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Spoilers Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Grading & Discussion

Grade the movie.

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It's a spider thread, so fuck it.

Unwrapped said:
I'm also a little surprised the Yoda destroyed the ancient library so readily, just to teach Luke about being able to look past the horizon.
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He destroyed it readily because there were no books left in it. Rey has "everything she needs" according to him; at the end of the movie when Finn is rummaging around the Falcon for bandages there's a shot of the Jedi texts in the drawer.

Yoda was having Luke on.

Unwrapped said:
it seemed to me like his new ghost was a bit off design wise, but maybe that's just me.
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Not just you. His head seemed squashed from top to bottom.
 
Like that it had some ESB notes, but mixed them up and added other things so it wasn’t just a blatant remake like TFA was.

Also looked like Rey looted the library before Luke/Yoda torched it. They were under Rose’s bed at the end
 
So, a two episode trilogy. The villain not important enough for a backstory has been vanquished, the Skywalker bloodline has come to an end forever and the fate of the galaxy now rests in the hands of a bunch of children. Can't wait for Episode IX Return Of The Stable Boy.

Future, Star Wars now belongs to you... Choke on it.
 
Starship said:
Jedis were turned into cousins of superman!! :thumbdown:
See? You don´t need to think a lot to find bad things in this movie.
I think this is one of the worst movies in the franchise!
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Tosk said:
Is the Leia thing actually stupid though, or we being too strict about what Force sensitives can do? When did Star Wars ever say you couldn't survive space for a little while? ;)
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I have assumed for a long time that there are differences to the nature of the Star Wars galaxy. Differences in it's physics, the characteristics of space, and the passage of time. It's long ago, and far away in a galaxy that we might as well assume is alien to our understanding. I've always thought that the vacuum of space is rough in the SW galaxy, but not as rough as in our reality. It's fantasy/fairy tale outer space. A person will need survival gear, so they've still always needed space suits, or at least a supply of oxygen.

Han and Leia walk around in an environment (space slug's mouth/throat) that can't be closed off from space, and they are only wearing respirators to breath.

Finally, it could be any combination of differences of life and environment in the SW fairy tale galaxy: space is different, humans (or what we see as humans) have different physical capability, and finally the fact that Leia is strong in the Force (and fans wanted an answer about if Leia has gained strength and training, so the movie had to find somewhere in it's story to make the point).
 
I just came back from the movie and I loved it.

The only complaints I have is the length and the length of the Canto Bight sequence. Yoda's look was also pretty off, CG yoda from Ep2 and 3 looked more accurate then that puppet (i'm assuming it's a puppet) still looked better then Episode 1 Yoda though, lol. While it was nice to hear Frank Oz again, he can't do the voice anymore, he hardly sounded anything like Yoda. Which is weird, I think he voiced him fine in Star Wars Rebels

I'll probably see it a second time in a few weeks once the crowds start thinning out.
 
Ah, I didn't stay through the credits. Strange, I would've expecting them either before the Lucasfilm logo or between it and the "A long time ago..." title card, or at the beginning of the end credits.

I thought this version of Yoda looked odd too and, yeah, thought the Yoda we saw in the prequels looked better.
 
I saw it this morning and I really enjoyed it.
This was the best looking Star Wars movies yet, with some truly beautiful shots.
The actions scenes were great, the big Rey/Kylo vs The Praetorian Guard fight was awesome, and the stuff on Crait was cool.
Mark Hamil did an amazing job, honestly I'd say he deserves some nominations whenever he's eligible. I know some people probably don't like what we got with him here, but I thought it was great. It was a lot more interesting then him just taking the lightsaber, training Rey, and then goin off to kill Snoke and save the day. I loved his death, I thought it was perfect after what we got with him in the rest of the movie. The stuff with him and Rey on the planet was good, it had some good humor, and brought up some interesting ideas about the Force. It fits in well with some of the stuff we've gotten from animated series. The stuff with the feather was hilarious. Yoda's part was a big surprise for me, and a lot of fun.
Even though it didn't fit my expectations, I actually really like the possible origin we got for Rey here. Having her be a nobody who discovered this great power inside of her and becoming a great hero is a lot more interesting than someone who just inherited it.
Snoke did play a much smaller role than I was expecting, but I realized later that really his only purpose was to turn Ben and put him into a position to take over The First Order. His death was also a big part of the whole thing with getting rid of the old and starting something new. They definitely got me with Snoke, ever since TFA I thought Kylo might end up being redeemed, so I thought they were taking things that way. The relationship they built up between him and Rey was really interesting, and I look forward to where it goes now. Their big final confrontation should be very interesting.
I like the stuff on Cato Bight, and I didn't think it was unnecessary. It was a fun little adventure for Finn and Rose, and it played into some interesting themes of light and dark. It also lead us to the nice bit at the end with the kid back on Canto Bight.
I was disappointed Phasma played such a small role though, Gwendoline Christie is great, and I figured that they gave her a book and comic as a set up for something more important what we got here.
I've always been a big fan of the Star Wars creatures, and I liked all of the ones we got here. The Porgs weren't anywhere near as over the top as I was expecting. The Falthiers and the crystal foxes were really cool.
This was one of my favorite movies in the franchise and I can't wait to see where it goes from here. I am disappointed that Rian Johnson won't be working on IX, I would have loved to see where he would have taken things from here. I'm a big fan of JJ Abrams, but he definitely has his work cut out for him following up on this one.
I'd give it a solid A.
 
