Star Wars: The Rise is Skywalker - a podcast by Chris, Sean, Jeremy | Force Fed Sci-Fi

This time, Force Fed Sci-Fi is concluding its look into a galaxy far, far away after reviewing Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and along the way we asked, how much fan service is too much, are there any enjoyable moments in the final chapter of the Skywalker saga and what lies ahead for the future of the Star Wars franchise. Let’s dig in...
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Cast&Crew

Directed by JJ Abrams: Originally, Colin Trevorrow was slated to direct this entry, but left the project due to “creative differences” with LucasFilm executives. Kathleen Kennedy and Abrams were quickly hired following his success after directing The Force Awakens. It could be that Trevorrow was more interested in taking the story in a different direction while LucasFilm/Disney was more interested in finding a “yes man” for the Star Wars sagaAs with The Last Jedi, most of the cast like Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac and Adam Driver returned to their respective roles once again with some surprises along the way:

Harrison Ford returned in a Force memory as Han Solo and appeal his son’s conflicted nature but it’s likely he got the Marlon Brando treatment with cue cards shown off-screen along with a massive payday.Ian McDiarmid returned to the role of Emperor Palpatine as the shadowy evil pulling the strings behind the First Order. While his casting serves as a link to the Prequel and Classic trilogies. It almost diminishes the direction LucasFilm was attempting with this new group of characters.
Richard E. Grant as Allegiant General Pryde: Grant is easily one of the best additions to the film as well as the best villain. He’s ruthless, cunning and has a unique history as it’s clear he served in the Empire during the timeline of the Classic Trilogy.Keri Russell as Zorii Bliss: While her character doesn’t receive much screen time, she’s a welcome addition to the film as she shines light onto Poe’s checkered past and her character seems to only serve as an additional deus ex machina during the final battle - we could see her pop up in a film or Disney+ series with Poe in the future (more on that in a bit).
Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian: Williams returns to his role after 30 years and has become something of a reclusive hermit following an adventure with Luke. He’s not hiding like Luke was in The Last Jedi, but he’s also reluctant to rejoin the Rebellion until the very end of the film.Naomi Ackie as Jannah: Cool name, but probably our least favorite new character. She forms a bond with Finn as she is a former stormtrooper herself. She helps aid the Resistance in their fight at the end of the film.
Following the passing of Carrie Fisher in 2016, it was later announced that she would appear in The Rise of Skywalker using unused footage from The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi but her scenes almost feel incongruous to the overall film - as much as she is beloved to the franchise, the look of her scenes seem unnatural.The Rise of Skywalker Explained: So, What Happened?
Let’s dive into explaining The Rise of Skywalker a bit, and for that we need to rewind back to the previous film. Following the backlash with The Last Jedi, it seems the filmmakers went out of their way to simply “play it safe” and wrap up the Skywalker saga in a pretty little bow. Problem is, JJ Abrams and screenwriter Chris Terrio interpreted this as retconning the events of The Last Jedi. By reintroducing Palpatine as the evil behind everything and implying that Snoke was created by him (semi-clone?) implies that Snoke really didn’t matter in terms of the overall story. 

In addition, characters who were introduced in The Last Jedi, like Rose Tico, were relegated to “desk duty” for the film and had either little to no lines or simply did not factor into the action shown on screen. Luke Skywalker’s characterization was also massively retconned. Following a battle where Rey nearly kills Kylo Ren,

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