*Spoiler Filled!* Star Wars The Last Jedi Review

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

Star Wars- The Last Jedi Review by Jeff Deliverer of Mail.

*SPOILER WARNINGS!* I'm going to reveal spoilers so don't read this if you haven't seen the movie yet!

Star Wars The Last Jedi is the first Star Wars I've watched in the theatres since Return of the Jedi in 1983, that wasn't yesterday. At $6.34 for a Sprite at the canteen, I can see why I try to avoid going to the movies. This one I couldn't resist, I adored most of Force Awakens and wanted to see where the story would go from here.

We start Last Jedi with The Resistance fleeing The First Order and it's a fantastic opening with Poe Cameron attacking a Dreadnaught with bombers and the like. This sets in motion a space chase not unlike The Millenium Falcons race to escape The Empire in Empire Strikes Back. The First Order have -tracked- The Resistance fleet after they went through hyperspace and now are peppering their shields...waiting for them to ....ahem...run out of gas.

Snoke's Capital Ship is 50 times bigger than a Star Destroyer but they can't decimate a little ship in their path 1/1000th their size? Come on! Oh well...thats not really a big deal...moving on...

Meanwhile Luke and Rey continue their scene from the end of Force Awakens, he takes the lightsaber and then tosses it over his shoulder and walks away. Luke has given up on the Force and is playing hermit the crab on this very inhabited island full of adorable little space chickens and alien housekeepers. The story continues and we learn Luke had failed Kylo Ren, saying the dark side was so strong in him that he struggled to not do something about it..ect ect. He trains Rey, she has a quick moment of the dark side calling her. It scares Luke.

Kylo Ren and Rey start talking in force face time conversations.

Time for a side quest?!?? Why not!?

The movie has a 2.5 hour run time. Easily 30 minutes could be shaved off and the following shitty scenes could have easily been removed from Star Wars and would have absolutely ZERO IMPACT on the main story.

Finn and his new girl pal (Forgot her name) plan up in secret with Poe to go on a quest to a casino on some planet to get a special code breaker to help them turn off the tracking device on Snoke's Capital ship. If Finn completes this quest he can unlock special green pants for future scenes! (Kidding)

Anyway....they go to this all to Earth-like casino with goofy looking aliens in it, goofy looking CGI Jurrassic Park horses and whatnot all to say that these are people that fund the entire war. Not needed ....at all.

Anyway, they get captured and here's Benicio Del Toro who's trying to channel a quasi Lando Calrissian/Han Solo esque character with a slight speech impediment...A.K.A trying too fucking hard. They escape and with purpose of destroying the casino sybollically and freeing the alien horse prisoners they make it to a stolen ship with BB8.....it hurts me to even write what I saw there. The whole scene SHOULD have been left on the cutting room floor, it was so bad. The CGI Dinohorses were terrible looking and it was all pointless as fuck.

Anyway....that side quest ultimately has a final boss. Phantasma (SP)...Finn kills her. Bye bye Phantasma lol. Oh well, as least she looked really cool.

Phew!!! Back to the main story! Ren attacks the fleet in a really cool scene which leads to a stupid as shit scene. Princess Leia is killed, sucked out to space. A fitting end to ....wait...nevermind, she can fly! Princess Leia can survive the cold of space on her skin and fly like Superman. John Williams takes this opportunity to pipe in his Superman theme as she tucks her arm behind her back and flies back to the ship with a cocky expression.

Kidding....on the John Williams part. Yes, she really did survive space and fly back to the ship! Lol!

Rey surrenders to the First Order ala Luke from Return of the Jedi. She is brought before Snoke by Kylo Ren. Rey tries to kill him with Ren's lightsaber after Snoke spins her around with the Force easily. He seems all powerful as he puts her in a force lock and she's in extreme pain. He wants Luke Skywalker. Now, 10 seconds later, he wants Kylo Ren to execute her? Wait a second....why not torture her to make Luke want to come rescue her ala Han's torture in Empire? What is the entire point of bringing her there just to off her? Why not try and turn her? Why not just crush her with the Force if you just wanted her dead this whole time? It makes zero sense!

If you thought that made no sense.....

Kylo Ren goes into his speal that he did before killing Han Solo while Snoke tells him to turn his lightsaber towards her and kill her...meanwhile, he's turning the saber Ren brought next to Snoke's arm rest and ignites it! He calls it back to his hand, effectively chopping Snoke in half and killing him! Extremely cool moment and followed by an awesome Ren and Rey vs The Red Guards, probably my favorite part of the film here. Poor Snoke though. So powerful and we have no idea where he came from and what his story was. Just Fart noise dead before he reached any kind of potential.

