5 Major Ways Star Wars The Rise Of Skywalker Mirrored The Last Jedi

'The Rise of Skywalker' and The Last Jedi are easily the two most divisive Star Wars movies. Depending on who you ask, either one might be considering a disaster or a masterpiece.

Some fans and critics have panned The Rise of Skywalker for its many plot holes, including the reemergence of Emperor Palpatine as the franchise's ultimate villain. Those same people oftentimes praise The Last Jedi' for its creative approach and heavy-hitting plot beats.

Meanwhile, others have been quick to call The Rise of Skywalker a return to "classic Star Wars" that gives the Skywalker Saga the satisfying ending it deserves. These fans tend to be the ones who deliver the most withering rebukes of The Lat Jedi by claiming that Rian Johnson's twist-filled entry to the franchise lacks the proper tone and respect for the saga's classic characters among other complaints.

As anyone who's followed Star Wars since Disney took over the famed franchise should know, there's oftentimes little room for an agreeable middle ground in these arguments. Both camps have dug in, and few are willing to hear the other side's critiques of their chosen movie.

Nevertheless, there's more than a few areas where these movies overlap. Major areas, in fact, that have oftentimes been discussed as being weak points of each instalment are similar across the films.

Perhaps, instead of trying to claim that one movie is the best Star Wars experience to embrace, fans should realize that there's more in common with their respective favorites than it might seem.

When The Last Jedi was released, one of the most controversial scenes involved Princess Leia floating through space with the power of the force, saving herself from a seemingly catastrophic fate.

At the time, it was considered by many to be a ridiculous scene. In a movie that had Luke Skywalker die after using some sort of grand force projection technique to confront Kylo Ren, the Leia scene was just another example of what many felt was the film's general overuse of new and outrageous force powers.

J.J. Abrams and the lead creatives behind The Rise of Skywalker seemingly ignored those complaints entirely when they made Episode 9. Their movie doubles down on the ostentatious use of the force by giving its most powerful characters the ability to heal people through the force, and even hand one another lightsabers through some sort of powerful connection with each other.

Those abilities create many more plot holes than any force misuse in The Last Jedi ever did. Fans should be somewhat accustom to powerful force users simply disappearing like Luke at the end of The Last Jedi, but they most certainly shouldn't be familiar with their ability to heal grievous lightsaber wounds.

The question has to be asked as to why Obi-Wan Kenobi couldn't have just healed Qui-Gon Jinn at the end of the Phantom Menace then, or why Luke himself couldn't have saved his own father in Return of the Jedi if he so wished.

Before knocking The Last Jedi for not being true to the franchise then, the most ardent defenders of The Rise of Skywalker should first look to the questionable mistakes the last entry in the saga chose to make.