What did you think of Space Leia? (last jedi spoilers I guess)

[mos6507]

I think it's bad taste when someone offers an opinion of a scene he/she felt was heartbreaking, and you respond with 'nah man, you're wrong. It sucked'. Mutual respect.

True, but at the same time, that epitomizes The Last Jedi. From moment to moment I keep waffling between feeling like it was brave in taking risks and other times I buy into every single fanboi criticism. I just can't make up my mind one way or the other, but I guess if the film were truly great then it wouldn't be this polarizing.

As far as Mary Poppins, everyone is very focused on visuals these days with Memes and trying to get attention by saying this looks like that. I bet it literally took hours or less before the first Mary Poppins photoshop came out. It's all about grabbing the 21st century equivalent of 15 minutes of fame to start a jokey Meme.

 

[Qonundrum]

It was a bit much for even more...

In terms of story narrative, Leia doesn't do too much. And the movie is replete with scenes designed to make the viewer hate Ren even more -- and, yeah, Ren has enough that's written and acted that he's become more compelling than Vader (to me) at this point and Vader was cool. Ren is not a Vader clone, nor should he be. He is his own character and the franchise is stronger for it.

And had Leia been blasted, that would have had a lot more dramatic impact. But that might have crossed the line, and it is a fitting tribute to keep all of Carrie's scenes intact. I hope ep IX gives her a "forever happily after" ending and not kill her off since they had a couple amazing chances in VIII and didn't take it. (Ren really hates her and not like an Oedipus complex way, it did make more sense had his assault had gone through - though there is the later scene where Snoke (lies) about Ren being completely committed to the dark side, since his struggling was just as important to the plot... I dunno, it actually works either way but there is more in letting Leia survive.)

 

[Qonundrum]

You mean like...

* Hyperdrive
* The FORCE itself
* Lightsabres
* Lasers from guns that are visible to the naked eye and go pew pew.

and pretty much anything else in this Science Fiction franchise.

True, but "suspension of disbelief" still has more to play in getting an audience to accept what they know is technically a big pile of horseydoo. So what makes this one scene of Leia floating around with the only thing missing being a cloak and black brolly while singing "Mary Poppins" while floating back being questionable when compared to the four examples you'd provided, which somehow end up feeling more tangible and authentic and believable?

 

[feek61]

I love how angry fanboys are bringing up Mary Poppins to describe Leia as if that is something bad. What's wrong with Mary Poppins ? Is that a lowkey misogynistic thing going on ? Poppins is a powerful wizard. She already was a popular culture icon before George Lucas was even born.

People use "Mary Poppins" to describe Missy in Doctor Who and she's basically the best iteration of the Master since Delgado. Resembling a magical immortal nanny adds even more strength to the fact that Michelle Gomez's portrayal is scary, unpredictable and has a huge screen presence. The same goes for Carrie. Yeah, that scene is basically like Space Poppins. Who cares ? It just makes Leia even more badass. It makes you believe she is the General Organa the Resistance draws hope from to fight and die in the name of the Republic.

I am not an angry fanboy; I simply called it "Mary Poppins in space" because Leia looked like the composited Mary Poppins flying in the film. No need to get all fanboy weird talking about wizards and shit regarding the comment; come back to earth!

 

[Captain of the USS Averof]

They complain how Leia doesn't use her powers then they complain when she does.

Execution is everything.

 

[Cinema Geekly]

I thought it was great.

The first thing my thoughts jumped to was stories of people doing "super human" things during times of crisis when adrenaline kicks in and people act on instinct.

It felt like she was on the verge of death and instinctually her abilities were tapped. She's not trained. She probably couldn't do it again if she tried but under those circumstances I totally bought it and I thought it worked perfectly.

 

[INACTIVEUSS Einstein]

I thought it was touching, and possibly intended to be a visual metaphor for the purity of Leia's spirit.

I.E. not every Jedi of the Old Republic could have perhaps pulled it off instinctively, semi-conscious and injured, but Leia has spent a lifetime holding true to the ideals of defending life, has led an uncompromising life of honesty, and was rewarded by the Force in a dire moment, thanks to her presence.

