M.C. Swag said:
We're in the cave of evil. Star Wars is lost. Disney failed.
I can't believe the trilogy is over...because it never felt like it ever started. The plot elements of TROS were so abundant that it alone could have spanned 3 movies. And that's not a good thing.
To be clear, I liked TFA and hated TLJ. After walking out of The Rise of Skywalker, the movie left me feeling like my sick dog was finally put down (I'm sad about the loss, but glad it's over).
This movie was a narrative mess. It was a bukkake of retcon jizz. The first 2 hours were mcguffin quest after mcguffin quest. I audibly laughed when Rey pulled out the compass thing on the dagger and lined it up perfectly with the wreckage of the original death star and the rocks from her specific vantage point.
I CANNOT BELIEVE they went with a death star plot AGAIN. Palpatine electrocuted himself for a 3rd time (the second time he's blasted his own face off). I've never seen thicker plot armor than what Abrams crafted for these characters.....
It's just...there's a thousand things that were gross fan service or outright hand waving non-sense. There's a ton of story elements in this movie that would make for the foundation of a better trilogy than what we were given.
I'd rather see 3 movies about Leia's journey to becoming a jedi and training with Luke and how those new found skills were used to lead the rebellion. I'd rather see a 3 movie trilogy about Luke's jedi academy and the fall of Ben Solo, the Knigts of Ren rise, and their terrorist exploits. I'd rather see a Sith trilogy that explores their way of life, religion, and even a Darth Sidious origin story.
TLJ misunderstood what SW should be about, but TROS lacks understanding entirely. SW isn't meant to be taken seriously, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't make an effort.
It's JJ Abrams fault. It's Rian Johnson's fault. It's Kathleen Kennedy's fault. They wasted Mark Hammil, Harrison Ford, and what remained of Carrie Fisher. RIP OT.
Now, it's truly time to let old things die.
I completely agree that there were so many other things they could have focused on. I enjoyed the ST, but in retrospect i don't feel as if we got anything but an OT remake. TFA was great when it came out because it was SW, but during rewatches, it's not as good (but still good) because.....it's just SW again.
I was intrigued by who Rey was and the power she seemed to have with absolutely no training so I wish we could have seen her story play out slower even if it was ultimately the same. Luke's concern with her in TLJ could've Been fleshed out by him explaining what he had learned about both the Jedi and Sith (and pointing out more of the Sith-like things Rey did).
Now that the ST is over, what really wish we could see is what Rey does next. As you mentioned, I would like to have seen the same for the OT (Luke's efforts to learn more about both the Jedi and Sith and then train new Jedi only to have it come crashing down around him).