I Saw "The Rise of Skywalker" 20X: A 42 Year Journey of Love

The last Skywalker begins to rise

NOTE: This will be a breakdown of a Star Wars journey and the reaction to seeing "The Rise of Skywalker" the first time, getting past some negative thoughts about it, and what scenes, sequences, characters, and dialogue became the most loved. Four bullet-points will address my biggest criticisms with TROS, but this article will undoubtedly not satisfy the bleeding itch of negativity that too many people seem to enjoy scratching at endlessly. If you came here to feed that addiction... enjoy yet another disappointment.

So... "Star Wars Episode IX, The Rise of Skywalker" is possibly my least favorite of the new Star Wars movies and yet I've seen it TWENTY TIMES in the theater. Why would I see my least favorite Star Wars movie--of the modern era--20 times? Because I love Star Wars... and because I can.


Let me just qualify this: I don't consider myself a "fan." I am a Star Wars lover... a Star Warser if you will. I've been going to the theater to see a Star Wars movie since 1978--when it finally arrived in my birth-country of Iceland. From July 1978 until some time in 1980, I saw "A New Hope" at least 20 times (I didn't think to keep count, I just know we went every weekend for several months, then a few times throughout the following year). Unfortunately, my mom and I were busy moving to America when "Empire Strikes Back" arrived in Icelandic theaters, and it was out of theaters by the time I was ready to watch it in America. So, I saw "Return of the Jedi" opening day in 1983 (having not seen "Empire" but knowing a lot about it since the kids in my school complained about it endlessly), and possibly one more time after that. I, of course, saw those original movies many times on HBO and VHS over the years.

When the prequels started, I made it a point to see them multiple times, with "The Phantom Menace" receiving a ridiculous theatrical count of THIRTY-SEVEN viewings! I then saw "Attack of the Clones" and "Revenge of the Sith" seven times each. When the new era of movies arrived, I thought it was possible I could break my "Menace" record with at least one of them.

"The Force Awakens" got SEVEN. "Rogue One" got FOUR. "The Last Jedi" got SEVEN. "Solo" got SEVEN. Having failed to get even a little bit close to TPM... I aimed for it with "The Rise of Skywalker," which was doable via AMC A-List (a membership service with AMC theaters that allows you to see 3 movies per week for around $20 per month). The way I figured it, I had collected several rewards over the year, some readmit passes, and Tuesdays would cost me around $2 per ticket with Fandango rewards, so I could possibly reach 38 viewings, for the least amount of money, before it left theaters. And I was confident I'd love the movie since I've loved them all, even ones I didn't enjoy as much as others. Plus, it was JJ Abrams! He made my favorite Star Wars movie. What could possibly go wrong?

Unfortunately, something went wrong for me in that first viewing... I didn't like it--as we left the theater, I hugged my friend goodbye and whispered, "Man, The Force Awakens was a good movie." Now, that's not entirely unusual. Some of my favorite Star Wars movies were ones I didn't initially enjoy. But this one was different. I didn't just dislike it, I felt dejected, so turned off by what I had just watched that I almost canceled the pre-orders for the next 3 showings--I told my friend it felt like JJ had a checklist of things to cover and decided little setup was needed between those beats. I had never felt that way before about a Star Wars movie. I knew I needed to see it again, perhaps it was just first-viewing jitters, but I was too tired to enjoy my second viewing--it was nearly 11pm, home was an hour away, and I tend to go to sleep by 9pm & get up at 4am--so I left without finishing (NOTE: I do not count that one as part of the 20).

It wasn't until I saw it with my girlfriend that I was able to enjoy the movie. Walking out of that showing, I immediately bought another ticket and caught it again an hour later. After that, I was in a groove. All the significant problems I had with pacing and plot/story justification were either going away or I was able to ignore them in favor of focusing on the things I enjoyed. I wanted to see it more times that weekend, but we were going away for Christmas, and it would be a week before I could see it again. I wondered how I would feel with time away from it.

Once we returned from our trip, I jumped right in, seeing it six times over the next week. I then took a little break, saw it two times a week later, then took another break before seeing it four more times over the next two weeks. I then took a two-week break, wanting to have fresher eyes on the movie before getting in five more viewings.

