Star Wars: The Last Jedi 2017

I liked a lot about the film, especially the signature themes of good vs evil, the human complexity and struggles of picking a side. The Rey and Kylo against Snoke scene was one of my favorites. The Rey actress was great once more and it was refreshing to see the franchise embrace the idea of a strong woman at its core, even though it wasn't without flaws, like the fact that the final battle involved two men.

As a vegan, I also liked the animal rights moments, whether they were as deep as I see them or not. Chewie reconsidering eating an animal when facing one of their kind? The liberation of a horse-like animal?

As for the worse parts, a lot of the plot was also cliche and predictable through and through, with a ton of stupidity on the part of the decision-makers. Okay, I could take one "hero going against the leader" moment, but why follow the same pattern later in the film? Also, what's with Kylo being rather smart first, then being so shallow when attacking the mine? Is this the new all-powerful leader of the empire? Personally, I felt that the film should have ended shortly after the Rey and Kylo confrontation, as opposed to replaying itself with slight tweaks.

I liked a lot about the film, especially the signature themes of good vs evil, the human complexity and struggles of picking a side. The Rey and Kylo against Snoke scene was one of my favorites. The Rey actress was great once more and it was refreshing to see the franchise embrace the idea of a strong woman at its core, even though it wasn't without flaws, like the fact that the final battle involved two men.

As a vegan, I also liked the animal rights moments, whether they were as deep as I see them or not. Chewie reconsidering eating an animal when facing one of their kind? The liberation of a horse-like animal?

As for the worse parts, a lot of the plot was also cliche and predictable through and through, with a ton of stupidity on the part of the decision-makers. Okay, I could take one "hero going against the leader" moment, but why follow the same pattern later in the film? Also, what's with Kylo being rather smart first, then being so shallow when attacking the mine? Is this the new all-powerful leader of the empire? Personally, I felt that the film should have ended shortly after the Rey and Kylo confrontation, as opposed to replaying itself with slight tweaks.

TLJ is, thankfully, a much better film than TFA, although that in itself isn't much of an achievement, given how awful TFA was. The brilliant review from @andrewbloom is virtually spot-on, but there were a few element to TLJ that let down an otherwise generally good return to form for a SW film.
Firstly, the whole scene where Leia Force-pulled herself back from the oblivion of space, having been on a command bridge that was totally obliterated by the First Order, leaving no survivors apart from (conveniently) her, was just insulting and ridiculous. Force-strong or not, she would almost certainly have been killed instantly, and if not, so severely injured that she wouldn't be in a strong enough state to suddenly call upon Force powers that she has apparently never used before, that would take a great deal of focus and energy, in order to save herself. Seeing her body floating away was a really strong, powerful moment that would have done true justice to both Leia and the then-recently-and-tragically deceased Carrie Fisher; an honourable hero's death as a freedom fighter. Instead, the whole scene is shattered by a ridiculous miraculous recovery for just long enough to get back to the ship.
Secondly, the humorous moments (esp Dameron toying with Hux) were just over-cooked and corny. They don't detract too much from the film overall, and I'm all for injecting some humour into what is otherwise a dark and sombre film (aka TESB), but what was there was just cheap and tacky.
Thirdly, everything about Snoke makes no sense (without any enlightenment from subsequent films/TV shows). Who/what is he, other than the Supreme leader of The First Order (again something about which we have learned little, from either TFA or TLJ). Where did he come from? For such an insightful, devious, powerful Force user, how could he not have sensed Ren's lightsaber deception when he was already probing his mind? Although that last point could be explained away by him being focused on Rey, but it just came across as to easy and convenient a way to dispose of such a powerful antagonist.
Fourthly, Disney again ruined what would have been a powerful scene by not having Finn (who was much less annoying than in TFA, but still an irritating, dumb grunt obsessed with "getting the girl") complete his suicide mission, and thus dying a hero (and killing off their weakest and most unlikable protagonist). Instead, there is - again - a silly and pointless love story thrown in between him and Rose that culminates in her senseless and meaningless death. This in no way added to the plot or the film as a whole; precisely the opposite, in fact. It is just another example of weak direction from Disney to try and add in the schmaltz that Americans seem to need to have in every action film that they produce.

