OT: The Last Jedi (SPOILER Edition)

My favorite line of the movie is when supreme leader kylo ren orders every single gun on Luke Skywalkwer. You

Saw it a second time last night and I feel a little better about it. Still think it’s one of the worst SW movies but I was able to enjoy it more because I knew the bad parts were coming and wasn’t as stuck with them throughout the duration of the movie.

I'm sorry I can't pretend to like this film. It was more than disappointing. It sucked.

No character development, so when characters get offed as easily as they do in this film you are repeatedly sitting there wondering:

"Is this the part where I care?"

Disney is just not good at storytelling anymore. Especially not science fiction.

Let's take some inventory of just what the hell Disney thinks its doing:

• Lor San Tekka - Dead (who is he? Is he important? He knows the Jedi? Aww fuck he's dead already)
• Han Solo - Dead (Star Wars' only remaining alpha male)
• Admiral Ackbar - Dead (really not your year, Ole Miss)
• Leia - should be dead from vacuum of space, but impossibly isn't
• Snoke - Dead - and it was so easy, you're like "screw you Rian Johnson".
• Captain Phasma - Dead - also so easy, at this point yeah, epic double birds to Kathleen Kennedy
• Admiral Holdo - Dead - her overt feminist triumphalism had me cheering and clapping when she died.  Thanks Disney?
• Luke Skywalker - Dead - main character, the seed of the chosen one - offed from the stupidest cause ever - Force Meditiation?
• Rose Tico - I'm kind of hoping she's dead. Her SJW character acting and voice was cartoonish and unbearable.

So what are we left with?

• Chewbacca
• the droid trio
• Emphysema Leia
• Finn (action figure now comes with  weird love triangle that everyone knows is going to end badly)
• Rey (the official Mary Sue of Disney SW who became a Jedi in what, 72 hours? Eff you Disney!)
• Kylo Ren (the perfect whiny brooding Millenial who had a cad for a Dad and a career woman mother.  Predictable results ensued.)
• Poe Dameron - I guess he's cocky and funny. Needs a lot more testosterone though.

The special effects and space battles where very good.

But it was effectively cancelled out by lame comedy relief that just didn't fit.

 

Where do I even start? Ok here we go (sorry if I forgot anything too important): Everything was incredible (acting, visual, dialogue, music, etc), except the plot writing fell horribly short. Patchy plot at best. It’s too bad that matters the most. Although Kylo Ren’s taking of supreme power made perfect sense, he’s in a vicious cycle between the light and dark side and there is little sense to him being devoted to either side (dark in this case). I loved how Snoke ripped him in the beginning though and he ditched the mask. They just killed Snoke, Never told us who he was, nothing. I like how they killed him (and his death was epic) but not cool to happen with us still knowing nothing about him. That was incredibly lazy plotwriting. I don’t understand what the force is anymore. I like some aspects of the way the concept of the force developed considering Luke learned more on the island, but it has left me more dumbfounded than ever. It’s incredibly stupid how this movie involved so many people using the force out of nowhere WITH NO TRAINING WHATSOEVER. Rey was good. Except her relationship with Kylo was confusing. I like who her parents were, the lack of genetics is cool, but once again, I hate the amount of power so many have with no TRAINING. Leia should have died at the beginning when she almost did. Her survival was pointless and her Mary Poppins-y use of the force kind of cheapened the movie. The death wouldn’t have been too satisfactory, but better than the weird way she survived. Poe was fun and the first scene was awesome. Yoda was flawless. Glad they used original Yoda instead of prequel Yoda. Ackbar’s death was literally nothing but Rian Johnson murdering a character for no reason. I don’t get how anyone can defend them for doing that. Porgs were pointless and annoying. Just there for stuffed animals for Christmas. At least ewoks actually had a point of existing. This was just annoying background noise. However, not a thing to get too stressed over though, bigger fish to fry. To a lesser extent, dark side BB8 was also just for toys, at least he actually did something though. Fin and Rose’s story was decent (I was less annoyed than most at that). But I was annoyed that Rose (or at least Fin if not her) didn’t die when it was perfect for them to do so. I don’t get how even kids can enjoy this movie, as the war plot was basically just 2.5 hours of boringly chasing each other through light speed. I love the lack of super weapons (death stars), those were getting annoying and repetitive, but the route they chose got old very fast. Some incredible action but that’s about it for younger fans of Star Wars. Also, on that note, definitely not a kid’s movie. I loved Luke, so good. Loved throwing the lightsaber away, everything, except his death. After Luke’s “arrival” at the old rebel base, there were so many ways in which that movie could have worked itself out in a good way, but they had reached a point at the very end in which it made no sense to kill Luke. The ending should have been Luke staring at the sunset with the music doing it’s classic transition into the credits. The movie still would have been flawed in this scenario, but at least it would set up the story for an INCREDIBLE episode 9. He shouldn’t have died by the time they got to where they were in that scene. If they wanted him dead in this movie, they should have done it in a far different way. Also, the resistance was completely fine with his death, even though they were lacking everything and just minutes ago he was their only hope. Made no sense. Also, I get the point of the kid at the end, but his use of the force was ever-so confusing and stupid, and that definitely shouldn’t have been the end of that movie. Overall, it’s sad that I have to view this movie from the perspective of Rian Johnson being selfish and trying too hard to make this movie different. I like how it was different, but it doesn’t have to be bad to be different. I will be excited once December 2019 rolls around for episode 9, but I can wait for then just fine. I actually look forward to the Han Solo movie even more in a way despite it’s clear potential to be by far the worst Star Wars movie. That is because Disney seems to be only able to make good movies when it’s not expected (see Rogue One). When there are expectations, they won’t be met. Sadly, Disney is manipulative enough to make me have to see it again to get it. I won’t COMPLETELY jump to conclusions yet. Still overall very confused as to what the heck this movie was. I really really really want to like it but I just can’t right now.