I note all that to further qualify my impressions. It was the final five viewings that gave me the best idea of what I loved or liked, and what I disliked. I will mention four specific areas of dislike in this article and then I'll dive into the things I loved/liked (note: I only somewhat know what people's complaints have been since I left most of social media right after the movie came out, and stayed far away from the usual sources of toxicity and discontent, so I may be treading old or new ground):

• The Rey and Leia scenes don't work for me. Daisy, who I think delivers the best all-around performance in the movie, is given basic dialogue, and the editing seems to do her few favors. But hey... I was one of those in favor of recasting the role if they felt it was so essential to the film. And I think a lot of the problems in the movie are a result of not being able to fully utilize the Leia character the way they would have liked.
• I have a problem with the abruptness of some scenes, giving little time to absorb important information and moments (accentuated by the fact that Rey waiting for then running away from an incoming Kylo in a TIE is an entire minute of screentime... about as much time as is given to the final confrontation between the Palpatines). There is a lot of expositional dialogue tossed into various scenes in order to answer questions about the plot (you might be surprised how many of the things people think weren't addressed are in lines of dialogue), but because there is so much of it, and not enough showing while doing the telling, I think longer scenes would have helped the audience absorb the information and remember it later when it applied.
• Having Lando go off on this extremely important mission to convince the masses to help in the final battle and not showing any of his efforts contributes to my lack of investment in scenes when our heroes mention waiting for them or the moment when they arrive. I can understand wanting to keep the audience guessing, but there are ways to do that while showing Lando trying (side note: we could have used an extra 20 to 2000 seconds of this battle).
• I find it strange that a movie so dependent on new information skimmed through a lot, but thought it was important to show Luke and Leia training for a few seconds in order for Force ghost Luke to drop on-the-nose exposition about Ben dying and someone else picking up Leia's blade to finish what she started... while doing very little to sell the punchline of the confrontation between the Palpatines: what does "I am all the Sith" and "I am all the Jedi" even mean? Is that why the Emperor has uber Force lighting? What does it mean that the Jedi are with Rey? If you're not going to even suggest how it works, then why introduce it at all? It's important to be sold this concept within the movie BEFORE pulling the trigger on it, but it's just stated and the audience is expected to accept it (I'm sure many do). Look, not all things need an explanation... but the movie could have been better served with more of it where it mattered most. It reminds me of Anakin's turn in "Revenge of the Sith" where he goes from a guy trying to do the right thing to willing to betray his adopted family and kill children in order to save his wife... without being shown ANY indication he should believe Palpatine's ability to deliver on a suggestion he made. A storyteller has to pick their shortcuts carefully and not use them in the most important moments. Want to shortcut how the Sith fleet was built? Fine. How Palpatine returned? Alrighty. Which medal Leia is holding when she dies? I just figured it's Han's. Why her reaching out to Ben has such an effect on him? I can imagine why based on the previous movie. Or how Ben acquired a TIE on an exploded Death Star? He's resourceful! How about where Ben's blaster disappeared to once the Knights of Ren showed up outside the Sith arena? Ignore that part! Or why exactly does crossing two lightsabers make them more reflective? Because it looks cool! But all the Sith and all the Jedi somehow being part of their respective Palpatine? How? And why is that important in the scene? In what way does it apply to the Emperor now? And why does a pep-talk from Force-realm Jedi help Rey rise and in what way does that affect her ability to face her grandfather? Again, I don't need everything or even most things explained, but I needed more setup and more showing with respect to this whole "I am all the [Sith/Jedi]" deal. I don't feel it is enough to just say something is true, especially in this situation. I think the filmmakers could have done more to introduce the concept, then justify it, then use it to resolve the main conflict, emphasizing its importance over the course of the whole movie.
  
  These bullet points are the main reasons the movie ranks lower for me. Otherwise, it could have very well been in the top 3. I genuinely love a lot of it... as you'll see below.

Now, for the positive stuff.