I'm old enough to proudly state that I saw the original 'Star Wars' movie six times when it opened in theaters when I was 13 years old. I also saw 'The Empire Strikes Back' and 'Return of the Jedi' during their original runs. I remember the excitement of seeing them being pretty incredible. 'Star Wars' was especially big.

Even as I grew through my teenage years with the series, I didn't think of it any differently than other franchises like 'Indiana Jones' or 'Alien'. I don't consider myself a "fanboy" even though I have been with 'Star Wars' since the beginning and I certainly don't think they should get some kind of special pass because they are Star Wars movies. Nostalgia didn't cloud my lack of enthusiasm for say...'Kingdom of the Crystal Skull', so it's gloves-off if necessary for 'The Last Jedi', no matter how much I like the originals.

I was just okay with the prequels. Actually, I liked them more when I saw them the first time in the theaters. 'The Force Awakens' and 'Rogue One' scored high with me when I saw them too, and they've held up with me.

However, 'The Last Jedi' is the first of the series that has left me cold after my initial viewing. The whole thing seems like a jumbled mess of unneccesary characters and scenes. It feels a lot like a TV show that has run its course and is limping along based solely on past glories (or ad sales). The Star Wars series has always been about adventure, comraderie and exploring new worlds. 'The Last Jedi' tries but fails to extend that sense of wonder. It's full of forced attempts at humor, pointless or odd story beats (casino, Rose & Finn, Vice Admiral Holdo), and a drawn out finale.

I really think a fresh approach was a good idea and I like when characters do unexpected things. I also thought the film looked great and the sound was amazing. But overall, the clumsy attempts at humor and disjointed story had me squirming in my seat. I really couldn't wait for it to end.

"This is not going to go the way you think"

That line right there basically sums it all. When you predicted everything that's going to happen, then suddenly get the carpet pulled underneath at the last minute. You either like or dislike Rian Johnson choices, but at least it's going in a new direction and not another remake.

As Kylo Ren put it: "Let the past die"

What I love about 'The Last Jedi' is how it doesn't care what you think about 'Star Wars. While not insulting you as the audience. Taking fan theories or the mystery 'Force Awakens' stet up, and shut it down completely. Instead, what we get is a bold message about are our places and where to find hope.

Rian Johnson absolutely kills it with his direction. Perfectly framed shots and the magnificent cinematography, made the overall experience something to remember for a long, long time. Even as I'm writing this, some of the imagery has implanted into my mind. Beautiful, yet menacing with the dark side creeping in.

Performance and characters all around are great. Oscar Isaac character (Poe) has such a fantastic character arc in this movie, that even he learns from his cocky attitude or quick thinking from deadly situations.

Both Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver are the main dynamics of the film. The scenes with Rey and Kylo are the most captivating elements of the story. A balance of light and darkness shown in their characters. Is Kylo Ren emo? yeah, if you like. Compelling villain? YES. You see good in him from Rey's point of view, but also darkness from Luke's.

This is the best I've seen from Mark Hamill. You'd think he will portray an old mentor in the shadow of Alec Guinness and Yoda. However, that isn't the case. You see Skywalker has given up on the force and wants nothing from it. Becoming a shadow of himself. Heck, he barley trains Rey, and that alone doesn't matter. Seeing him on screen gave me on all happinesses in the world.

Sound design, costumes, visual effects, and the lightsaber fights are all top notch. The biggest issue I've heard from people is the casino scene which didn't bother me. The film itself didn't drag, for me. As the runtime feels justified for something like this.

Now for problems: Some CGI scenes looked a bit unfinished, which is mostly green screen backgrounds. Other than that, the effects look pretty great.

I didn't buy the "love triangle", with Finn (John Boyega) and Rose (Kelly Marie Tran). Even Finn was just as surprised as me when this was suppose to be a thing. I rather see a relationship with Poe and Finn, than Rose. Or just be friends.