Saw it on Friday. Really enjoyed it. I think there are some genuine critiques (some characters really didn’t add much and were just kind of there for filler), but I also think some people have complained just for the sake of complaining. You can still enjoy these movies without them having to live up to what ESB brought to us. They don’t have to be philosophical masterpieces equivalent to The Godfather. I think that’s what some people ere expecting, and when you expect that from a movie you’re bound to be disappointed.

I went into the movie with the mindset that as long as I was entertained, I was happy. And I was fully entertained. I also really enjoyed the big questions the movie posed to its audience: are the light and dark side really so different from one another? Would the galaxy be better off without the Jedi and Sith/Dark Jedi in it? It wasn’t just mindless nonsense like the prequels were.

Overall I really liked it, and can’t wait for the next one.

I'm a casual Star Wars fan and I left the movie a bit disappointed. It all seemed a bit forced, especially the parts with Luke, no pun intended. I’m not sure if Mark Hamill’s heart just wasn’t in it, or if it was bad writing or what, but something was definitely off IMHO. It seemed like the story was burdened by having to pay homage to the original trilogy over and over, i.e. the cringe worthy CGI Yoda scene. Hopefully now that Luke and Han are gone the series can move on. I thought Rouge One was an excellent example of the sort of story telling that can be created from the Star Wars universe without getting bogged down by past events, story lines, and characters.

The reality is if you have a hard on for 4,5,6 and especially 4 you’ll never like any movies going forward.

I hoped to have more answers than new questions, but I felt the movie was good. The success is in the little details. A few forced humor parts weren’t needed, but didn’t ruin it. They just weren’t as well executed as some of them with Han and Luke or Chewie and Han from the originals.

A Star Wars UFR.

If not, who the hell is he gonna get for the job now that Rey told him to kiss her ass? Also, he’s gotta bump the benefits package... personally I’d recommend upping the non-diluted stock options and a vacation planet.

My wife was wondering why Kylo Ren's body is so wide. She shared the same sentiment as Rey asking to cover up with a towel or something. Overall we both loved it, every throne room scene was awesome. 

I liked the movie overall but it was too long.

I liked the "ticking clock" they set up with the cruiser slowly running out of fuel trying to escape the star destroyers and liked the mutiny that happened.

I liked the lesson Poe learned about not going on crazy missions which will result in a bunch of death.

I loved Luke almost killing Kylo Ren in his sleep and the dual perspectives of the two on the event.

