JulianneAlice

@jared looking at your list it seems to me that you have missed or misunderstood some things but most importantly non linear time, from your comment

Poor handling of the major plot points Looking through time seems to undermine the fact that the aliens need help. Why did one have to die if they could see the future? Why did only one die when they were right next to each other?

This is what I took from it baring in mind I've only seen it once;

Giving humanity the ability to experience time non linearly is the absolute key to humans being able to help the aliens and doesn't undermine anything. It's that ability that shows us 'now' what we need to do to help them in 3000 years so that we can actually do it in the first place. They help us to help them by showing us what we do to help them. Its a paradox just like when Louise experiences talking to the Chinese General and then uses that information to get him to stand down. The aliens teach Louise the ability, or at least gives her everything she needs to learn (the information dump on the wall) which she gives in detail to the world through her book years later.

Why did Abbot (or Costello?) have to die? Because he did die. It happened. You seem to be confusing experiencing time non linearly with something analogous to time travel in that you can change the future. You can't and that conceit is pervasive through the film. He died because he did, just like Hannah. Knowing it can't change it. Why did only one die? Bad luck. How does someone survive anything from a car accident to an earthquake when the person next to them doesn't.

In terms of 'seeing the future' it doesn't make you omnipotent and all knowing. Non linear time puts in to question the notion of 'now' and our path is strewn with paradox particularly when 'now' is a moment that you are experiencing another point in time. You can't change the future but a paradox can be the cause what does happen for example the Chinese General

The alien who survived the blast was only aware of the event to come moments before it happened and knocked on the wall in an attempt to alert what was about to happen and then did a dump of knowledge before knocking them down the shaft and containing the blast. That alien didn't necessarily see the explosion as an event, he could have experienced a moment far ahead of that and it was the fact that the other alien died in the explosion is where he got the knowledge of the event. That is assuming the one that knocked is the one that survived, it could easily have been the one that died that knocked who potentially has always known that he died then. Just like Louise with Hannah. Paradox.

In terms of other things.

The 'useless love interest' was key to the understanding of everything for both Louise and the audience. They have 'no chemistry' because they aren't a love interest in the story and at no point linearly are they portrayed as one. It's not until well after the events of the aliens leaving does anything spark between them. Portraying them that way also keeps the reveal that he is the husband/father. For me the "Lets make a baby" line rings completely true, but I have children.

Why Ian couldn't view time like that? Louise is a linguist and as such grasping a more concise, though limited understanding. By the time the aliens leave she is only just wrapping her head around it. We are also shown that in Ians work he is still focusing heavily on equations. The interactions we see with Ian and the aliens, Ian is essentially Louise's prop i.e. "Ian walks"

Ok that's way more on that than I thought I was going to write and proof reading paradox discussions tends to make you go in circles so I won't and hope it makes sense. It wasn't intended as condescending so I hope it didn't come across that way.

Anyway, it's just a difference of opinion/interpretation.

I really enjoyed the film and it's sparked a lot of interesting discussions in my circles both positive and negative. One of my friends that I thought would absolutely love it fell asleep.

Maybe what I have written is exactly how you saw everything too but still didn't like it, I don't know.

@jordyep Agreed on the "woke" part. The same sex relationship didn't feel forced at all, it was well done and just normalized, just like you can see a lot of couples like this in real life. The whole "kiss" discussion leading up to the release was completely overblown, if was barely a peck.

Oh and my 8 years old didn't even register the same sex marriage, for him it was just two adults in love I guess.

@dannyland Chewie is the last character that ties the ”old” with the upcoming ”new”. And after reading some articles I agree, killing Leia's character in this one would be the easiest, albeit a poor choice.
What was awful? Let's see if I can compile a shortlist.
Useless characters: Phasma (why even bother?), Del Toro's ”hacker”, porgs (yes, I am not a fan of those).
Downplay of Rey's whole motivation in TFA (I mean seriously, even if Kylo's explanation was true, it was delivered in such a horrible way). Also first rule of movies: show, don't tell.
Snoke? The fuck happened there? Played like a child by two angsty teens. No back story, no forward story — introduced a a massive, powerful character, overshadowing Kylo and Hux just to have him killed via a cheap force trick. This just doesn't sit right with me.
Speaking of Hux — I felt like I was watching a kid from '80s sitcom, to be honest. The scene with Snoke scolding Hux while being a hologram? It was right from ”That '70s show”. I know it was to re-establish the ability to use force on long distances just to ease the disbelief later on, but why? Why?
Also Kylo's ”rise” to power was so obvious it was painful.
And while we're at it — I loved Kylo in TFA: pissed off kid with so much power to abuse, and so much conflicting thoughts. In TLJ he turns into this whiny spoiled emo brat Vader-wannabe. Even Snoke acknowledges it when he tells him to take his stupid mask off.
Also apparently you can transfer matter through space and time via force (Kylo's wet glove).
Jedi ghost can now manipulate real weather all of a sudden. And yeah, I know TFA intruduced the ability to stop laser shots midair, but this is just so ex machina thing.
Lack of comminication breeds conflict — just look at the whole Poe-Holdo situation. A simple explanation would release the tension and fix the problem, but no, we need ”conflict” between allies to... Exactly what?
The whole casino thing, such a wasted time. I know what the wanted to achieve, but it just didn't work for me. That whole story arc around the ”hacker” was such a waste of time.
And don't even get me started on the whole Star Wars School of Planning Attacks. ”We are overwhelemed, we got only buckets with skis (why?), let's attack these giant machines head on.”

@jokes-senpai Well, it was a lost cause after the Leia scene, so you're right.

@nmahoney416
>started acting like a dick

Understatement of the year

@vishal8492 completely agreed, the only thing that caught me unexpected was the part2 of that podcast, still this was better than the first episode, hopefully there's some stronger ones down the line

@bejot I feel like they missed a great opportunity to end Leia's story before the ridiculous force thing happens. Although, actually killing her in her final film might have been in poor taste. Chewie isn't going to die anytime soon. They just put another giant sized man in the wookie costume and they're good to go. Besides that Leia scene though, what else was awful exactly?