later today, I’ve watched The rise of Skywalker, and it cannot be compared to its ancestor. To be honest, JJ Abrams does a good job of patching the disastrous plot of The Last Jedi. But the problem is in the soul.
In this movie, there is too much to elaborate, too many characters introduced and a very unclear vision of what’s the point.
SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t seen The Rise of Skywalkee please do not read further, or don’t blame me if you discover that XXXX finally is XXX :-)
JJ Abrams does a good job, but it could have been grand, epic, and a conclusive chapter of a saga 30 years long. How? Bear with me and let’s imagine a different story…
We’re at the end of (a horrible) Ep3 and Darth Vader’s fate is uncertain. Emperor Palpatine is worried and a robot tells him Anakin could not survive. He says such great power cannot be lost and to prepare him for the extraction.
Fast forward, after Ep8, Kylo Ren finds a Sith map heading to a remote planet; enters the pyramid and is attacked by Palpatine who wants to kill the last Skywalker. He was able to survive the battle of Endor through a portal to the world between worlds where he stayed for 30 years recovering from injuries. When he is about to deliver the final bow to Kylo, princess Leia blocks his force lightning and dies al Luke before her. Ben is shocked his mother saved his life in exchange for hers and runs away.
The movie could proceed with pretty the same story (maybe fewer characters and without Kylo, to avoid too many subplots) until we discover who Rei really is: she is Darth Vader’s clone. Palpatine, after Ep6, started to grow her up (as Jango Fett did with Boba since accelerated grown clones are pretty dumb) giving the baby to a family which, when they had to return the child, decided to go rogue and were killed on Jakku.
This simple thing explains everything: Rei connection with Kylo? of course, she’s technically his grandfather and he is obsessed with him. Rei astonishing powers with no training? She is the One from the prophecy (uh.. the other one).
It works, and at the end of the movie she can declare “I am Rei Skywalker” and she even brings balance to the Force as stated on the prophecy.
We have no “diodes of the force”, no “heart is more important than blood”, nothing as stupid as a Rei parent (who is Palpatine’s son) with no powers… It works and allows the story to focus on characters and develop their relations better.
It is a good movie, but it could have been great,
Let me know what you think about that…