PERSONAL JOURNAL OF LOVES/LIKES (from notes taken over 20 viewings, in the order they appear in the movie):

• [Mustafar] looks great.
• Love the visual of Kylo's blade in Emperor Palpatine's face. 
• Dejarik and the double-talk conversation about Chewie cheating, then shutting the board off.
• Arrival at [Sinta Glacier] has great energy, and love the Falcon's slide parking job. 
• Like the conversation between Finn and Boolio. This whole sequence with the Falcon may have been a better way to start the movie.
• John Williams' music when the First Order TIEs arrive. 
• Klaud's reactions during the "lightspeed skipping" (shouldn't it be called hyperspace skipping?) are funny.
• Kylo manipulating the training droid and Rey's reactions as her frustration and anger grows. 
• Love when Rey moves her head from one side of the blade to the other as she tracks the droid's movement.
• The connection they share creating a vision of the past and future works well here. 
• The Falcon returning on fire and the chaos around it. Love every bit of Poe and Rey's back-and-forth. 
• "No spy?" into "No, spy!" is fun writing/acting. Makes me smile every time.
• Poe saying Rey is their best fighter.
• The conversation about the spy's intel is full of exposition which I shouldn't like but I think it's pulled off well. Tons of info is dumped very quickly with the actors doing their best to not make it feel like an info-dump. I often wonder if what Beaumont Kin says about "dark science" and "cloning" is meant to be canon or his conjecture [edit: Since posting this article, this bit has been confirmed in the novelization and is part of canon; the Emperor is a clone.]. Anyway, it works on me.
• Kylo and the Knights of Ren walking by the stormtroopers & one calls them, "Ghouls."
• Kylo tossing Boolio's head on the table.
• Pryde eyeing Hux with suspicion at the mention of a spy.
• The helmet gag.
• The suspicious First Order officer who seems to be the only one seriously considering the ramifications of why Palpatine wants to help them. MVP! Oh... I think Kylo just killed him.
• Pasaana... this is just going to be a gushfest because I love almost all of what is coming.
•  "The Aki-Aki Festival of the Ancestors! This celebration occurs only once every forty-two years!" I was hoping they'd make some kind of 42-years reference and I pumped my fist when I heard this. Yeah. I'm cool like that.
• The gang turning around to look at Threepio who turns around to see what is behind him. Only once in twenty viewings did the audience laugh and I wanted to marry that audience.
• Lots of fun energy as they walk through the crowd.
• "I've never seen anything like this" into "I've never seen so few wayfinders," is the type of cheesy Star Wars dialogue I live for.
• I don't know if this gag with Chewie having to hunch over is a nod to Han doing it in "Solo" but I'm taking it that way.
• "I'm just Rey." Right there, if you have even five-minutes in a Writing 101 class, you know how this movie is going to end.
• This is probably my favorite Force-connection in the movie. I love how the world around them slows down, and how Kylo's room is bright while the world around Rey turns to night.
• Their back-and-forth is powerful and I love how it ends with him grabbing her necklace.
• The First Order officer telling Ren about the necklace. I'm obsessed with how she exits the scene. I don't know why. Don't look at me like that!
• Pryde's "Yes, Supreme Leader" with that sinister look.
• The stormtrooper taking an arrow to the eye. Love the noise he makes. Funny gag.
• Lando and Chewie hugging.
• Lando telling Rey to give Leia his love and Rey responding, "You should give it to her yourself." That's right, old man! She's not your secretary! But seriously, it's a warm scene.
• Poe hotwiring the speeders and Finn looking at him suspiciously. "How do you know how to do that?" I know it's to set up Poe's "shifty" past, but I also like to imagine it's the filmmakers taking a small jab at how male "fans" ask how a female character knows how to do something without ever seeing them "train" to do it but never do the same for male characters.
• Threepio's "No need to worry, I made it!"
