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A JD Review: Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) · 7:41pm Dec 29th, 2017
Oh, boy. I'm gonna piss off some people with this.
So, Star Wars Episode 8 just recently dropped in theaters, and I finally went out to see it with my family just a couple days ago. Honestly, I've never been more conflicted over a Star Wars film. Even with the prequels I knew whether or not they were good or bad films, but with this... I just don't understand. Like always, I'll start off with a non-spoiler review then get into the spoilers section, because there is a LOT to talk about.
Let's get into it.
NON-SPOILER REVIEW
Star Wars: The Last Jedi continues immediately where the Force Awakens left off. Personally, I enjoyed the Force Awakens for what it offered, even if what it offered was A New Hope 2.0. It's a shame, but they wanted to play it safe when bringing back Star Wars. I thought they played it TOO safe, but that's just me. For The Last Jedi, however, we get an original story written and directed by Rian Johnson. On one hand, I'm glad they're taking risks and telling original Star Wars stories, but on the other hand I wished they would have told a BETTER original story.
The story is fairly simple (with some plot holes here and there), some of the characters are great, some of them aren't, and the shock value in this film can only be described as shock but holding no value. I remember when the people working on this film may have said that the shocking reveal in this film was going to be even MORE shocking than Vader's reveal as Luke's father in Empire Strikes Back. It's not. The film does have some interesting surprises here and there, but at least the Vader reveal was shocking and had substance to it. The shocking reveals in this film don't really have that much to it. It's just shock value and that's it, with hardly anything of value behind it.
As far as cinematography and directing go, this might be one of the most gorgeous Star Wars films to date. The writing is okay at times, but can be pretty lame at others. I liked where they were taking Luke and Rey as far as training, but then it devolves into something that I NEED to discuss in spoilers. Some B plots were either boring or didn't serve a purpose in the grand scheme, and I really just didn't like what they did with Finn.
Overall, I liked this film. I thought it had a lot going for it, but not offering much in return. Not as good as Force Awakens or the originals, but definitely better than Episode 1 and 2 of the prequels (Yes, I enjoyed Revenge of the Sith more than this film). 6/10.
SPOILER REVIEW
Rant Incoming
I hold Star Wars close to my heart. I've been a fan ever since I first started watching Star Wars as a kid. I started with the prequels, but it was those movies that introduced me to the originals. I was so excited when I heard that Disney was bringing Star Wars back to the big screen, and taking place after the original trilogy! That's why I felt the Force Awakens was a superior film, despite playing it too safe. It still felt like Star Wars, but offered plenty of new characters, an interesting villain, and actual intrigue and hopefulness for the future of this new trilogy.
Now... with The Last Jedi... I just don't know anymore.
Starting off this rant, I want to make it clear that Snoke was wasted. Bad. They hyped up this villain, saying he was more powerful than any previous Sith, and then they just kill him off in the dumbest ways, by Kylo Ren cutting him in half because Snoke didn't sense the lightsaber that was literally right next to him. I actually believed the theory that Snoke could have been Mace Windu, or even Darth Plagueis. But no, he's just some random guy. It was a wasted opportunity. A wasted character.
The Finn and Rose plot was bad. I'm sorry, but it was. They took my favorite new character in this trilogy (Finn) and put him on a stupid side plot to free space horses and get a code-breaker so the Resistance fleet can escape the First Order (Oh, we'll get into that stupidity later). Yes, I get it. Child labor and animal abuse happen in the real world. But can we focus on actual Star Wars and not... that in a STAR WARS movie? Also, the casino planet could have been interesting, but just ended up being lame with ugly alien designs scattered everywhere.
Admiral Holdo (purple hair) is an idiot. She really, truly is. Instead of telling Poe and the rest of her crew her plan to begin with, she decides to leave them in the dark because she believes that Poe is a hothead, that he might do something brash. Well, he does something brash anyways, like start a mutiny because he was trying to SAVE HIS FRIENDS from the First Order that was wiping them out. She could have told him her plan, and everything would have worked out. Also, way to take your time on wiping out the First Order fleet with your sacrifice, Holdo. They only killed more than half of the Resistance escape pods before you finally decided to act.
It was really disheartening to hear of Carrie Fisher's passing, and I thought they would have handled that well in this movie. At first, I thought they were going to kill her off when the bridge of her ship was destroyed, but nope! She survives in the most awkward way possible, by force pulling herself back into the ship.
Luke Skywalker was completely bastardized in this film. Instead of staying true to his character that I really looked up to when I used to watch him as a kid for the first time, Rian Johnson completely changed his character just to make the plot coherent. Basically, Luke sensed darkness inside of Ben Solo and decided to kill him, but regretted it at the last second. It's too late, and Ben thinks Luke is going to kill him so he slaughters all of the students in Luke's Jedi school and leaves with the Knights of Ren supposedly (who, of course, are not even mentioned or expanded upon. Another wasted opportunity). This is not Luke Skywalker. Luke tried to save his father, the second most evil person in the galaxy, because he knew there was some good in him, even when no one else did. And he was right! Here, he tries to kill his nephew because there MIGHT be a dark future for him, a future that Luke ends up CREATING because he was so stupid in the first place! It was just dumb. Oh, yeah, and they kill Luke in the worst way possible, just by making him too tired and fading away like Yoda. Not by sacrificing himself for the Resistance, thus being that spark that Poe mentions. Not by fighting Kylo Ren and perishing that way, which would have been perfect and fit Kylo's character. NO! Luke Skywalker, the greatest Jedi to have ever lived, dies the dumbest way possible. There is no weight to his sacrifice. They killed off Luke for no other reason than to get rid of the old cast. See ya later Chewie in Episode 9, I guess.
