10 Huge Movie Moments That Didn't Matter At All

10. Chewbacca's Apparent Death - Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (2019) 

There’s a lot in The Rise Of Skywalker that doesn’t make a huge amount of sense - like the off-screen resurrection of the Emperor, or the mcguffin-chasing plot that spans half the movie yet is made utterly irrelevant five minutes after completion.

Chewbacca’s apparent death, however, is a different kind of nonsense. Like it or not, each of the three protagonists of the original trilogy was given a movie in this sequel trilogy to complete their narrative arc, each time ending in their deaths. It wasn’t outside the realms of possibility that Chewbacca would join them - but being captured off-camera and shot down by friendly fire isn’t the most rousing of ways to leave a franchise.

However, it was Rey’s error that killed her friend, her giving in to darker emotions that fuelled the force lightning that destroyed the ship he was on. Sidekicks and partners are tools of the narrative trade: being sacrificed for plot points is kind of what they’re for. Everything was set up for Chewie’s death to mean something, to be a turning point for Rey’s development…

...only to be walked back, literally three minutes later, when Chewie was revealed to be alive and still a prisoner. But that’s okay! Rey didn’t know - this is still a developmental moment for her… oh. Rey finds out he’s alive ten minutes after that. Well, that was a waste of time.