While I praise the film for taking bold choices, but it never fully goes for it. A lot of fake outs deaths that afterwards made me wish it actually happened.

It's tonal inconsistency. One minute it's funny, then the next it's dead serious. The humor isn't as awful as people have said. Unfortunately, it doesn't help that characters are jammed packed and didn't need to be there. And Captain Phasma is still the most pointless character ever.

Overall rating: Despite it's flaws, the force is strong with this one.

RIP Carrie Fisher, Our Princess

Luke Skywalker takes center stage, returning to the screen (and the rebellion) after what seems like a lengthy hibernation in his family saga's long-awaited eighth episode. Of course, it's a creative wonderland, as all Star Wars movies are. Loaded with brilliant new settings, refreshing spins on old ones, wild unseen alien races and explosive action scenes, it retains its roots in an artistic sense. One particular scene, a lightsaber melee in Snoke's deep crimson throne room, sticks with me as one of the best-directed fights in the series.

But there's much more to this picture than mere aesthetics. The Last Jedi constantly defies expectation, seemingly delighting in the chance to throw passionate fans off the scent. From character actions to fake-out non-revelations to the plot's relatively small scale, none of it is quite what I expected. More than once, I caught myself holding my breath, ready to be let down by a decision that seemed inevitable, and each time the film bucked me in a direction I hadn't considered. Sometimes that works to its benefit and sometimes it doesn't. It's a slower, more contemplative take on the franchise, particularly in the first act, which leads to a longer running time (longest of the entire series) without feeling too strung out or overly indulgent.

Unlike The Force Awakens, Episode VIII uses its front-and-center returning cast to enrich and enhance the newer faces. Where Han Solo thoroughly dominated the screen, Luke and Leia use two very different methods to help Rey and Poe grow into heroes worthy of taking the spotlight. That's of crucial importance, and that it's missing from Finn's stalled character arc is a problem. Kylo Ren sees significant growth, too, successfully navigating a very delicate balancing act as his interactions with Rey, his light-side counterpart, gradually unfold.

Not every gamble pays off, and it's hardly a film without faults, but I appreciate how often it was able to surprise me and its ability to wrangle so many threads together into a cohesive narrative. My first impressions have it a hair above the preceding episode, and on equal footing with Return of the Jedi.

Cinematography: 7/10 | Performances: 6/10 | Story : 3/10
Good cinematography and good acting can not make up for a film with such horrendous and dishonest writing and storytelling. Even if taken alone, rather than as the second installment in a soft reboot (cash-in) trilogy, the writing is typical of pretentious, pseudointellectual "controversy bait" by a severely mediocre intellect who has been told that they are clever, but merely aims to make as big of a mess as possible.

The problem here is that the writer(s) (I don't for one minute believe that this didn't have input from multiple people, unofficially, namely KK) neither understands the concept of subversion, nor the source material which they are trying to subvert, and ends up making a tonally disjointed film that, laughably, for anyone with at least two decades behind them, presents itself as serious cinema, but with character actions that make no sense, and are merely propelled by the will of the script to do whatever creates the most conflict or lukewarm goofiness in any given moment. To my consternation and frustration, adults are easily fooled by actors playing scenes dramatically, even when their actions are non sequitorial, and even directly contradict previous actions or established world building constants, or events from previous scenes in the same film! They see it and belive it, even if it makes no sense.

This film is composed almost entirely of these moments, even directly conflicting with the previous film in the saga in what can only be interpreted as a spiteful act of stubborn sabotage of characters and plot points. It's bewildering from a meta standpoint why a director would do this, unless of course the director's primary goal was to get people to argue about it. And the best way to get people to argue endlessly about something is to write it so it can't be rationally juxtaposed, due to it not making sense in the first place.

This is where we are with modern "serious" film and TV shows, at the end of this decade. This type of engineered conflict is the hallmark of mediocre minds that have no real story to tell, instead concocting endless petty squabbling.