• The speeder chase. It has both an OT and PT feel to it.
• The First Order [treadspeeders] have shields! That's why Rey can't Force-shoot them all in the brain, guys!
• Love Williams' music cue after "They fly now."
• Rey dodging the laser bolt without looking. That should be a meme... the personification of every woman on social media instinctively dodging dumb brochacho attacks about anything and everything they say or do.
• The jet trooper firing three rockets and the explosion that follows looks damn cool.
• The immediate shot after again reminds me of both the OT and PT. (Now this is podracing, folks!)
•  BB8's trick and Rey's callback line about never underestimating a droid.
• Poe and Finn dispatching the [treadspeeder] in a very PT kind of shot. Even the music feels right out of TPM.
• Chewie blasting a jet trooper who crashes in front of the camera, then Rey and crew passing by as we see Ochi's ship.
• Everyone getting blown up and landing in the sand, then shooting back. There's something so cool about them firing from a near-prone position. I don't know why I like this shot so much but I do.
• Taking out the jet trooper, and sinking. "Will this agony ever end!" Oh, Threepio.
• Rey's face as she struggled in the quicksand then turns to face Finn as he tries to tell her something. That face... makes me chuckle every time.
• The scene with Rose, Wexley, and Leia is one of the few times shoving in a discarded scene from TFA and marrying it to a newly written scene for TROS works well. I still laugh when Leia says, "Do me a personal favor, be optimistic," followed by Wexley's response. Rose's reaction also sells it really well.
• The gang drops into the tunnels. Poe calls out for his friends and Threepio's response makes me laugh every time.
• Chewie falling/landing looks so funny to me. Meme it!
• "This isn't the afterlife, is it? Are droids allowed in here?" Followed by Poe saying, "I thought we were goners," to which the droid responds, "We might still be." Threepio is given some of his best lines in the entire saga in this movie and he's tossing out gold in the background of a scene!  At this point, I was thinking to myself, "This is going to be my favorite Star Wars movie ever!" 
• The lightsaber and flashlight gag works way better in a theater full of women than one full of men. I chuckle every time.
• Love the conversation about secrets... I would not have minded another 5 minutes of these characters searching around in the tunnels having fun conversations. Come on, JJ! Give me that super-duper extended cut!
• "I do not want to know what made these tunnels," followed by more humor from our favorite golden droid. And again, I could have used another 5 minutes of this! JJ! I love you. Please... gimme more.
• Love this bit about Threepio being able to read the dagger but forbidden from speaking Sith due to some Senate rule.
• Rey hands Finn the lightsaber... hmmmm... message!
• "We gotta keep moving. Find someone who can translate that dagger... like a helpful droid." Poe's jabs at Threepio are great.
• Dig the general energy of Poe, Finn, Chewie, and the droids entering Ochi's ship.
• The shot from Finn's perspective of Rey walking out to meet whatever is coming.
• Finn telling Rey that Chewie's been captured.
• Rey Force grabbing the transport. The shot of her leaning back, free arm bent as she makes the effort is one of my favorite shots in all of Star Wars! 
• The intensity on Rey's face as the camera pushes in on her, right before she notices Kylo emerging from the destroyed TIE, is amazing. Daisy sells this so well. I feel like too many people are sleeping on her performance in this movie. Lots of praise tends to go to Adam but she's my star.
• The push and pull between Rey and Kylo.
• The Force lightning moment and Rey's cry of "Chewie!"
• After Poe yells to them the First Order is coming, Rey's confused, multifaceted processing of information, is just more superb acting on Daisy's part. I feel like this sequence exhibits the best acting by a single actor in any Star Wars movie. It's maybe too good for Star Wars.
• The way Rey then whispers, "Chewie" is heartbreaking. I've noticed people in the theater becoming visibly shaken by the moment, not just because they believe Chewie is dead but because Daisy sells the moment so well. 
