10 Simple Fixes That Would Have Saved Star Wars: Rise Of Skywalker
2. Get Rid Of All The Fan-Service
Bar the Death Star rehash at the end, The Force Awakens was a love-filled trip back to the Star Wars fans new and loved. It was new and familiar at the same time, and it worked well as an introduction to the new series, never straying too far into eye-roll territory with overwrought call-backs to the original films.
The Rise of Skywalker, on the other hand, well and truly goes off the deep end. The Emperor's back, and he has a super-secret fleet that has mini Death Star canons attached to their under-bellies! Rey's a Palpatine! Look, here's a flashback to Luke training Leia! We're back on Tatooine! Here's a new lightsaber that appears for two seconds... for story! Want to see Luke lift an X-Wing? Well boy, are you in for a treat!
It's actually groan inducing at times, and while homage is part and parcel of pretty much every Star Wars film, none have offered such a banal retread of the series' past tropes or such a capitulation to online speculation, to the point where fans have joked that TROS was "written and directed by Reddit."
Fan service can be fun in small doses, but it shouldn't govern an entire story. Something that Episode IX falls victim to repeatedly.