The Rise of Skywalker: Another View (still not complimentary)

Over the past several months I have been following the prognostications on The Rise of Skywalker by YouTubers associated with what has become known as "The Fandom Menace".  These are truly hardcore Star Wars fans that likely know more about the franchise and its canon than the current leadership of LucasFilm and Disney.  I have greatly enjoyed listening to many of their podcasts and their analysis of the final film that was released last week.

Now, I have yet to see this film.  I have told myself (despite some temptations) that I won't go to this film during its first run as I don't want to provide Disney with any reward for what it has done to destroy this franchise.  So, I don't have a first-hand perspective on how bad or good this film is.  After listening to many of the "Fandom Menace" perspectives, it was interesting to come across a podcast reviewing The Rise of Skywalker that does not have this perspective.  "The Watch" podcast with Chris Ryan and Andy Greenwald released the following podcast on December 23.



The tag line for this particular episode of "The Watch" is, "If you liked The Rise of Skywalker,  you're not going to like this podcast."  Having not yet seen the movie, I found this to be a very thoughtful and well-balanced review - these are two guys that admit to liking what Rian Johnson did with The Last Jedi!  While not "Fandom Menace" supporters, Chris and Andy do point out where The Rise of Skywalker went wrong (in this they are largely in alignment with the "Fandom Menace") and how a different and better film could have been made.

Oh Disney, you large and unwieldy entertainment conglomerate, what have you done?!  In trying to satisfy everyone, you seem to be disappointing everyone.  There is no doubt a case study here that should be taught in business schools for years to come.