That is basically how the Force is treated if you read between the lines - the power of a given being is their moral power, hence why those who use their convictions for evil (i.e. Sith) often grow bloodshot and haggard. Tolkien had a similar metaphor, with Elves being ethereal and beautiful, and evil being "foul".

In franchises these days, we often see people survive in space for short periods, i.e. Marvel's GotG.

 

[Booji]

The Leia scene is THE most anticipated scene in Star Wars history, and it was fucking awesome.

 

[Set Harth]

It made up for all those years of the old EU ignoring her Force potential.

 

[fireproof78]

It was interesting and enjoyable, and it was nice to see Leia use her Force powers. Really enjoyed her last moment with Luke.

 

[Prax]

It made up for all those years of the old EU ignoring her Force potential.

Wha...huh?!

Leia was a Jedi master in the EU, and showed her potential like, I dunno...ALL the time!

 

[Set Harth]

I must have dropped out of that part of the timeline before that happened.

 

[Ithekro]

I don't remember her going the Jedi Master route. Polities and family tended to keep her from training much from what I remember. Unless she picked up some more stuff late in the Vong War and after, since I didn't read past that (due to too many books at once and less time). Sure she could use the Force and there were times she used her lightsaber or one Luke gave her, depending on when and who wrote it. She took down a rogue Hutt Jedi from what I recall.

 

[Prax]

Yeah, it was around the time of the "New Jedi Order" series. She started training and got a lightsaber very early on, in the 2nd post rotj novel released(Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire), then later on, she retired from politics, one of the masters took her as an apprentice, and she became a Jedi knight. She's a master by the time of the "Legacy of the Force" series. By this time Jedi, albeit much smaller than the old order, have returned to the temple on Coruscant.

Anyways, she was using the force all along, even before becoming a full fledged Jedi.

 

[tharpdevenport]

You mean like...

* Hyperdrive
* The FORCE itself
* Lightsabres
* Lasers from guns that are visible to the naked eye and go pew pew.

and pretty much anything else in this Science Fiction franchise.

Maybe you could argue that with the hyperdrive, but the rest don't quite fit.

The Force isn't science to begin with, it's like magic, so it exists outside of the bounds of factual science.

Lasers can be visible depending on what they are firing. Just because they are referred to as lasers, doesn't mean anything. What I find annoying is how slowly the beams travel ("Mythbusters" calculated the speed in an episode).

Likewise a lightsaber could have real-world advanced science behind it. But we have to write the lightsaber off because it's uses a Force-sensitive crystal, so the Force alone could be shaping the blade (note: the Force, not the user, since non-Force sensitive people have operated lightsabers).

I haven't got a problem with her abilities in the force enabling her to pull herself back to the ship, it's the execution of the scene I've got beef with, in that she appears to be unconscious and adrift in space for a not inconsiderable time. Force user or not, she should be dead, period. I could have bought the scene if she used the force to stop herself getting dragged out of the ship, for example, whilst still conscious, but the way this scene was done was just utter tosh and was clearly played for 'hey we've killed leia' only to have a dumb 'fooled you' moment.

I didn't like it and don't think it worked at all. It just came off as dumb, cheap filmmaking.

Yeah. In comparison, in an episode of "Star Wars: Rebels", Ezra gets blown into space and manages to get himself back into the ship. Based on what really happens to you in space, the time he was out and simply having the Force on his side, what he did was completely reasonable. It sure did piss off this stupid dumbass troll on the IMDb forums who spent his time trolling fans; well, this film scene must have finally blown what little bit above his neck was there to begin with, away.

 

[Set Harth]

I think you mean Kanan.

 

[fonzob1]

If it was meant as a tribute, it caused the franchise to jump the shark to me. Not to mention ignoring the laws of physics, which I know Star Wars plays fast and loose with at times, but still...

Ridiculous. They should have killed off her character while they had the chance.

 

[Set Harth]

They had no idea Carrie would die.

 

[fonzob1]

They had no idea Carrie would die.

They didn't. But, much like Han, her character didn't exactly carry the same appeal it did in the original trilogy. It would have been better to put her character to rest.

 

[Set Harth]

They may have been planning something with her in IX.