Holdo's ship was like a bullet tearing through flesh.

I knew beforehand she wounded Snoke's ship that she would do it. I was frustrated by her slow reaction. Over two-thirds of the transport fleet were destroyed before she acted.
 
Ok. Still processing this one. It's a deeply, deeply flawed movie. But I really enjoyed it on the whole. As an entire entity, it exceeds the individual parts that make it up.

First, the ugly: What was up with Yoda? Points for using what looked like a puppet, but that was such a horrible puppet it took me right out of an otherwise beautiful scene. (Especially loved the reveal later that Rey had stolen the texts anyway, so Yoda destroyed the site but not the knowledge.)

The really bad: Holdo tells nobody anything useful when she has no reason to hide her plan. All Poe and the crew want is a spark of hope, which she maliciously withholds without any conceivable cause other than "the plot requires it." Absolutely horrible writing. And a damn shame, because Laura Dern rocks the badass admiral in a stylish purple dress role.

The good: What a beautiful film. Visually impressive in a way that even the prequels never managed. Wonderful cinematography, excellent effects. Just a masterpiece of craft and design.

Luke's reunions, particularly with Yoda and Leia, had me almost in tears. Such fantastic work from all involved (save for the aformentioned Yoda problem).

And Kylo Ren becomes fully unhinged. He's an emotional infant, and he is now both the most powerful dark side wielder in the galaxy, and in command of the most powerful military machine left in the galaxy. That is going to be one hell of a tantrum, when it comes. I enjoyed the element of tragedy that this added to his story. And the reasoning given for how it led Luke to exile totally worked for me. It won't for everybody. Probably going to be the most divisive plot element in the film, I expect.

There are some interesting ideas in here. That the New Republic, and perhaps Luke's Jedi as well, failed because they were too much like what came before. Too much status quo. That the New Rebellion must be something more, changing the galaxy in a more fundamental way than just the style of governance. That the Jedi must also be transformed, though it's unclear quite into what.

Also, they weren't quite going for a romance, but Rey and Ben Solo make an excellent star crossed pair. Perhaps nobody can understand each more than the other, but neither can afford to bridge the space between. Really curious how they intend to resolve the rivalry between the two in the trilogy capper.
 
^The reference to the trilogy capper made me think that we've now had as many SW films in the space of just over 2 years as we had between 1977 and 1983 or between 1999 and 2005. When the Han movie comes out, we'll have as many as we had between 1977 and 1999*. I'm certainly not complaining though.

*Unless you count the Ewok movies.
 
Gepard said:
He destroyed it readily because there were no books left in it. Rey has "everything she needs" according to him; at the end of the movie when Finn is rummaging around the Falcon for bandages there's a shot of the Jedi texts in the drawer.

Yoda was having Luke on.
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I missed that, admittedly. Thanks, as that makes a bit more sense. :)

Not just you. His head seemed squashed from top to bottom.
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Glad it's not just me. :D Even the voice seemed a bit off, although it was Frank Oz reprising Yoda.
 
Trekker4747 said:
In "The Force Awakens" Han and Chewie engage the Millennium Falcon's hyperdrive while inside the landing bay of Han's ship and with one of the alien creature things clinging to the cockpit window, when the ship enters hyperspace it doesn't seem to "impact" anything as it would have to get out of Han's ship.
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They flew out of the open bay didn't they? There wasn't anything to impact.
 
Just returned from the theatre and gave it a C (mind you.. i'd have given Force Awakens a D or worse)

I know that Star Wars is not a deep psychological study and that most characters are not really well developed or multilayered but there's concentrating on the bigger picture or just not caring to develop characters to make the audience care what happens to them.

The new Star Wars movies, at least the new main trilogy, suffers tremendously from the latter. Case in point Snoke.. they buld him up to be sort of a new Emperor Palpatine, an Uber Sith and i've read so many theories about his background (some going so far to make him a surviving Mace Windu who turned to the Dark Side) and he goes out like a chump in this movie.

He appears evil just for evil's sake.. we never get any background on him, never see him do anything but interact with Hux and Ren who finally tricks him and force stabs a lightsabre through his torso. Wow.

Kylo wasn't the desaster he was in Force Awakens, an improvement for sure but he still has the main problem.. why is he evil? Just because? Is it because he always was destined to become a dick and just had the misfortune to be Force sensitive and run across Snoke (who apparently seduced him.. offscreen.. somehow).