• Rey's near-drunken trot back to her friends, still in total shock... topping an already incredible sequence. 
• "That power came from me." Dammit, Daisy! You're so good in this movie! 
• Finn and Rey's conversation about the Throne of the Sith.
• Chewie-is-alive!
• Hux's hair.
• My favorite Threepio moment is probably here where Poe, Finn, and Rey are super sad about losing Chewie and the Dagger... and Golden Rod reminds them the information is stuck in his memory. Even after 20 times, the timing of the joke makes me giggle.
• "Let's do that!" Boyega's best delivery.
• I could just say everything on Kijimi because I LOVE ALL OF KIJIMI! But that would be too easy.
• I love seeing the First Order troopers going door-to-door harassing the locals as a background to what is happening on this planet. It's an excellent bit of showing-exposition. 
• I think some part of my love for this planet is that it's cold and snowing. I am a sucker for cold and snowy.
• "I wanna see your brains in the snow." Zorii rules. Give. Me. A. Zorii. Disney+ show! Best ST secondary-character.
• "You were a spice runner?" into "You were a stormtrooper?" bit is great. I will never get tired of it. This movie's humor is spot on. 
• Love snow! Love blue! Love blue and snow! What is wrong with me? Oh... I'm Icelandic.
• "Jakanga!" and Poe's "No jakanga."
• Dig this brief little fight between Rey and Zorii's crew... and Finn's "Ooh!"
• "Not that you care... but I think you're okay."
• "Poe Dameron, spice runner. Runner of spice!"
• Hey! Is that bartender John Williams?!
• Babu!
• "Who are you hanging out with that speaks Sith?!" I love you, Zorii.
• "Droid... memory go blank. Blank blank." I love you, Babu.
• Threepio repeating Poe's line about "All we've done..." is sweet.
• Zorii and Poe's little trust discussion ending with, "Nope." 
• Kylo giving Hux a Han-finger-of-silence.
• Threepio's, "I just had an idea. There's something else we could try--" and Rey's reaction.
• I love pretty much everything about Zorii and Poe's discussion here, especially the music which, having watched Attack of the Clones way too many times, I'm pretty sure is from the scene when Kenobi calls from Kamino to tell Yoda and Mace about Jango [while writing this, Seth Blurrgowitz, on Twitter, informed me it is taken from the AOTC track "Return to Tatooine"]. Anyway, "They win by making you think you’re alone... There's more of us." I have been saying this a lot lately. TROS could have used more scenes like this one where attention is given to characters having meaningful conversations. 
• D-O exists to basically tell the audience Rey is a good person and I'm here for it.
• "Droid is ready!"
• Babu's cheer after red-eyes Threepio finishes talking.
• Rey's reaction to sensing Chewie. 
• "And you are," into "Okay, that's gonna be a problem," into "Hello, I Babu Frik." GOLD MINE! Cash those checks, kids! Have I mentioned yet that TROS is the funniest Star Wars movie?
• "Threepio, move your metal ass! We're almost there," into "How dare you? We've only just met!" All our debit cards belong to you, JJ.
• Zorii rejecting Poe's advances. More JJ dollars.
• Zorii's little spin as she leaves.
• Love the general feel of the sequence of them arriving and getting into the shootout as they exit their ship.
• Rey using the Jedi mind-trick. Funny stuff capped off by Poe's "Does she do that to us?"
• Pryde's little proper First Order officer's trot, followed by spinning toward the camera: "Whose ship is this?"
• Love the Chewie, Finn, Poe shootout sequence. So dynamic. Everyone but Chewie--who hits everything he aims at--misses a few shots.
• Poe getting shot feels like a sort of callback to Leia getting shot in ROTJ.
• Chewie's little growl at the end of their capture is note-perfect. 
• Dig the way they transition between settings in Rey and Kylo's Force connection and how the environment gets affected as they fight. 
• Kylo looks really menacing as he talks about Palpatine. I'd pay for a painting depicting some of this. Beautifully shot.
• Love the look of them cutting through the Vader's mask mantle and crossed lightsabers after.