An honest (and legitimate) way of getting people to engage in discussions (meaningful even!) is to present a challenging moral quandary, perhaps even one that aims to challenge, honestly, and for extropian goals, an existing social moor (pick an episode of Star Trek TOS, TNG, or DS9); or it could even be as self contained as pitting one character's motivations against another (Fletcher Christian vs. Captain Blithe, even Thanos vs the Avengers for a surprisingly compelling-- if intellectually one-sided --contemporary conflict from the same parent company).

TLJ does none of this. What it does do is virtue signal and pander, with no intention to create a meaningful discussion to create change. They mention war profiteering and animal abuse, yet their idea of "getting back" is spur of the moment temporary chaos and property damage. It's not even strategically the same as a protest, the goal of which is to raise awareness by disrupting the status quo. I'm all for destroying Dick Cheyney's house, but that isn't going to bring the public's attention to the fact that he's a war profiteer.

It all amounts to empty spectacle and impotent pandering, not to mention derailing the (granted, preposterous) main slow chase main plot with yet more ludicrously inconvenient/convenient plot contrivances and goofy alien moments.

Speaking of aliens... where the hell are the aliens in the real chacters in the world? Besides Chewie, who functions as Rey's chauffeur, you'd think the aliens in this film were meant to be caricatures for the sycophantic elite, instead of a large part of the rebellion and the galaxy at large. More evidence of careles mishandling of a franchise by an egoist who, by all accounts, hates Star Wars and has no care for anything that he himself didn't create.

But what about the rest of the characters? Glib charm, plank of wood, conflict post, stupid angery boi, platitude spouter, and non entity. That's it. There are no real chacters in this film. After TFA I don't really care about any of them, but I do feel that John Boyega really got the worst of the character disservice of JJ's characters, as he gets to do little more than chase after Rey whilst being stuck with a character most unfortunate (poor Kelly).

Mark Hamil, of course is the single person most wronged by the entire Disney malfeasance, and by RJ in particular. It was spiteful and incompetent character assassination, but even if one were to cast Luke in a bad light, it should be through character progression, meaningful events, hell, not that Disney would have gotten it right, but severe mental illness would have been a much better, and tragic explanation for Luke doing fuck all for no reason. Without knowing RJ's game of pretentious little boy wowzers plotting (see that tripe, Looper) beforehand, I was actually anticipating honery, anti-establishment, even somewhat nihilistic old Luke.... but you have to actually tell that story.

And here we come to the core issue with the type of storytelling common to both RJ and JJ: "Postmodernist Filmmaking"

What the fuck is that? Well, in filmmaking (which is its own term with its own specific meaning) it boils down to this:

Director: I want this stock scene, with these stock emotions, to elicit stock response in audience, BUT, I don't actually know how to write, or care about how stories are written, so I'm going to make this scene happen without actually earning it, narritively.

• Leia passing Chewie without a word to hug Rey

• Hux becoming a buffoon between 7 and 8

• Rey's ability to ad hoc do anything the plot decides, at will

• The entire, undxplaied setup for TFA, where all of the accomplishments of the heroes have been reset to zero just to force a retread of classic character moments and imagery (an extra kind of theft of ideas, due to corporate greed and unwillingness to take a risk on real creativity)

• Holdo acting like a sleeper agent (or the most incompetent and abstented general-in-an-evening-gown ever) up until the very end where...

• She performs a maneuver that destroys the whole dynamic of space battles, with an extra topping of forced character moment due to her needlessly sacrificing herself (instead of using a droid autopilot), as some kind of chacter aggrandisement (and redemption arc? It's hard to know how the script expects us to feel given the schizophrenic way Holdo's scenes play out, as if they are composed of conflicting scenes from separate and incompatible drafts of the script)

What is a true tragedy is what could have been. There are good stories that could have been told, and many of them were already written. Even satisfying things could have been done with the paper thin and silly rip off of A New Hope's characters, but they opted to go with a cheap copy with Mr. Imitation himself, JJ Abrams, and then continue a reboot trilogy with no outline, and an act of inter-saga and intra-saga sabotage is what resulted, and it led to the bankrupt default of the mess that was The Rise Of Skywalker's "Star Wars in a blender" story.

This is art by corporate committee.