It was nice to see Leia / Carrie Fisher for one last time but i fear her role was wasted.. might be that she was physically and mentally not as resistent for a bigger or more demanding role but other than dropping some words here and there and having a touching scene with her brother at the end she didn't do much (though she still pulled off one amazing Force usage.. looked so great!).

All of this are some nitpicks i had but what really bothered me (and seems many other reviewers who otherwise praised the movie) was the comedy / slapstick elements or rather the usage at the most ill advised times.
I didn't mind Chewbacca trying to have dinner and be interrupted by the survivors or BB-8 pulling of some funny shenanigans but Kylo force slamming Hux into the wall for shits and giggles was to much, it was supposed to be a dramatic scene and it was ruined by it. Sometimes less is more.

I haven't made up my mind about Luke yet.. i have read that Hamill was unhappy with his role in the movie and nearly walked away and i can understand why to a degree. Now that i think about it i find his story not bad at all, he blamed himself for Kylo and everything but as Yoda said faliure is the greatest teacher ( think that's what he said.. saw the german dubbed version) and it seemed to strike home. He didn't carry the same gravitas like Yoda when they met on Dagobah nor did he have the same calm and patience but then again they are not the same person. Yoda still managed to deal out some great wisdom even as a Force Ghost but his appearance was again marred by too much comedy (see my point above about that).

Storywise there is not too much to fault here.. it's nothing special when you condense it but it had some nice twists and turns though the beginning felt too much like Hoth again and i feared we'd repeat the same mistakes like Force Awakens which to me seemed more like a collection of Abrams favorite A New Hope scenes but it led to an amazing, small scale space battle with gorgeous visuals (and Poe Dameron would have wiped the floor with Luke in his prime if they duked it out in their X-Wings).

The only really unnecessary location was that casino planet.. that whole thing could have been cut completely and replaced by a 5-10 minute scene where they aquired the hacker and went back.

So overall an improvement over Force Awakens, some interesting developments that i didn't expect (chief amongst them Luke being gone for good now but on his terms), some flaws and it'll be interesting to see how this trilogy concludes now that they have removed all original characters and let the new ones stand on their own (though i dread the scene where they kill off Leia off screen due to her premature death.. hopefully they'll come up with something original and worthy).

Memorable scenes:

- Poe making fun of Hux.. did he drop a Yo Momma joke there? (and then proceeds to dismantle the guns on that battleship)

- i thought Leia would be gone when the bridge blew up but she pulls herself back by using the Force! One of the most amazing scenes in all of Star Wars

- Rose revealing the Rebels sign inside her ring to these slave kids giving them hope.. and the film concluding with the same kid wearing that ring proudly as he looks up at the stars

- Luke and R2 reuniting.. nearly brought a tear to my eyes

- Snoke's Red Guards.. awesome design and array of light/energy weapons (the fight between Rey/Kylo and them was very nice too)

- Admiral Holdo crashing her command ship at lightspeed through the First Order Fleet including Snoke's command ship.. massive set of balls and truly awesome visual

Now it's a year again for Solo.. let's hope it repeats the greatness that was Rogue One (though that had some flaws in it too).
 
I went in 100% spoiler-free! My non-spoiler review...

So. I saw a Star Wars movie last night. I didn't want to say too much too soon because there is always an emotional high involved with Star Wars movies. When I saw Ep. II back in the day, I loved it. The first time. After that...?

The Last Jedi is an entertaining film, but it is not without serious issues. Mainly, a lack of a real story. The meat of the tale is in Rey's time with Luke Skywalker, and Mark Hamill deserves nothing but praise in this return to his signature character. Hamill shines. The movie is worth seeing for him alone. He has a great chemistry with Daisy Ridley's Rey. And there was a surprise appearance from a character that I did not expect to see again, so that was nice.

But there really isn't much for the rest of the cast to do. The characters of Poe, Finn, newcomer Rose and, sadly, Leia were given a cliché-ridden filler sub-plot without any real substance to pad out the rest of the story. Ultimately, both Finn and Poe come across as imbeciles, although Rose was likeable enough.

Darth Emo, aka Kylo Ren, is as annoying as ever. The confrontation between Kylo and Rey included a nice action sequence and a few surprising twists, but ultimately there were too many overt callbacks to The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi in the scene for it to be memorable in its own right.

In the end, I still say see it. If nothing else, see it for Carrie Fisher, who passed soon after filming was completed. And don't leave right away. Stay at least long enough to see the dedication-- "In Loving Memory of Our Beloved Princess, Carrie Fisher", and give her the applause that she deserves.
 
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Wow, IGN's article about the end discussed something HUGE that I missed.
Apparently in the last scene with the kid on Canto Bight, he used the Force to pull the broom into his hand.
They also mention something that had already occurred to me that I forgot to mention in my review post, we most likely haven't seen the last of Luke. As far as I know there is absolutely nothing to prevent him from coming back as a Force ghost. Now that Carrie Fisher has died, I would be really shocked if he didn't.
Another thing I forgot is my disappointment that they killed Hondo. Laura Dern did a great job, and I was really hoping we'd get her taking over for Leia in IX.
 
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