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No films in recent memory have been as contentious, while also being as successful as the newest Star Wars trilogy. A year and a half after the final film in the new series, fans can still be set off when discussing it. Some loved Star Wars: The Last Jedi and others did not. Some were satisfied with The Rise of Skywalker, while others were disappointed. Those unhappy sometimes place blame on the filmmakers of each movie, while others blame external forces or the studio for missteps. One person not jumping on that bandwagon is Domhnall Gleeson, who played General Hux in the last three Star Wars movies. He claims that The Rise of Skywalker is exactly the movie it needed to be.
A number of moviegoers didn't love Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The film made a lot of decisions that were somewhat unpopular with fans, but Domhnall Gleeson tells Indiewire that those decisions had to be made in order to keep the movie from being too long. Plus, he agrees with the decisions that were made overall. According to Gleeson,
The film is what the film needed to be, I think. There’s always stuff that you would like to see more of, but you can’t have a 17-hour film, I’ve been told. Apparently that’s not allowed, so I was happy with what was there.
Exactly what the problems were with The Rise of Skywalker or who is to blame for them, depends largely on your opinion of the previous film. Episode IX arguably walks back decisions from The Last Jedi, so if you didn't like the revelation that Rey's parentage was irrelevant, then the next film's new revelation that Rey was a Palpatine by blood is a good choice. If you liked the introduction of Rose Tico in The Last Jedi, then seeing her sidelined in Rise of Skywalker is unfortunate. Clearly there's much to discuss.
The Skywalker Saga is currently available on Disney+. You can use this link to sign up for the streaming service.
Another character who was largely sidelined in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was Domhnall Gleeson's own character, General Hux. Hux is somewhat surprisingly, and unceremoniously killed off in the movie. And while one would understand if Gleeson had an issue with that decision, he seems to feel it was the right choice, even he certainly would not have been against being a bigger part of the movie. Gleeson went on,
It would’ve been nice to stick around a little bit longer, for sure. It would’ve been nice to see the spy thing play out a little bit, but J.J. [Abrams] knows what he’s doing, and I heard a kind of gasp in the cinema when it happened, so I guess he was right.
This certainly won't be the last word on the Star Wars sequel trilogy. Fans are still arguing over the relative merits of the prequels, and so we can expect this fight will continue.
