Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will go down as a fairly controversial film, choosing to go for pure fanservice over a more natural conclusion built off from The Last Jedi. Depending on who you ask, this is either a crowd-pleasing finale or a pandering bit of depression and they both have valid arguments but it seems to be a common denominator from both sides that this is just fanservice.
Funnily enough, The Rise of Skywalker editor Maryann Brandon admitted that the film is basically fanservice and that if it weren't fans would have been pissed. While the movie definitely needed some fanservice, this is the final movie in the Skywalker Saga, after all, they may have overdone it for this movie.
Here's what Brandon told The Rough Cut podcast (via The Playlist):
"Look, sure, it's fan service and if you didn't service the fans, it would be, āOh, he didn't go along with the history of "Star Wars" and what it all means."
While it's easy to admire Abrams for being able to direct two Star Wars and Star Trek movies, the fact of the matter is that pleasing a fandom like the one Star Wars has is a pretty demanding task. It's clear that Abrams only wrote his plans for The Force Awakens and essentially stopped thinking about Star Wars not long after, hence all the retcons and odd moments from The Rise of Skywalker.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is now showing in theaters.
Read:The Rise of Skywalker Leak Says Disney 'Screwed Over' J.J. Abrams and Demanded More Fanservice
Explore new topics and discover content that's right for you!
Episode IX