George Lucas became infamous for including cringeworthy moments in the when Disney acquired Lucasfilm and got a sequel trilogy underway. A number of J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson’s comic relief moments fell flat, and some of their dramatic moments fell even flatter.
Outside of the general cringe of watching a trilogy that stumbles through the dark without any semblance of a road map, a ton of scenes in the Star Wars sequel movies were difficult to watch.
The Token Same-Sex Kiss
2019 was a bad year for LGBTQ+ representation in Hollywood blockbusters. Joe Russo’s cameo as the MCU’s first openly gay character in Avengers: Endgame.
J.J. Abrams bragged about diversifying the Star Wars universe and inspiring unity among humanity with this two-second kiss, but this is the absolute bare minimum for representation. The kiss was so innocuous and irrelevant that it was left intact in the film's Chinese cut, despite the country's notoriously strict and conservative censorship rules.
Kylo Ren’s Childish Outbursts
All throughout the Sequel Trilogy, Kylo Ren was prone to the occasional temper tantrum. Like a petulant kid with a lightsaber, he would trash whatever room he was in, making the surrounding Stormtroopers feel more awkward than terrified.
Darth Vader was a truly menacing presence; he commanded the screen whenever he walked into a room and there were never any goofy gags at his expense. By contrast, Kylo Ren is so unthreatening that he barely s as a villain at all. This could've worked as a foil to the Empire's most feared Sith Lord but it's barely addressed, so Kylo just looks like a pissed off teenager in Vader cosplay.
Poe Dameron & General Hux's Mom
Poe Dameron decides to take on the First Order’s fleet alone in the opening scene of The Last Jedi, setting up an awesome set piece to kick off the eighth chapter in the mainline Star Wars saga. But then, it’s ruined within seconds.
As Poe makes with the First Order’s ships, he speaks to General Hux and winds him up with a very poorly placed “your mother” joke. Aside from this joke tonally clashing with everything that happens next, hearing a "Yo momma!" joke in Star Wars just feels wrong.
They Fly Now?! (They Fly Now!)
In the initial trailers for The Rise of Skywalker, three words were enough to make a lot of fans lose faith in the movie altogether. Poe, Finn, and C-3PO are involved in a chase with some Stormtroopers and a couple of their pursuers take off on jetpacks.
A surprised C-3PO says, “They fly now!” Then, an incredulous Finn says, “They fly now!?” and a defeated Poe says, “They fly now.” This line might’ve raised a slight chuckle if it was used once, but three times in a row beats it to death. Sadly, this isn't the movie's first and last failed attempt at humor.
Finn Vs. Chrome Dome
At the end of The Last Jedi, Captain Phasma was added to the long list of characters who got an interesting start in the Sequel Trilogy, then got completely squandered by the movies themselves. When Finn is delivering the final death blow to the military tyrant who made his formative years a living hell, he says, “Let’s go, chrome dome!” It was a painful, misplaced attempt at humor in what should've been a dramatic clash between a defector and his ex-commander.
John Boyega was asked on Twitter if he improvised the line and he replied, “Nope,” with a bunch of barfing-face emojis. Clearly, he hated the line as much as other Star Wars fans did.
Rey & Ben Solo's Kiss Of Life/Death
While J.J. Abrams was happy to ignore the shippers who noticed sparks between Finn and Poe, he ruined the climax of The Rise of Skywalker by pandering to ReyLo shippers. Rey is dying, then she makes out with Ben Solo and es the death energy on to him... or something.
The fact that she renames herself “Rey Skywalker” in the very next scene adds an uncomfortable incestuous element to the kiss (this is Star Wars, after all), while the romantic tension was non-existent.
“Somehow... Palpatine Has Returned.”
J.J. Abrams was counting on Star Wars fans knowing that Palpatine would return in The Rise of Skywalker, because he didn’t feel like explaining it in the actual movie. The opening crawl begins with the words “The dead speak!” in reference to a Fortnite Easter Egg that revealed the finale's inciting event, not anything in the actual canon.
While discussing battle plans with the rebels, Poe Dameron -- in a very exasperated way that fans can relate to -- says, “Somehow... Palpatine has returned.” This line sums up exactly how well-written the screenplay for The Rise of Skywalker was. Oscar Isaac looks like he’s struggling to keep a straight face as he says it.
Rose Interrupts Poe's Sacrifice Because Of Love
Rian Johnson didn’t really know what he wanted to say with The Last Jedi. When Finn is about to sacrifice his life to destroy the First Order’s battering ram and save the Resistance on Crait, Rose intervenes and tells him sacrifice is bad: “That’s how we’re gonna win: not fighting what we hate, saving what we love.”
This is a terrible strategy for winning a war, and the movie itself undermines whatever message it was trying to get across. Right before Rose says this, Holdo sacrifices her life in awesome fashion. And right after Rose says it, Luke sacrifices his life in equally awesome fashion. So is the ultimate sacrifice a good or bad thing? What exactly was Rose trying to prove, again?
Luke Tosses Anakin’s Lightsaber
Fans waited for two years to see what would happen after Rey arrived on Ahch-To, found a grizzled Luke Skywalker living in exile, and held out his father’s lightsaber. Rian Johnson decided to establish right off the bat that he wasn’t interested in pleasing the fans.
When Luke takes the lightsaber from Rey, he tosses it over his shoulder and walks away. Though this kind of makes sense given Luke's disdain for the Jedi and his disillusionment, the way it's handled feels like a weird joke at fans' expense. It was anticlimactic in the worst ways possible.
Everything About Rey Skywalker
This is the scene that spawned a million low-effort memes, and the memes were low-effort because so was the scene itself. The final moments of the Skywalker Saga felt tacked-on, as opposed to the epic endgame of four decades worth of storytelling.
While Rey is busy burying the Skywalkers' lightsabers in Tatooine sand (despite Anakin's legendary hatred of sand), a er-by randomly asks her for her last name. This is completely disingenuous and is a blatantly obvious way to set her up to hijack the Skywalker name, which she does. Rey being a Skywalker isn't inherently idea but it should've been built up to, not awkwardly executed by having Rey randomly bolt the family name to hers because a stranger asked her about it.