Rey's parents are finally revealed, and it is absolutely horrible. She is not Luke's daughter, she is not Obi-Wan's granddaughter, she is not a creation of the Force. No, her parents are nobody. SHE IS NOBODY. Her parents are junkers who abandoned her. That's it. She is given the Force for no other reason other than the Force just choosing her. She didn't earn her gift like Luke, she didn't go through trials like Luke did, she was handed EVERYTHING to her! I'm still holding a faint hope that Kylo was lying to her about her parents and that she's still Obi-Wan's granddaughter, but I doubt it.
This leaves an uncertain future for this new trilogy and Star Wars in general. Disney, Lucasarts, and the entire cast and crew on The Last Jedi basically worshiped Rian Johnson just because he came up with an original Star Wars story. And NOW they are giving Rian control over an entire new trilogy without even having a complete idea on where to take the new trilogy or how fans would react to The Last Jedi. Well, they did, and they are just as torn on it as they were on the prequels. Disney better wise up soon and get better writers because this is not looking good. At least JJ is returning for Episode 9, so I might find myself surprised.
The Last Jedi is okay. A Star Wars film should never be JUST okay! It should be great, it should be groundbreaking, it should be phenomenal! The Last Jedi is none of these. If anything, it was a disappointment.
As far as where this film stands with others, my favorite to least favorite Star Wars film can only be described with this list:
1. Empire Strikes Back
2. A New Hope
3. Return of the Jedi
4. The Force Awakens
5. Rogue One
6. Revenge of the Sith
7. The Last Jedi
8. Attack of the Clones
9. The Phantom Menace
This is quite possibly the most painful 6/10 I've ever given, but it's what the film deserves, in my opinion.
Did you see the movie yet? Did you like it, hate it, or just thought it was okay like me?
Really? Want her to be ANOTHER related character to a former Star Wars character? As in THE PINNACLE of Mary Sueness?
4762001 At least her strength in the Force would make sense then. I just think it's lame how she's given all this power just because the Force wanted her to.
4762016
It happened with Anakin. Why can't it happen with someone else?
I like the film personally, but that doesn't mean I don't have my problems with it as well, I completely agree with the whole Snoke thing, he was killed WAY to quickly and WAY to easily, I thought he would've turned out to Sidious old master as well, it would've tied the Very First Trilogy with the Prequels nicely since Plagueis was referenced in Revenge of the Sith, but yeah, I hated how Snoke was handled, and I also agree how Luke acted REALLY OOC in this, even Mark Hamill himself said that Last Jedi Luke to him might as well have been a different character, I as well thought they should've killed off Leia in this one as well, but aside from all this, they did bring back Yoda as a Ghost, so that was neat, it wasn't terrible, but it certainly could've been better IMO
Agreed they almost made Luke do a dick move until the last second henceforth a dick move by the directing, but the climax part kinda makes sense since after his biggest mistake Luke somehow cut himself off from the Force and went into hiding so of course he couldn't muster up enough Force Power to fight Kylo Ren in person after not connected to the Force for so long or last long to project himself to a far away distance while being Rusty so of course that would kill him
And yeah they did kill off Snoke too early just because his death was ment to build up Kylo's development, what a waste of Hype and Theories
4762018 I think there was a theory going around that Anakin was a creation of the Dark Side, as in Emperor Palpatine or some other Sith Lord manipulated the Force to create their ultimate weapon, which was Anakin. Then again, I think I can see what The Force Awakens was meant to tell, that the Force is literally awakening in people who may or may not have had any lineage with Force users (which might explain that kid who used the Force on a broom that I forgot to mention in the review). So, that could explain how Rey is so strong in the Force and not being related to anyone who actually had it.
4762052 Certainly could have been better. Yoda ghost was a pretty awesome scene, though.
4762095 Was really hoping Snoke was either Plagueis or Mace Windu. That would have been incredible.
4762139
Exactly. The Force is FINALLY coming back after years of being misused and people forgetting about it.
Glad they blew up the x-wings (god am i sick of that ship). Also those bombers maybe the worst ship in star wars like seriously those things were flying death traps! Also 91% on rotten tomatoes seriously?!
4762285 At least it has a 51% on audience score. Hopefully it's a wake up call to Disney.
4762378
I am hoping too, 91% is way too much ego stroking. Also when they killed off Admiral Ackbar with no respect whatsoever that really pissed me off. Rose's sister Paige gets a more respectable death than a character we have known for two whole movies!
My main beef is that I think it went on too long. Seriously, Snoke's throne room felt like a finale to me. It was cool, but it feels like they didn't know where to end it. Though, I don't understand people acting like it was worse than the Phantom Menace.
4763540 Nothing can be worse than Phantom Menace.
I agree with several of your points (Rose & Finn, Leia in space, Snoke “nobody” dead, Luke, ...)
)
Though, I have a different view on these movies.
Episode 3-4-5-6 : 10/10
Episode 1-2 : 7/10
Episode 3.5 : 6/10
Episode 7 : 3.5/10
Episode 8 : 3/10
(Yes, I like all 3 prequel episodes. Including Phantom Menace
4787970 There's something to enjoy in each one. If Disney doesn't get their act together with Star Wars, however, this new trilogy will be completely forgettable in the long run.
4788091
It already is, bud
4762016
At least means we'd have a reason to care about her
If she was Rey Skywalker
4763569
This, this was worse than Phantom Menace
Only because Phantom Menace introduced Darth Maul, you can't take that away from it
Don't worry, JD, Episode IX will be directed by "Neo-Star Trek" J.J. Abhrams, sure after Mr. Jurassic World Director turned down the stairs.
Snoke should've died in Episode IX like the Emperor did in VI.
That's it, i call Rian Johnson the "second" Michael Bay. You know the reason, BAD Writing.