5. Skywalker Miss: Lack of Rose Tico
Rose Tico should have been more present in the main ensemble. In this way, there could have been some serious moments between Finn and Rose or some a newfound friendship between Rose and Rey. Â And would have given us the explanation needed for the breakup.
No matter how you look at it, the lack of Rose screentime was absolutely a huge missed opportunity for Lucasfilm to develop her character more. She was an important part of The Last Jedi and should have been utilized more. Not to mention that demoting her a specific type of pandering to an angry fanbase who had no justification for their poor treatment of Kelly Marie Tran.
4. Skywalker Miss: No DJ from The Last Jedi
When Benicio del Toro was announced to be in Star Wars, we all knew it was going to be an interesting character. Too bad no one has heard from him as of this writing or even told anymore stories about him. There was a one-shot comic to explain why he was arrested, but that was it.
Just like with Rose, The Rise of Skywalker was a perfect opportunity to reintroduce him, maybe as a character they run into during the final battle aboard Hux’s star destroyer. He could have scrambled the signal to the other Star Destroyers. Just a thought. It was an unfortunate waste of a character, but hopefully we may yet get more stories about this hacker.
3. Skywalker Hit: Strong Character Development Early On
Considering that the trilogy purported to headline three characters, much the same as the previous trilogies, it sure took time for Poe, Rey and Finn to all be together. In fact, Poe had not even met Rey until the 2 hour and 21 minute mark of The Last Jedi, which was a movie with a 2 hour and 32 minute runtime.
We understand that Han, Luke and Leia were not all together throughout The Empire Strikes Back, but at least they had spent the first 35 minutes building a rapport with each other. It made you feel like they had been together throughout.
The Rise of Skywalker fixed all of that within the first 15 minutes. There was so much relationship development between Poe, Rey and Finn that I had felt like they knew each other for years. It helped you actually feel for the characters and be sad to know that this may be the last time we see them. Plus, we got more Chewbacca and an amazing performance by Anthony Daniels as C-3PO.
2. Skywalker Miss: Lack of the Knights of Ren
One of the biggest misses is that the Knights of Ren were used for nothing more than a couple cool scenes, and that was it. They started out hunting down Rey, Finn and Poe with their leader before disappearing. Then they reappeared at the end to stop Ben Solo from helping Rey.
The Knights could have easily been used as a hunting party sent out by the Emperor when he began to sense Kylo reverting back to Ben. That could have have made for an interesting conflict, where the Knights verbally assault Ben and call him a coward or a traitor. The Knights turned their back on the light side because of Kylo, and now they are lost with nowhere to go. What better revenge than for them to aggressively pursue Ben and destroy him?
1. Skywalker Hit: Han Solo and Ben Solo Scene
The biggest surprise for everyone was the return of Han Solo. Not as a force ghost, but as a vision in Ben Solo’s mind. This scene was one of the highlights of the film and changed the direction of The Rise of Skywalker.
Harrison Ford and Adam Driver’s big moment paralleled the death scene from The Force Awakens. The big difference was that Han Solo was not speaking out of desperation to save his lost son, but rather the knowledge that Ben had returned and was ready to be guided back to the light.
The performance between the two stood out as chilling, heartbreaking and probably one of the best scenes ever in a Star Wars film. Right up there with the reveal of Darth Vader as Luke’s father, which makes sense as it is the juxtaposition of the same event.
What are your biggest hits and misses from the final film? Let us know in the comments below!