After the great fight Kylo Ren reveals that he is still bad and wants Rey to join him. He reveals the truth of Rey's parents...they were just a couple of nobody's who dumped her off and died in a desert somewhere???? That was a shit end to that mystery eh?

Anyway, Poe and Leis pal had this mutany story going and they eventually abandon ship to a nearby planet, Leai's pal does a fantastic sacrifice by going into hyperspace and taking out The First Order Capital ships in a wonderful scene.

Final battle is similar to the Battle of Hoth from Empire without the snow. We get a heart swelling Millenium Falcon save and multiple tie fighter explosions through a mine that was a joy to witness in 3D.

Then Luke shows up.

He gets shot by every machine outside. But he walks out of the smoke and wipes off a fleck from his shoulder for a funny moment. Ren fights him. But soon learns it's just Force FaceTime Luke and he's stalling so the Resistance can escape. Fuck off. I hated when he did this shit in the novels and never expected them to do it here. Then he vanishes ala Obi Wan Kenobi on his little island. Fuck off again, seriously.

We get a shot of one of the little kid slaves still holding his super special Resistance ring he got in a box of Kelloggs Frosted Star Wars Flakes and bam. Movie over.

Soooo scared to kill any main good guys off. Resorting to killing off the best actor in the movie and blew off Snoke like he was a Stormtrooper. What a waste of potential!

Why not this instead: Luke is brought before Snoke. He is forced to his knees and savagely turned to the Dark Side right in front of Rey. Luke tries to kill Rey but Kylo Ren stops him, reveals that Rey is Luke's daughter somehow. Luke struggles to understand this, Snoke orders The Red Guard to kill Rey and Ren, they escape after a fight. Dark Luke and Snoke continue as the fucking No.1 and No.2 bad guys in the series. Kylo Ren rejects joining the Resistance and takes off to form a third faction somewhere.

It's better than what they did, even though the Kylo Ren actor was really good in this film. I suppose they wanted to wipe the slate clean in a way and go on with Star Wars with this new generation without Luke and whatnot. But it's a big waste of Mark Hamill IMO. He was SO good in this movie that I mentally begged him to turn to the Dark Side so we could see him again in the next movie.

If that's it for Phantasma and Snoke (It most likely is) then what a waste of time they were. Especially Snoke. What is the whole point of introducing such a powerful character in the series only to just snuff him out halfway through?

Anyway....

7/10

It gets high marks for some incredible, amazing scenes that stand out as some of my favorites in all the Star Wars movies. It really loses points for that fucking terrible Side quest to the casino and some odd choices in the direction of the series....and the flying Princess.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

Star Wars- The Last Jedi Review by Jeff Deliverer of Mail.

Star Wars - The Last Jedi Review by GSB of the Review by Jeff Delivered of Mail.

*SPOILER WARNINGS!* I'm going to reveal spoilers so don't read this if you haven't seen the movie yet!

*SPOILER WARNINGS!* Jeff revealed spoilers and I will too so don't read this if you don't want shit spoiled.

Star Wars The Last Jedi is the first Star Wars I've watched in the theatres since Return of the Jedi in 1983, that wasn't yesterday. At $6.34 for a Sprite at the canteen, I can see why I try to avoid going to the movies. This one I couldn't resist, I adored most of Force Awakens and wanted to see where the story would go from here.

I saw The Force Awakens in theaters but this is the first time I ever brought my kids (6 year old boy and 9 year old girl) to a Star Wars movie.

We start Last Jedi with The Resistance fleeing The First Order and it's a fantastic opening with Poe Cameron attacking a Dreadnaught with bombers and the like.

Great scene, edge of your seat stuff.

This sets in motion a space chase not unlike The Millenium Falcons race to escape The Empire in Empire Strikes Back. The First Order have -tracked- The Resistance fleet after they went through hyperspace and now are peppering their shields...waiting for them to ....ahem...run out of gas.

Like Force Awakens this movie had many call backs to previous movies. Unlike Force Awakens each callback seems to have an unexpected twist.

Snoke's Capital Ship is 50 times bigger than a Star Destroyer but they can't decimate a little ship in their path 1/1000th their size? Come on! Oh well...thats not really a big deal...moving on...

