7 Things the Most Hated Star Wars Movie Actually Got Right

With all the discourse going around the internet, it's easy to dismiss a whole movie or brand it as perfect or terrible (Remember: only a Sith deals in absolutes!), so most positive things might end up going over our heads. All criticism is fair, of course, but there's always some good to look for everywhere. We are here to make sure The Rise of Skywalker gets its due for what it does right, too.

8 A New Trio of Protagonists

Rey, Finn, and Poe Finally Go on an Adventure Together

One of the chief criticisms of the Sequel Trilogy before The Rise of Skywalker came out was how it still lacked a core trio of heroes. Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega), and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) are great characters, but they spend most of the first two movies apart, each in their own development arcs, especially in Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi.

As important as character development is, everyone was missing some main trio shenanigans, and The Rise of Skywalker gave us just that. For the first time in the Sequels, Rey, Finn, and Poe take the main mission together, searching for Emperor Palpatine's (Ian McDiarmid) lost wayfinder on Pasaana, Kijimi, and Kef Bir, and even on board a First Order Star Destroyer.

7 Leia as Rey's Master

The General Takes It Upon Herself To Finish Rey’s Training

One of the best surprises in The Rise of Skywalker is Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) stepping up to finish Rey's Jedi training. The general does a great job, setting up training courses for her pupil and reinforcing to Rey the importance of patience and trust, two core values of the Jedi.

The movie reveals that Leia herself once trained under her brother, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), but ultimately chose to step away from it upon feeling tragedy for her son, Ben Solo (Adam Driver), down that path. She now comes full circle by training Rey on that same planet, Ajan Kloss, where the new Resistance base is set up.

Leia training to become a Jedi had already been explored in the Legends continuity, but, in the new canon, her Force sensitivity is only superficially explored, often reduced to feelings; it was The Last Jedi that established her as a powerful Force user. Building on that showed us an entirely new side of her.

6 The Citizens’ Fleet

The Galaxy Unites Against Emperor Palpatine’s Final Order

During the Battle of Exegol, Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) arrives in the nick of time to save the day with a fleet of galactic proportions made entirely of ordinary citizens who decide to stand up to Emperor Palpatine's Final Order. While the Resistance attacked the Sith Eternal Fleet head-on, Lando rallied the galaxy.

This moment is nothing short of epic, as the screen is filled with over 14,000 ships, including some familiar faces. Among them are the Ghost, from Star Wars: Rebels, a Mandalorian Gauntlet Fighter, and a squad of Naboo N1 Starfighters. The novelization also reveals that the Fireball, from Star Wars: Resistance, and the Alphabet Squadron, from the incredible novels of the same name, were also present.

The idea of the galaxy uniting against the rising tyranny isn't new, though. Concept art for The Rise of Skywalker's previous iteration, Duel of the Fates, shows Finn and Poe leading a people's army against the First Order on Coruscant. What we got is just a little different, but no less powerful moment in the final installment of the Skywalker Saga.

5 Lightspeed Skipping

With Lightspeed Tracking Comes Improved Chase Sequences

The Rise of Skywalker gives us a great chase sequence right off the bat, as Poe and Finn flee from First Order TIE Fighters through lightspeed. Lightspeed skipping consists of quick, successive small jumps to shake pursuit, a way to counter lightspeed active tracking introduced in The Last Jedi. It's a high-risk maneuver, but, sometimes, it's the only way.

Similar practices have also been depicted in canon even before active tracking was developed. If a tracking device is installed on a ship, lightspeed skipping is the way to shake it, but it does put undue stress on the hyperdrive. It also requires previous calculation and knowing the exact exit point to avoid crashing and other gruesome fates.

4 Force Healing

A Not-So-New Force Ability That Remains Controversial

One of the most controversial aspects of the movie is Rey's Force healing ability. First, she heals a wounded snake on Pasaana, and then she heals Kylo Ren on Kef Bir. She describes it as transferring "a bit of life, Force energy from me to him," which, later, a redeemed Ben Solo takes to the extreme to save her on Exegol.

The main concern about this is that it would "break canon," offering an easy solution to the saga's quintessential issue of Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) not being able to save those he loved from death. While he certainly had the power for it, Anakin sought this ability out of attachment, not selflessness, the opposite of what Rey does.

Other Force-sensitive individuals also manifest this skill, like Barriss Offee (Meredith Dawn Salenger) in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Grogu in The Mandalorian, and the Force healer (Josie Walker) in Andor. Such abilities are like "doors" you learn how to open, and Rey learned hers through the sacred Jedi texts.

3 Babu Frik

The Tiny Droidsmith Has a Following of His Own

The undeniable star of the movie, Babu Frik, is often listed as its only saving grace. He is the tiny droidsmith Zorii Bliss (Kerry Russell) enlists to help the heroes on Kijimi. Babu Frik's jolly nature and weird-yet-cute design made him an instant hit, the kind of strange alien that Star Wars fans love.

Babu is an Anzellan, a minute species that excels at technology because of how easy it is for them to crawl through wires and small openings. A group of Anzellans is introduced in The Mandalorian Season 3, and they are back in The Mandalorian & Grogu, complete with a delightfully funny tiny ship.

2 Ben Solo’s Redemption

So Good, Steven Soderbergh Wanted To Make a Movie About It

While some fans (like yours truly) didn't want to see Kylo Ren redeemed, redemption is at the core of Star Wars, and Ben Solo's fits right in. We do see very little of him, as his only line is "Ow!" and he dies shortly after saving Rey, but still, he finally got to wield the Skywalker saber he sought the whole trilogy.

The redemption scene itself is particularly poignant, with him being forgiven by the father whom he killed himself and feeling the loss of his mother. Ben essentially made a decision to return to the Light Side, which is always more complex than simply giving in to the Dark. Being a villain is simple, but choosing to be good despite everything? That's something else.

Ultimately, Ben's redemption was so well-executed, it nearly got its own spin-off movie with Steven Soderbergh's The Hunt for Ben Solo. Unfortunately, the project was declined by Disney's leadership, but fans recognized the story's potential and Kylo Ren/Ben Solo's status as one of the best Star Wars characters.

1 The Force Dyad

Rey and Kylo Ren’s Force Bond Is Explored in the Most Creative Ways

The Force Dyad is arguably the best new concept introduced by The Rise of Skywalker. This notion started in The Last Jedi, when it's used to provide Rey and Kylo Ren with a window into each other's minds, but Episode IX explores it from a more practical standpoint, like their Force duel on Kijimi and the lightsaber handling on Exegol.

The Dyad is such a good concept, that it retroactively became part of Star Wars lore, even. Reference books, like The Secrets of the Sith, now mention it as being at the core of the Rule of Two, with each new pairing of Sith master and apprentice being an attempt to create an unnatural Dyad, Darth Plagueis and Sidious being the best example.

This idea comes straight from the mythological concept of the dyad and the idea that every being is composed of two parts – a feminine and a masculine one, light and darkness, yin and yang, etc. – destined to seek each other for eternity until they meet and complete each other. Considering how Star Wars was born from mythological concepts, that's always the way to go.