Review Detail

7.5 1 10
Overall rating
 
7.5
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
6.0
Visual Editing
 
8.0
Narrative
 
6.0
Enjoyment
 
7.0
This edit is worth your time because some of the ideas it implements have potential. However, the execution is unfortunately a little off.

Probably the biggest issue is that some of the AI voicework just sounds goofy. None of it ever sounds convincing. I think Hal's Ascendent handled the "Somehow Palpatine Returned" issue with much more finesse than this edit, which just has Leia basically saying the same thing as Poe, but off-screen in a way that seems particularly janky.

Palpatine is casually introduced in the opening crawl without any fanfare. I think any fanedit should present the movie as if the viewer is seeing it for the first time (even if that's realistically seldom ever the case), so to introduce Palpatine so nonchalantly is a significant oversight, because someone who hasn't seen the film is gonna go, "Wait! What?! Why is Palpatine back!?"

I feel like Abrams really jerks his audience around in the theatrical cut by having viewers think Chewie is dead only to find out moments later that he isn't. Abrams does it again when Threepio's memory is wiped, only to have it restored by the end of the movie. I really appreciate that this fanedit removes this nonsense in favor of a more streamlined film with real stakes. However, Abram's does this a third time with the fake Ben Solo death when Palpatine throws him over a cliff (What's worse is that Ben Solo DOES die moments later), so I don't know why Revan100 didn't remove this, too.

My biggest criticism of this (and also my biggest criticism of Hal's Ascendent) is that the 3rd act is largely left intact, despite the fact that that is where the film really falls apart. The Palpatine we get in TRoS is incredibly stupid and misinformed. His motivations make no sense, and his plan—for a guy who was heretofore a master manipulator—is really poorly thought out. A much better ending would be Kylo Ren thinking he is playing Palpatine, but having it be that Palpatine knew all along Kylo and Rey were a dyad in the Force. In other words, he is only trying to lure both of them there to steal their powers. Somebody needs to give the 3rd Act of this movie some attention! Because that is where the movie goes from being bad to godawful bad.

I think this edit is a good stepping stone for another editor to take its best ideas and incorporate them into an even better edit. As it stands, this edit just doesn't have the polish to replace the theatrical cut or exceed what Hal has done.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
Owner's reply July 09, 2023

Thanks for the review. There are some things I'd like to make clear.

Palpatine being casually introduced in this edit was done because he was officially introduced at the end of my Last Jedi - Consistency Edition edit. The title crawl was simply recapping that event.

Keeping Ben Solo's fake death felt necessary in order to keep his final act in the movie: Bringing Rey back. Yes, I could make it so Rey doesn't die after defeating Palpatine, But I would rather have Ben die because he gave his life to save the person he loved, rather than die because he fell down a hole.

Regarding Palpatine's behavior. Yes, he is a master manipulator, but like Luke said in Return of the Jedi, he's also very arrogant. Now, do I think it would be better if Palpatine wanted to lure Kylo and Rey in order to steal their energy? Yes. But I don't think I'm able to do that seamlessly with how the original scene is set up.

Report this review Was this review helpful? 1 0

Comments