I accept the shields were strong enough to protect the ship temporarily. Not a problem for me.

Meanwhile Luke and Rey continue their scene from the end of Force Awakens, he takes the lightsaber and then tosses it over his shoulder and walks away. Luke has given up on the Force and is playing hermit the crab on this very inhabited island full of adorable little space chickens and alien housekeepers. The story continues and we learn Luke had failed Kylo Ren, saying the dark side was so strong in him that he struggled to not do something about it..ect ect. He trains Rey, she has a quick moment of the dark side calling her. It scares Luke.

This training felt so rushed but Rey, like Luke seem to be beyond what we seem to understand about The Force. Rey especially. I struggled with that just like I struggled with Rey's awakening powers in The Force Awakens and even Finn abilities in some respect (his battle with Kylo and overcoming his Stormtrooper mind control).

Kylo Ren and Rey start talking in force face time conversations.

I thought this was cool and believable.

Time for a side quest?!?? Why not!?

The movie has a 2.5 hour run time. Easily 30 minutes could be shaved off and the following shitty scenes could have easily been removed from Star Wars and would have absolutely ZERO IMPACT on the main story.

Finn and his new girl pal (Forgot her name) plan up in secret with Poe to go on a quest to a casino on some planet to get a special code breaker to help them turn off the tracking device on Snoke's Capital ship. If Finn completes this quest he can unlock special green pants for future scenes! (Kidding)

Anyway....they go to this all to Earth-like casino with goofy looking aliens in it, goofy looking CGI Jurrassic Park horses and whatnot all to say that these are people that fund the entire war. Not needed ....at all.

Anyway, they get captured and here's Benicio Del Toro who's trying to channel a quasi Lando Calrissian/Han Solo esque character with a slight speech impediment...A.K.A trying too fucking hard. They escape and with purpose of destroying the casino sybollically and freeing the alien horse prisoners they make it to a stolen ship with BB8.....it hurts me to even write what I saw there. The whole scene SHOULD have been left on the cutting room floor, it was so bad. The CGI Dinohorses were terrible looking and it was all pointless as fuck.

Agreed. It was unnecessary, even with the social commentary aside, this fell flat and could have been cut. There could have been a code breaker in the Resistance. I think they couldn't cut this out as it would have been a waste of Del Toro who is starting to remind me of Johnny Depp with his just being quirky because quirky.

And her name is Rose.

Anyway....that side quest ultimately has a final boss. Phantasma (SP)...Finn kills her. Bye bye Phantasma lol. Oh well, as least she looked really cool.

Phew!!! Back to the main story! Ren attacks the fleet in a really cool scene which leads to a stupid as shit scene. Princess Leia is killed, sucked out to space. A fitting end to ....wait...nevermind, she can fly! Princess Leia can survive the cold of space on her skin and fly like Superman. John Williams takes this opportunity to pipe in his Superman theme as she tucks her arm behind her back and flies back to the ship with a cocky expression.

Kidding....on the John Williams part. Yes, she really did survive space and fly back to the ship! Lol!

I enjoyed Leia surviving here. I'm not sure what Jedi power she used but I welcomed learning that she developed skills beyond wearing a slave bikini. I wonder what we were supposed to see in IX had Carrie Fisher survived. How many movies have a mom battling her son? Does that Elijah Wood, Macauley Culkin movie count? Oh well.

Anyway, for me the Leia powers reveal gave me enough of the feels to overtake the cynicism I felt over the corny scene that was kind of hard to believe.

Rey surrenders to the First Order ala Luke from Return of the Jedi. She is brought before Snoke by Kylo Ren. Rey tries to kill him with Ren's lightsaber after Snoke spins her around with the Force easily. He seems all powerful as he puts her in a force lock and she's in extreme pain. He wants Luke Skywalker. Now, 10 seconds later, he wants Kylo Ren to execute her? Wait a second....why not torture her to make Luke want to come rescue her ala Han's torture in Empire? What is the entire point of bringing her there just to off her? Why not try and turn her? Why not just crush her with the Force if you just wanted her dead this whole time? It makes zero sense!

I think he realized there was no opportunity to turn her and she was more and more dangerous every second that she was alive. Not only was her Force power strong and growing she has the most incredible power in the universe, she is really pretty and seems like such a cool chick. Of course I'd be happy to help you move Rey. Your moving in to the top story of a five story walk up, no problem.

If you thought that made no sense.....

