ST How do you feel about how Anakin's grandchildren were handled in the Sequel Trilogy?

Great post here. I liked Kylo and Drivers portrayal of him but didnt care for his eventual redemption and wanted him to stay bad. Would have loved to see those other EU grandchildren in the movie though. Ya know, they could have used all of them and not bothered with Rey, Poe and Finn. Sounds harsh but It'd have been OK with me.

 

Honestly I aways forget about Kylo’s familial standing. I know the films say otherwise but the character just doesn’t register to me as Han and Leia’s son or Anakin’s grandson.

 

I think Ben could have been an interesting character, trying to live up to the legacy of his parents but ultimately following in the footsteps of his grandfather instead. Unfortunately the motivations for him doing that were not clear at all. We know he thought he was communicating with his grandfather, but that was never really explored. We should have heard what he was hearing. If in TFA we heard Vader or Anakin encouraging him to embrace the dark side, as the audience we would have realised something was out of place. Instead we had to fill in the blanks ourselves.

 

Just imagine the Vader helmet "speaking" to Kylo with the Darkside while setting it up for the voice to be gone once Snoke dies. Then Kylo learns it was all a rouze. Maybe have Palps try to cover his tracks in TROS, but Kylo has a scene with the "real" Anakin and finds redemption through the chosen one to tie all the trilogies together.

 

That would have been epic and I thought that would happen.

 

It's clear "they" weren't a fan of Anakin's arc, and thought they could do it better. I laugh at the hubris, despite the tragic results.

I appreciate this post. Glad someone else sees it the same way.

I know no one is going to agree because the story of the OT is very obviously in opposition to what I'm about to say, but I've always, from the time I first saw it as a small child, seen Luke as a Lars. Owen was far more of a father to Luke than Anakin ever was. Well, I suppose Luke's genetics couldn't be denied, and that's what makes him a Skywalker more than a Lars. Luke's path and identity ends up being much more about nature than nurture.

Wow, what a stunning observation, she goes backward. She's less at the end than what she was in the beginning. That's very sad.

Someone might be able to make the same argument about Luke, due to being emotionally shaken in ESB and a bit darker at the beginning of ROTJ, culminating in unleashing his rage on Vader on the DS2, but then he has that amazing epiphany, and becomes more than the Jedi before him.

Too bad Rey never had that sort of epiphany or enlightenment. Indeed, I feel like she's merely a survivor of trauma and abuse at the end, she just wants it to end, than someone who grew as a person and overcame it.

Thank you for the thought provoking comment.

 

Grandchildren? What grandchildren?

 

Zing!

Although I remember the same comment was made earlier on the thread.

 

Yeah, I agree with you, CT. I never understood why people would hate on Rey and call her a Mary Sue. I thought that was just a form of low-tech bullying. I felt bad for how she was written and I could see it coming before the arc finished. Especially because of the 2017 film. Writing a character who's capable of surviving on a such a dangerous desert world was a pretty good idea, but they really effed it up.

By contrast, Ahsoka and many of the other female characters at least have more consistent arcs. They ain't perfect, but like I said, Rey's arc was really butchered. I think Larry Kasdan had the best ideas for her, but the other writers messed her later stories up to service other characters.

 

It's hard to believe that any post TROS story, that features Rey, is actually the continuing story of the Palpatine gene pool. It's hard to fathom... and probably one of the worst creative decisions, for Rey as a character, and for the Skywalker's overall...

 

The only Grandchildren Anakin/Vader had in the New Canon is Kylo Ren and he not survived Rise of Skywalker there are no more descendants of Vader as far as we know in the New Canon

 

Skywalker, Solo, and Organa lines are all extinct and Palpatine's still going strong

...Yay!(?)

 

Ya don’t say.

 

Agreed. It's a horrible mess. That's why I ignore the new canon after ROTJ. I prefer the old one in that way.