I put off watching this one for so damn long, but now it was time to face Disneys latest...well...I suppose it can be called a Star Wars movie. It had the logo and the music at least...

After two and a half hours of anti-white and anti-male feminist propaganda, I would like to give out some thanks...

First of all, I would like to thank Rian Johnson for writing and directing the biggest piece of garbage that has ever graced the silver screen.
Not only did you manage to ruin the biggest hero in the franchise, you also managed to turn the whole franchise into a feminists wet dream.

Second, I would like to thank Disney for ruining one of the biggest science fiction franchises. We certainly have enough of those, haven't we?

Third, and last, I would like to thank and congratulate Kathleen Kennedy. You finally did it. You managed to take everything that was great about Star Wars, and flush it down the toilet. You certainly changed the franchise in your own image...badly written feminist garbage.

To be honest, I don't mind strong female characters, nor do I really mind that the only white males in the movie were bad guys IF it suits the story, BUT when the story is written very poorly in the first place, and then the characters are written in and portrayed the way they are just to please a certain demographic of man and white hating feminists and SJWs, it really makes me question what the hell is going on at Disney.

I'm not going to give Disney any more of my money until they kick both Kennedy and Johnson to the kerb and give Star Wars the writers and directors the franchise deserves.

Don't bother with this shit unless you have to...certainly not if you have to pay for it.

continues right where TFA left off, starts strong, albeit with some serious issues :
- bomb drops in space?
- imaginary danger when escape by ftl is possible at any time
- snoke in person is a joke
- introduces supporting characters only to throw them to the wolves, including snoke (basically begs for a prequel...)
- leia has superpowers now too... hell even better than a jedi.
completely runs off the rails after the 40min mark, basically nothing happening for the next 55mins(!)...
- except the kylo-rey discussions & yoda appearance
after we're sort off back in action, the issues continue...
- giving away cloaking info without ever obtaining said info...
- so mass destruction by lightspeed weaponization was possible all along? (no matter that in TFA the falcon did a lightspeed jump out of a cargobay without harming those in the bay, behind the drive) if lightspeed causes this much destruction, why the hell did sidius need a death star then? or the snoke a death planet??
- miraculously going faster than finn even though he goes as fast as possible & saving him... oh an no one fires on them, come on...
- bringing the lucky cubes even though he's just a projection...
- oh and why was there ever a need for jedi to teach & have apprentices? rey doesn't need to learn a thing, she can do it all without any effort.
seriously this film is rubbish unless it's watched back to back with TFA, then it's almost good - if you can forget about the glaring issues & the whole hour where almost nothing of consequence happens

after rogue one this is an utter disappointment

Time to nail my colours to the mast here. I am not a huge fan of Star Wars, so I always go into these movies with no expectations either way.

I felt the Force Awakens was just Star Wars a New Hope remade almost beat for beat and this film takes the story and the way the conflict and characters are portrayed in a different direction. It’s a direction I can see a lot of people not liking but considering it is 2017 and not 1977 everything has to move with the times. Why not Star Wars?

Clearly there is a sense of the passing of the guard about the proceedings with old favourites still on display but the newer, younger, generation is moving in. Stepping forward most decidedly is Daisy Ridley who has a captivating screen presence and assuredly has a big screen future. John Boyega another of the new generation is not give as much screen time, which seems a waste, as he is equally as charismatic but due to the story’s structure the way the threads are woven some characters were always going to be slightly pushed to side. This is not to say that the contributions are light or inconsequential but certainly they aren’t the centre of attention. In The Last Jedi Oscar Issac seems to take the lead male role playing hot-headed Poe and once more the new Star Wars movies have hit the payload. Another charismatic and solid actor.

It would appear the makers have tried to drag the Star Wars formulae into the 21st century meaning that all genders and social demographics (amongst human characters at least) are given equal footing, screen-time and a real place in the imaginary universe they occupy.