Kylo Ren goes into his speal that he did before killing Han Solo while Snoke tells him to turn his lightsaber towards her and kill her...meanwhile, he's turning the saber Ren brought next to Snoke's arm rest and ignites it! He calls it back to his hand, effectively chopping Snoke in half and killing him! Extremely cool moment and followed by an awesome Ren and Rey vs The Red Guards, probably my favorite part of the film here. Poor Snoke though. So powerful and we have no idea where he came from and what his story was. Just Fart noise dead before he reached any kind of potential.

After the great fight Kylo Ren reveals that he is still bad and wants Rey to join him. He reveals the truth of Rey's parents...they were just a couple of nobody's who dumped her off and died in a desert somewhere???? That was a shit end to that mystery eh?

Not really. Like Snoke, Rey's parentage was never that big of a deal in Force Awakens. It just felt that way as we become nostalgic about the original trilogy and how it had the huge reveal for Vader and Luke.

Anyway, Poe and Leis pal had this mutany story going and they eventually abandon ship to a nearby planet, Leai's pal does a fantastic sacrifice by going into hyperspace and taking out The First Order Capital ships in a wonderful scene.

I'm glad this had a strong payoff as Laura Dern's role otherwise felt unnecessary.

Final battle is similar to the Battle of Hoth from Empire without the snow. We get a heart swelling Millenium Falcon save and multiple tie fighter explosions through a mine that was a joy to witness in 3D.

Then Luke shows up.

He gets shot by every machine outside. But he walks out of the smoke and wipes off a fleck from his shoulder for a funny moment. Ren fights him. But soon learns it's just Force FaceTime Luke and he's stalling so the Resistance can escape. Fuck off. I hated when he did this shit in the novels and never expected them to do it here. Then he vanishes ala Obi Wan Kenobi on his little island. Fuck off again, seriously.

Come on Jeff dammit. How could you not enjoy this and get all the feels? The master played a card on his student that he never shared. It is classic storytelling and turned out to be his last card as it killed Luke in the process.

We get a shot of one of the little kid slaves still holding his super special Resistance ring he got in a box of Kelloggs Frosted Star Wars Flakes and bam. Movie over.

That was a nice way to end the movie to help show the influence of Luke's legacy and the power of The Force to little kids.

Soooo scared to kill any main good guys off. Resorting to killing off the best actor in the movie and blew off Snoke like he was a Stormtrooper. What a waste of potential!

Nah, it is pretty good storytelling.

Wait? Are you saying Mark Hamill is the best actor in the movie? He'll hath frozen over.

Why not this instead: Luke is brought before Snoke. He is forced to his knees and savagely turned to the Dark Side right in front of Rey. Luke tries to kill Rey but Kylo Ren stops him, reveals that Rey is Luke's daughter somehow. Luke struggles to understand this, Snoke orders The Red Guard to kill Rey and Ren, they escape after a fight. Dark Luke and Snoke continue as the fucking No.1 and No.2 bad guys in the series. Kylo Ren rejects joining the Resistance and takes off to form a third faction somewhere.

Nah, Luke doesn't fuck. Simple as that, Luke doesn't fuck. His sexuality is questionable at best, he either is asexual, gay or has an incest fetish. Otherwise, Luke doesn't fuck. Obi Wan either.

It's better than what they did, even though the Kylo Ren actor was really good in this film. I suppose they wanted to wipe the slate clean in a way and go on with Star Wars with this new generation without Luke and whatnot. But it's a big waste of Mark Hamill IMO. He was SO good in this movie that I mentally begged him to turn to the Dark Side so we could see him again in the next movie.

If that's it for Phantasma and Snoke (It most likely is) then what a waste of time they were. Especially Snoke. What is the whole point of introducing such a powerful character in the series only to just snuff him out halfway through?

But that's just it. We complained after the first movie that we didn't get enough Snoke or Phasma. That was because they are bit players. We made them bigger in out minds and fantasy booking. I've bought in on the Maz Kanata theory so I'm disappointed in what little we saw and got from her but really she could never show up again and that should be ok because she is clearly not that big of a player in these movies which are clearly about Ren, Finn, Rey, Dameron, and BB8.

Anyway....

7/10

It gets high marks for some incredible, amazing scenes that stand out as some of my favorites in all the Star Wars movies. It really loses points for that fucking terrible Side quest to the casino and some odd choices in the direction of the series....and the flying Princess.