• "She was in my quarters. Lockdown the ship!" I always imagine Kylo walking away from this scene and the trooper just standing there like... "What am I supposed to do? I don't have any ground-to-ship communications equipment on me!"
• The pre-execution chatter about Finn's secret. It's played really well by the actors.
• The stopped execution. "I'm the spy" into "What?" and "You!" then "I knew it!" and "No you did not!" At this point in my first viewing, I thought at least half the critics had lost their minds.
• "That's not even a language!" It's sad Rey murders him. He's my favorite stormtrooper ever.
• "Oh dear, my first laser battle." Look, this is my loves/likes list but... HE WAS JUST WITNESS TO ONE MINUTES EARLIER! Alright, fine... maybe he meant one in which he was physically standing in the middle of... I'll let it go, JJ! I can't stay mad at you.
• I like the general vibe of the Kylo/Rey conversation. It's quiet. 
• Something about the way Adam says "Palpatine" works for me.
• "My mother was the daughter of Vader. Your father was the son of the Emperor. What Palpatine doesn't know is we're a dyad in the Force, Rey. Two that are one." Music is solid here.
• "I do." Oh, Daisy, you kill it every time! Music too.
• I don't know how this whole Falcon engine blowing the stormtroopers back without moving the craft forward works... but I don't care. It looks cool.
• I like this Goonie's bit with the knife.
• Conversation between Finn and Jannah about their stormtrooper experience and the Force. It really feels like there was a lot more supposed to happen with respect to this conversation. In any event, I love it. Just another example of the movie doing meaningful conversations well (and needing more of them).
• Rey sailing and the music.
• I'm into the overall feel of Rey on the Death Star.
• Her confrontation with the dark-side version didn't work for me at first but now it's one of the things I looked forward to in this sequence. I like seeing Daisy play with--though too briefly--what could have been her character's journey.
• "Give it... to me!" Love how Daisy emphasizes the "to me." As with much of the second half of the movie, the first time through I wasn't sure I bought this scene at all. But now I see what they were going for and dig it. This is Rey's dark-side taking some control over her desires. She wants to make Palpatine pay and her focus is entirely on the wayfinder that will take her toward that goal. If I have any issues with this still it's because of the feeling that things are starting to get rushed toward the finish-line.
• I am in total love with this lightsaber battle. The jumps. The strikes. The styles. The intensity. Love Finn trying to get to Rey and Rey pushing him away. The passion in this battle is way more like what I wanted in Kenobi v Anakin in ROTS.
• Though we're in likes/loves, I do have to note that I have a difficult time believing that Kylo was about to kill Rey here and that he's only stopped by Leia. IF that is what they were going for, I don't think it works. However, if that wasn't his intention and Leia distracting him, followed by Rey stabbing him, was more of Leia's plan to reach Rey, then it works for me better. In any event, what follows is amazing.
• The looks. The water splashing over them. Rey's tears. Kylo/Ben's eyes... his expression of first loss, acceptance, then confusion and whatever else is going on in his head. There is so much there. The only thing that would have made this better would have been more conversation.
• Chewie's reaction to Leia's death.
• Han and Ben mirroring the TFA scene is something I had a powerfully negative reaction to in my first viewing but now have a genuine love for. What changed? I think the movie slowed down for me over several viewings and it didn't feel as rushed... at least in this scene.
• I really like this scene with Beaumont Kin translating the transmission. "The Sith flame will burn." I think Monaghan did a pretty good job with the material he was given... and he was in a lot more of the movie than I expected.
• Poe's talk with the dead Leia is quality acting. Hell, Oscar does a pretty great job throughout.