The mercurial Adam Driver now occupies the space once occupied by the Green Cross Code Man and James Earl Jones and the film and story is no worse for that. Unlike his ‘inspiration’ in the story he is even given some motivation and some reason for being as evil as he is. He is even conflicted. Despite what many reviewers have since said I felt this wasn’t as deep as made out but it at least it stopped Kylo Ren being a one-dimensional baddy whose motivation was in the Steven Segal mode of ‘you’re evil’.

Yes, there are missteps in the film, the peripheral creatures are odd and distracting and a bit too cutesy and it probably is a tad too long, but one must remember what this film is, where it came from and what it is meant to be. It’s a space-war, adventure romp, in the style of the 1950s film serials. Don’t take it too seriously, don’t hark back to your past as a child and go with the changes, the sense of fun, which is even poking the uber-fans a bit, and just get lost in the adventure.

Who was Snoke, who are Rey’s parents? Is it important? So important it ruins your enjoyment? Not for me. Personally, I would have preferred a bit less gurning from some of the leads and a tiny bit more logic applied to some of the tense situations and perhaps the Force is becoming so all powerful and consuming does anyone really need spacecraft and weapons anymore, but it is all minor, nit picking quibbles.

I don’t get the backlash about the humour on display and I don’t understand the hate about love being shown by the Rebellion. Benicio Del Toro’s ‘DJ’ specifically made the point about goodies and baddies in the film and Boyega’s Finn was unheroic at one stage. I am hoping DJ shows up again, he was really interesting and refreshing. Couple this with Oscar Isaac’s Poe Dameron being heroic to a fault, hot-headed, unthinking and evening selfishly getting people killed and you have a fair attempt at dark and light and dare I say it again but nuance. Trying to get people to think beyond bang, flash, bang are all good in my book.

The idea must have been to stop making the dividing line black and white and have some grey. to my mind this has been done very successfully without showing any sympathy for the First Order, and we all know who they really are don’t we?

The Last Jedi might disappoint many fans, but these will just be the ones that want to see The Empire Strikes Back et al remade. Moving forward, changing and embracing that change is the way to go, sometimes this will backfire or not work correctly but how the heck are we going to make new films with interesting ideas to entertain millions if we did not push forward with new ideas and takes on themes? Makes sense to me, evidently not to others.

Summing up Star Wars: The Last Jedi is fun, exciting romp with explosions, fighting, humour and moves the story forward to the next instalment.

I would recommend it.

Oh and on a final note, apparently Disney are paying people to say good things about this Star Wars instalment so if they can DM me I’ll let them know my bank details for the big payment.

I love this movie more and more each time I watch it. I admit I was initially uncomfortable on my first viewing with how Luke was written, but that's what has made me love what Rian Johnson has done even more. He's using the characters in the movie to powerfully remind us how we build up people and things in our own minds (our "legends") and then are often disappointed when me meet them in person and they aren't everything we imagined them to be.

He essentially made Rey a stand-in for me, the lifelong Star Wars fan. I've been waiting 30 years since Return of the Jedi to meet Luke Skywalker again--I've built him up so much in my mind (and I suspect many others of my generation did as well) that if he didn't walk out with a laser sword and face down--and beat--the entire First Order in this movie, then I would have been disappointed. That's what I WANTED to see, I'm not ashamed to admit it. Rey also wanted Luke to come out and be the legend she'd heard about, so when he didn't we were BOTH disappointed.

That's why, when I watched it a second time and I made peace with where Luke was, the story really started growing on me. "The Last Jedi" isn't and never was going to be Luke's hero story, so if not that--how does Luke best serve the hero journey for Rey? Once I finally was able to get past saying in my own mind, "Luke Skywalker would NEVER do [fill in the blank]!" then I noticed a nuanced and thought-out story with very deep feelings embedded inside and was actually quite moved emotionally. It didn't happen on the initial viewing, but it's no longer too much of a stretch for me to believe that the same Luke who flew against the Death Star, and stood up to the Emperor and Darth Vader could also believe that because of his actions regarding his nephew, he may have left the Galaxy in worse shape by unleashing Kylo Ren. I LOVED LOVED LOVED Mark Hamill's performance and do feel that what he gave us on screen was everything I had waited decades to see. And even on first viewing, I was at peace with Luke's fate (much more so than I was with Han's fate the first time I saw "The Force Awakens")

I could go on defending, point by point, a bunch of things that fans have complained about and explain why they didn't bother me, but that won't change anyone's opinion. I don't have an issue with anyone who didn't like "The Last Jedi" and I won't argue that anyone should. However, I strongly disagree with those who say Johnson "ruined the franchise." He did not and I think this is a fine addition to the Skywalker story. I agree the movie does have some questionable plot moments--though the novelization of the movie by Jason Fry fills in a few of those apparent holes in the plot.