 

The only reason for the hubris regarding Ben Solo's arc versus Anakin Skywalker's is Adam Driver's a more talented actor than Hayden Christensen in my view. Adam Driver's performance is the main driver for the character's popularity and the ST creators' fetish with him. Ultimately the writing let him down in a big way. With Hayden Christensen I would argue the story eclipsed his performance, which was servicable, but he just lacked the acting chops to truly elevate the material he was given.

 

Hardly. I'd argue Hayden has a not only more nuanced character, but I also think gives a more nuanced performance as a whole.

 

I can't help wondering whether that was deliberate wordplay, or it just happened to come out that way lol

 

I wish someone could explain the critical swooning over Driver, including from Kennedy, Johnson, and Abrams because, based on the ST and the episode of Law & Order I’ve seen him in, to me, he’s average. He was easily the worst part of the L&O he was on. Frankly, Boyega and Isaac mop the floor with him. I just don’t get it at all. It’s like the swooning over TLJ and how subversive it is - is there some other version of the movie that I didn’t see?

Plus it’s not like he’s given a character to play - he’s given a sketch of one. He’s better in those Undercover Boss parodies because there’s someone to play. Anyone tell me why Kylo does anything he does?

 

I'm not a fan of Hayden, quite the opposite, but I was impressed with him in Life as a House, where I could see what George was looking for. I've yet to be impressed by anything Adam Driver has done. I think Hayden made a lot of mistakes in the PT, particularly in AOTC, but I'll take him over Driver when it comes to Star Wars.

Anyone who has seen my posts in the PT forum over the years would probably be surprised to see me say this. I've posted more than my share of criticism regarding Hayden's utter lack of charm, humor, and intimidating presence.

Nothing Driver did in the ST did anything for me. I'd rather have the highs and mostly lows of Hayden than bland and forgettable.

 

I was disappointed, but not surprised, really. Before Disney/LFL cleared the decks, Ani's grandkids consisted of one dead good guy, one unrepentant Dark Sider, and two traumatized good ones. In the ST, we have one repentant murderer and one heroine who takes it upon herself to fill the job opening.
Sadly, the franchise seemed to follow the idea that every hero must suffer unutterable tragedy on a regular basis, and happy endings are boring. (Trust me, if they continue with Rey, her future will be written as hellish.)

 

Shattered Glass is also quite good.

I agree though on Driver. I have yet to enjoy an Adam Driver performance or even movie. He's just so stifled. Controlled. Awkward. Almost like an impersonation of a robot doing their best impersonation of a human. TFA is probably the closest I've come to enjoying one of his movies, but that's because he's only in it for so little of it, and it's not an Adam Driver movie. And I will say I"m moderately intrigued by 65, but not getting my hopes up.

 

I think you're on to something. Driver is a dude who knows how to do what I'd call the same level of acting that we'd find from Donald Sutherland or Emma Stone. He's just that good. He's the one who makes Ren seem normal when he's not. If you read about Driver's biography, he comes off as nothing like Ren. He and his wife kept the name of their son private from the media for over two years, and he supports thespians entertaining members of the military most likely because he was formerly a marine or something. Very commendable. Thus, in terms of his family life, he's a private dude, unlike Ren, who is narcissistic and pretty terrible. But the main aspect I want to emphasize is that Driver is not fond of watching his own performances. There are quite a few actors like Michael Keaton who are similar. They enjoy the experience of performing, albeit not necessarily watching the performance. If memory serves, Daniel Radcliffe once said he didn't like watching his performances, but don't quote me on that. He may have been referring to his performances as a kid, and that's quite understandable. In contrast, old Kylo Ren seems to be the kind of guy who would love to watch holographic recordings of himself hacking down people with his lightsaber. Driver couldn't be farther away from that notion.

 

Yeah, nah. Emma Stone has a charm, a softness, a wit. Donald Sutherland has an intimidating presence with a playful undercurrent, menace. Driver may be able to do that, but he's given very little to develop that.