• "We had each other, that's how we won." 
• Poe and Finn calling each other "General."
• Beaumont's "Holdo maneuver" line is the best! Small-part MVP!
• Rey arriving on Exegol in Luke's X-Wing and the music playing is very cool.
• Finn's craft jumping from evil hyperspace. The music is kicking.
• "Captain, we have Resistance crafts incoming." The shot of the officer walking flanked by two Sith Troopers works on me in magical ways.
• Rose running into battle!
• Rey walking between the... ice walls? I don't know but it looks cool and the music is dark and awesome.
• Lots of shots here of the Emperor and Rey look amazing.
• "My parents were strong. They saved me from you." I totally adore this line delivery and the music.
• The sequence where the Emperor sells Rey on striking him down, as a means to becoming the new emperor and having the power to stop her friends from dying works way better on me than the way this notion is executed in ROTS with Anakin turning dark to save his wife. It's too bad the two movies couldn't have a conversation and mix and match what they got right to make two great movies.
• Ben revealing the saber in his hand and the little shrug. 
• If I ignore the ridiculous amount of flashy flashes going on, I am wild about Rey's fight with the... Emperor's Guards? Sith Guards? Whatever they are, I dig how she deflects and Force absorbs and pushes and crushes and all the Force stuff. The music being a version of her theme is very cool too. And it ends with Ben showing up to assist. Their looks after and the music are spot-on for me.
• Emperor Palpatine standing over the seemingly incapacitated Rey and Ben. "Look what you have made." Followed shortly after by, "As once I fell, so falls the last Skywalker." A lot of this stuff with the Emperor feels like Harry Potter and I dig it.
• I knew most of the plot before going into this movie and one of the things I was not excited about was this moment when Palpatine uses the uber-lighting to short-out the Resistance and their helpers. But, to my great surprise, I love the way it's executed. The visuals and sounds really work on me. As you can see, I don't mention the sky-battle on this list much... but I love this part. I guess I'm a sucker for things losing power and tumbling toward the ground.
• I like the shot of Rey turning over and looking up... and the music.
• The Emperor shooting lightning at Rey and her blocking it looks gorgeous. I'll just toss the next shot too where she has both sabers into this one. The look of it is eye-candy. 
• Pryde running to the front of his ship and then blowing up.
• The whole sequence of Rey on the ground, looking dead, to the camera moving away, down, then revealing Ben... the visuals, music, sound effects, all superb.
• Adam's best acting in the movie, for me, is here. As Ben struggles to pull Rey's body up, looks at her, then turns away... gets me every time. Powerful stuff.
• Rey returning to life, the music swelling, the two reacting to each other.
• "Ben."
• I knew going into this that there were two possible ways this scene could play out. I preferred the version where they didn't kiss and, in that first viewing, I felt this moment didn't work. However, with multiple viewings, I have changed my mind and now think it makes sense. It's not necessarily a passionate kiss, but instinctual. They have this intense emotional connection and her reaction is the most natural thing for her to do at that moment.
• One of the best choices made with the Leia problem (of not having Carrie) was having her body wait for Ben in order to disappear into the Force. So, while I obviously have issues with the way her character was used in this movie, this moment almost justifies the decisions made with her character.
• Zorii shooting Poe down again.
• The hug between Rey, Finn, and Poe. I've seen it 20 times and it still makes me emotional. The perfect ending. It's good they decided to go out on this sho--oh, there's more.
• I do like the little slide, a callback to the moment in TFA that made me cry.
• Glad to have a new lightsaber color in film-canon... for a nanosecond.
• Uhhhh... what is another nice thing can I say? Oh, the music is good!