I give your review a 7/10. It was a solid summary with some good humor but I struggle with some of your opinions/fantasy booking and you didn't take a moment of silence for Admiral Akbar.

I give the movie 10/10. It was mostly good storytelling, and excellent action that I never wanted to end. Most importantly it is the first time my son showed any love for Star Wars. It is nice for me. I've tried to get him interested in the last couple years but I couldn't compete with superheroes, cartoons, and Minecraft. He spent this morning building Lego space crafts and talking about R2-D2 escaping and battling. It is really nice to see. Unfortunately now he is asking my wife to buy him more shit. Touche Disney, touche.

 

[Makaveli31]

I thought it was OK. Still feels more like a reboot to me than an actual sequel and it made for predictable storytelling. I thought there was so much more they could've done in terms of relationships between the main characters. It's what made the original trilogy so GREAT. The relationship between Vader and Luke, the supposed love triangle between Han, Leia, and Luke (before it was revealed than Luke was Leia's brother) the relationship between The Emperor and Vader, Obi-Wan and Vader etc....Force Awakens teased those interpersonal relationships and Last Jedi FAILS to deliver on the promise of those relationships.

Obviously the key one for me was the relationship between Rey and Luke. Force Awakens (FA for short) teased the mysterious beginnings of Rey and that there was something more to her. I was expecting a Luke/Vader type reveal but despite massive teasing there was no payoff. Is she somehow related to Luke? Anakin? Padme? Leia? Anyone? Nope. She was a nobody and her parents were nobodies. No massive reveal ala Empire. And there no relationship between her and Luke ala Luke's relationship with Obi-Wan or even Yoda. He does a couple of things with her but that's it. There is no "raising of the X-wing moment" ala Empire.

Then there is the relationship between Rey and Kylo Ren. Obviously Daisy Ridley (Rey) has matured since FA ala Hayden Christiansen and Natalie Portman in the Revenge of the Sith and there a hint of some type of relationship between Rey and Ren but again Last Jedi FAILS to deliver the payoff. Why doesn't Kylo Ren just kill her if she was just a nobody. Why does he risk everything to save her? We get why Vader turned but we still don't know why Ben Solo became Kylo Ren. Why does he ask her to rule the galaxy with him ala Anakin and Padme if he has no feelings for her? I mean there no kiss no nothing just a simple handshake?!? I get the PG aspect but c'mon give us something!!

I still don't know where Poe, Finn and Rose will exactly fit. Poe seems to be the Han-Solo-esque character with no love interest ala Leia it boggles the mind why he would risk life and limb for the Resistance. It was obvious why Solo did it. Finn COULD be a love interest for Rey down the line but as of right now he serves no purpose. He is just comedic relief and I don't see that type of seriousness in his character and I feel Rey would be better served to be either alone or in some type of conflicted relationship with Kylo Ren.

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

I am gona be Bret Hart, call me Sexcellence of Sexecution. What, its taken? Damn.

4/10

Very bland story, non existing villains where one of them is pure comedy relief that gets thrown around like a rag doll for comedy relief, other is some God entity that gets killed without even knowing what it is and in something I can call most possibly stupidest death of Star Wars villain since Darth Maul and third that is still one giant baby that tries so desperately to be Vader but fails every time with his whiny performance.

Token Black and generic Asian character are so unnecessary that if you cut them both from movie you would get same results as far as main story goes. They did pointless side quest that didnt do nothing to help overall situation and thats it. Poe has improved over the end but all that political play with Laura Dern was pointless.

BB8 was standardly good, Leia is old gramps but gets her moments and Rey stood on her own just fine. Luke was nice surprise, this was definitely his movie. He even manages to get Kylo briefly on sympathetic side with "I tried to kill him" angle. Stuff on the end was nice. Still would prefer if he dragged his ass with that X-wing in water there but was nice touch.

OK having said all this would up my grade to 5/10. Disappointed with whole direction movie took and expected way more. Would know better for future movies.

 

[SSJPhenom]

So like most people, I went and watched the Last Jedi on Friday and I really enjoyed it. I think it's the best Star Wars film since Empire. I know that this film has been very divisive among the fan base and I can see why people would be up in arms over some of the things in the movie, but overall it is one of the better entries into the Star Wars mythos.