I loved the Kylo Ren and Rey force connection conversations.

I loved when Snoke was on screen in all the throne room scenes but absolutely hated how we never found out who the hell he is and where he came from. (Friend brought up the insane theory that maybe he's so powerful with the dark side he can reform himself which is why his head was partially split open and jaw all messed up.. so he's still alive)

I hated the casino side mission that ended in failure and betrayal anyways.

I hated Luke dying through....overuse of the force or something?? Choosing to?

I loved seeing and hearing original puppet Yoda, but very much disliked the idea that in death he could make lightning strike down from the sky.

I hated BB-8 saving the day with the AT-ST. Same problem I had with Rogue One. If droids are such great assets in fighting why not use them instead of people.

I thought Carrie Fisher was a much better actor in this one than Force Awakens though I hated Leia's force flying through space to save her own life.

I didn't hate all the comedy but I hated when the comedy happened during either serious moments or badass moments. 

I was disappointed for the first time in a main Star Wars movie no real lightsaber duel unless you count Luke vs Rey with sticks or Luke and Kylo's lightsabers touching in the flashback.

• I thought much of the writing was sharper (in terms of banter) than it's been in the past few, including the humor, which got plenty of laughs.
• Mark Hamill stole the show in many ways (minus the cringeworthy Matrix moment near the end)-- wise decision to have the one guy in the entire franchise who drinks the Jedi Kool-Aid right from the start begin to question the entire enterprise.
• Liked the "Rashomon" treatment of Luke vs. Kylo told separately from different perspectives
• I missed most plot developments when Daisy Ridley is on screen, because I'm too smitten with her to pay attention. I'll have to re-watch.
• So, so glad they did not have Rey end up being so-and-so's child/sibling/daughter-in-law whatever. She's nobody, from nowhere. Good. Finally.
• Like many others, could have done without "Super Leia"-- oy, that was rough. And they didn't really sell a rationale for stopping Finn from his kamikaze run into the battering ram. But those were relatively trivial... it was good, fun, popcorn-munching Hollywood moviemaking.
• I'd slot this one into the rankings this way:

1. Empire

2. Star Wars (no, I'm not calling it ANH, get the f out of here)

(significant gap)

3. Rogue One

4. Return of the Jedi

(gap)

5. Force Awakens

6. Last Jedi

(gigantic, unbridgeable gulf)

7-9. all that other crap that shall remain nameless 

My main problem is Disney is trying to be to politically correct in today's society. Meaningless characters in the film to just be in the film, dumb fuzzy animals everywhere seems like a huge cash grab. They made the main story line since Rey was introduced meaningless w her parents. Leia's part was hard to watch as she has no place in the film anymore. There really was no storyline except Kylo and Rey having there moments.

Would of been better if Rey went to the Darkside and Luke became relevant again. Or Luke transfers over to the Darkside.

To much joking around and not enough substance. I felt very unfulfilled when I left the theatre.

As a older guy on the board here it seems like once they transitioned away from the meat and potatoes of the story and went to all these sub plots they have kinda ruined it. I do think Luke is NOT dead yet. Seeing as Carrie Fisher passed away they have to bring him back in some capacity.

I could write a dissertation (quick summary: I thought the latest movie was just OK), but one thing that confused me is how good every somewhat-main rebel/resistance character is at everything.

Take for example Finn and Rose -- wasn't one a janitor stormtrooper and the other a mechanic? Yet Finn is a) a skilled pilot, b) a great hand-to-hand combat guy (defeated Captain Phasma with no real problem and c) good with a gun. Rose is introduced as a kind of nerdy, back-of-the-ship run of the mill worker, yet she also is mean with a blaster *and* is a great pilot (good enough to knock Finn of course, when Finn tries to blow up the battering ram)."

Rey, is of course, the chosen one -- no training needed for her. She can lift dozens of boulders, fight with the best of them with lightsabers, act as deadeye gunner, etc.

And BB8 is not just an excellent mechanic/fixer of broken things, but it can steal a starship and operate a AT-ST to crush all before him.

Just seems like there is no need for growth -- everyone is just a super-duper James Bond level space warrior.