I have no problem putting "The Last Jedi" as my 2nd favorite in the franchise (behind "Empire Strikes Back").

I liked this movie.

I'm not a huge fan of star wars so most of the nit picking stuff I did not care to do because I didn't mind it. The casino scenes that everyone didn't like I don't mind at all, along with some other scenes that I'm neutral on but can't remember at the time what they were.

Most of the comedy in the movie sucked. Wasn't funny and just took me out of the movie, and the stakes of the film. There were some jokes that we're fine or happened to aid the movie, like the one in the very beginning. Other than that it was just bad and cringe worthy.

All of the actors and actresses did a good job of portraying their characters. A few people I read said they have a problem with how Luke was portrayed but I don't see what was wrong. I know Disney (or JJ Abrams) said that Kylo Ren has a 3 movie story arc but I feel like he was still a bitch. He was a bigger bitch in The Force Awakens but he's still a bitch in this movie. Phasma was barely used in TFA and she was barely used in this movie, what a waste. I liked Snoke as the antagonist (along with Kylo) but I wish we had more information on his backstory and how he Rose to power and stuff like that. If that is explained in some random ass book somewhere let me know. I probably won't read it but yeah.

Overall I thought it was a fun time. Like I said I'm not really a fan of Star Wars in general so when I seen this movie it was a good time and didn't "divide" me like it did to a lot of other people / fans. Still going to watch the 9th one and probably Solo as well. Good time.

8/10

It’s without a doubt the most interesting Star Wars film conceptually. Most of these films are aiming to be pure fastfood, so it’s nice to see an auteur come in and try to do something that has layers, broad ideas and subtext, though one could question what the point of that is when the general takeaway of the average, illiterate film goer seems to be to simply forget about the past. Now, Rian Johnson makes some obvious mistakes with this film. Yes, his insistence on subverting the viewer’s expectations left and right lead to some unsatisfying moments, but there are also more than a few of those moments that I’m fine with. He’s also never been that great with the balancing of tone, and some of the comedy here is so silly (not to mention just poorly executed) that it conflicts with the darker, more dramatic stuff it’s trying to do simultaneously. I like the arcs that he gives to the previously established characters (yes, including Luke, I thought this was a great direction for the character), but the new characters don’t leave as much of an impression, or they’re just given really weird conclusions (Rose’s final speech is a bit cringe). There are some brilliant visual moments, but there are also lots of scenes that don’t pop, particularly the ones set inside spaceships. I think Star Wars films require a bit more flash than just bland grey and white backgrounds. He does bring it occasionally, such as during the action scenes, and all of those are excellent if you ask me. Sure, a lot has been written about the supposed bad choreography during the Kylo and Rey team up fight, but it’s the kind of stuff I don’t notice because there’s a lot going on visually and the shots are so well composed. Furthermore, I love the opening scene and climax, truly fantastic sequences. However, I’m not as much a fan of the Canto Bight and Benicio Del Toro subplot, that never went to an interesting place. In fact, you could take that stuff out and you wouldn’t lose much. All in all, kinda saved by the acting, main character arcs, bigger ideas and decent filmmaking for me, but simultaneously far from great. That being said, the amount of hate directed at people like Rian Johnson and Kelly Marie Tran because of this film is downright embarrassing, Star Wars should truly be ashamed of its toxic fanbase of emotionally immature manchildren. In that regard I’m kinda glad that we have a filmmaker at the helm here who’s willing to be as creatively bold as this ended up being, even with it being as imperfect as it is.

6/10