FAVORITE SEQUENCES

1. Kijimi: Arriving, running into Zorii, the fight, Babu, talky talk, evil Threepio, the Chewie realization, and escape.
2. Pasaana: Search for the wayfinder, escape from the First Order, getting out of the caves, and the Chewie incident.
3. Kef Bir: The Rey and Kylo fight on the Death Star and everything that happens up to Ben throwing the lightsaber away.

FAVORITE SCENES

1. Rey using the Force to try to stop the First Order transport, Kylo interfering, Rey accidentally blowing the transport up, and her reaction afterward. This could be my favorite Star Wars scene.
2. Ben climbing out of the hole to bring Rey back to life.
3. Poe and Zorii talking about things. 
4. The last part of Rey and Kylo's final lightsaber battle on the Death Star. 
5. Our heroes seeing each other, embracing, holding hands, and crying.

NOTABLE DIALOGUE MOMENTS (I'm sure I'll forget some)

• Poe: "What did you do to the droid?" Rey: "What did you do the Falcon?" Poe: "The Falcon’s in a lot better shape than he is!" Rey: "BB8 is not on fire!" Poe: "What’s left of him isn’t on fire!" 
• Rey: "Bad mood?" Finn: "Me?" Rey: "Him." Finn: "Always."
• Rey: "I need to go alone." Finn: "Yeah, alone with friends."
• Kylo: "I sense unease about my appearance, General Hux." Hux: "About the mask? No, sir. Well done."
• Rey: "I see through the cracks in your mask. You’re haunted. You can’t stop seeing what you did to your father." 
• Leia: "Do me a personal favor. Be optimistic." Wexley: "Yes, ma’am. Uh, this is terrific. You’re not going to believe how well this is going to turn out. It’s going to be great."
• Poe: "Rey? Finn?" Threepio: "You didn’t say my name, sir, but I’m alright."
• Poe: "We’re going to die in sand boroughs and we’re all keeping secrets?" Finn: "I’ll tell you when you tell us about all that shifty stuff you do."
• Finn: "That was the only clue to the wayfinder thing and it’s gone." Threepio: "So true. The inscription lives only in my memory now." Poe: "Hold on. The inscription that was on the dagger is in your memory?" Threepio: "Yes, Master Poe. But the translation from a forbidden language cannot be retrieved. That is short of a complete redactive memory bypass." Finn: "A complete what?" Threepio: "It’s a terribly dangerous and simple act performed on unwitting droids by dregs and criminals." Finn: "Let’s do that!"
• Finn: "You were a spice runner?" Poe: "You were a Stormtrooper?" Rey: "Were you a spice runner?" Poe: "Were you a scavenger? I mean we can do this all night."
• Zorii: "Hey, they win by making you think you're alone. Remember? There's more of us."
• Finn: "Wrong way!" Poe: "Not really a right way, is there?"
• Jannah: "I received a transmission from someone named Babu Frik." Threepio: "Babu Frik? Oh, he’s one of my oldest friends."
• Threepio: "What a dreadful situation. Is every day like this for you people? Madness." 
• Kylo: "The dark side is in our nature. Surrender to it."
• Han: "Hey, kid."
• Luke: "Rey, some things are stronger than blood. Confronting fear is the destiny of a Jedi."
• Poe: “We’re not alone. Good people will fight if we lead them.”
• Rey: "All you want is for me to hate, but I won’t. Not even you." Emperor: "Weak, like your parents." Rey: "My parents were strong. They saved me from you." Emperor: "Your master, Luke Skywalker, was saved by his father. The only family you have here is me." 
• Emperor: "They don’t have long. No one is coming to help them. And you are the one who led them here. Strike me down. Take the throne. Reign over the new empire and the fleet will be yours. Only you have the power to save them. Refuse and your new family dies." 
• Emperor: "Do not fear their feeble attack, my faithful. Nothing will stop the return of the Sith!"

FAVORITE PERFORMANCES

1. Daisy Ridley: Apart from her scenes with Leia (not her fault), I feel like she owns this whole movie.
2. Oscar Isaac: Gives his best overall performance in the sequel trilogy. Even in scenes I don't particularly like, his performance in them works.
3. John Boyega: Plays a great support character for both Rey and Poe while getting in some of his best facial acting in the series.
4. Adam Driver: Always solid. His best work is in the second half.
5. Keri Russell: She makes the most out of every second of screentime. Give me a Zorii stand-alone movie or TV show!
6. Anthony Daniels: While I don't think Daniels brings any more or less to his performance than he has before (he's never phoned anything in), he's given more to do with the character so there's more to notice.
7. Babu Frik: Not played by an actor. That's actually an alien from another world.

SINGLE BEST MOMENT IN THE RISE OF SKYWALKER
I know you think I'm going to say the transport scene but... I'm going with Ben Solo, the last Skywalker, rising from the cold chasm, hobbling over to Rey, the last Palpatine, wrapping her in his arms, looking away, pained by loss, deciding to give his life force to her, and finally ascending into the Force... with his mother. Oh yeah and there's also a kiss and a smile.

FINAL NOTES
Overall, I enjoy "The Rise of Skywalker" a lot. Clearly, I like the first half more than the second. Much like the entirety of the prequels, it has execution problems. I do think JJ needed another 6-months to finish the movie he wanted to deliver. But I also don't like to dwell on negativity, especially when doing it will not change anything. I am fine with the plot. I am fine with the story. I am more than fine with Rey taking the Skywalker name. I am less fine with some execution, especially in the third act. But so be it.

Looking forward not backward. Bring on the Holy Wars.