This whole movie was about subverting expectations and that one doesn't have to be born into the over reaching story of Star Wars to be apart of it. The force is for everyone. I loved Luke in this movie. Easily Hamill's best portrayal of the character. For the most part he was this grumpy old man, but every once in a while, like when he seen R2, he became the Luke that we knew and loved. I also loved the whole ending to the film. How Luke was using the force to appear before everyone and buy enough time for the Resistance to escape and how him channeling that much power killed him. Also, his last act, as it were, inspired a whole new generation with hope. As you can see at the end the one kid telling his friends about what Luke had just done. BTW, Yoda's appearance was amazing and him giving Luke that last bit of sagely advice was a wonderful moment.

I absolutely loved Rey and Ren's storyline throughout this movie. They continue to be the two most interesting characters throughout this new trilogy and that's exactly how it should be. I loved that Ren killed Snoke, because if he hadn't this trilogy would've just been a rehash of the first trilogy. I mean even the whole Ren taking Rey to Snoke scene was almost beat for beat just like Return of the Jedi when Vader took Luke to the Emperor. Rey even said, "I sense the conflict within you". I mean come one. So when he killed Snoke, I was happy. I know everyone thought that it was going to come down to Luke and Snoke, but even Luke said in the movie, that it wasn't going to go how you think. The fact that Ren is now ultimately evil and unable to be saved adds to the stakes and to his character I think and it works that much more now that he's in charge. The only thing that I'm looking for from Ren are the Knights of Ren. Where the hell are they?

I like Rose as a character but her and Finn's entire arc could've been done away with. It was unnecessary I thought. Also, like most people, I hated Superman Leia. I mean, come on. I loved the new powers that the force users showed, though. It deepens the mythology of the force and I think that's a good thing. We can't keep seeing the same old tricks, hearing the same old speeches, and blowing up the same old Deathstar. Which is why I think this movie was so good, it was different.

I'd give it a 9/10. I loved this entry into Star Wars.

 

[SPX]

Lots and lots of contention floating around about the new Star Wars.

Personally, I had an excellent time watching it in the theater but upon further reflection I have cooled on it slightly. There are definitely some questionable plot elements and Rian Johnson made some decisions that could be perceived as hostile toward the fans.

I'm not sure that Luke needed to be handled the way that he is in the film and Rey is also over-powered and Rian missed the opportunity to handle her training in a way that makes her abilities seem believable.

But like I said, when I caught it in the theater I enjoyed it a lot.

I'll give it a 7.5. A solid sci-fi film, but not nearly as good as that OTHER big sci-fi film from 2017, Blade Runner 2049.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

6/10

I wasn't too crazy about the scene with Leia flying through space, because it looked ridiculous, but there's no denying Carrie Fisher's strong presence. Hamill was great as this bitter and reclusive old man, who just wants to be left alone, and I'm glad they made the decision to kill off Snoke, because he was just a poor man's version of Palpatine in my eyes.

Overall, I'd say The Last Jedi was forgettable. Rey and Ren's storyline's were the highlights of the movie for me. They did a good job of building the looming showdown between the two, but Finn is still uninteresting and boring. Rose? She was okay as another comic relief character, but she really didn't add anything to the movie, and the obvious love triangle storyline they're trying to build feels forced.

When you consider who he is and what his character means to the series, Luke's death provided a poignant and genuinely emotional moment. I get the feeling more people would've preferred Luke giving it his all in one last lightsaber duel with Ren, but Luke using his Force projection as a diversion against Ren and The First Order was a nice surprise and a good swerve.

The Last Jedi feels like one of those set-up sequels, with the primary focus geared towards setting things in motion for the next sequel. I don't think it's as bad as lot of people are making out it to be, and the die hard fans will never put anything close to or above Episodes 4-6. I get it, and with the big divisive reaction, it's no surprise the audience score on Rotten Tomatoes sits at a 48%. They're viewed as classics, especially The Empire Strikes Back, but you can't rule out nostalgia playing a big part in the untouchable status.

Out of all the new Star Wars films, I still believe Rogue One is the best. It's a nearly perfect blend of emotion, action, high stakes, and although you know what's going to happen, the big finale is loaded with some good thrills and tense moments.

 

[enviousdominous]

Spoilers below, yadda yadda, read at your own risk.

I don't ever go into a movie theater with high expectations, so the fact that I mildly enjoyed this movie isn't necessarily a recommendation.

I've always been a sucker for the Luke and Leia thing. My favorite scene of the whole series was where Luke was calling out for Leia when he was on the brink of falling from Cloud City, and she heard him. The fact that this movie gave me what I saw as a final farewell between Luke and Leia more than made it worth the money I paid to see it.

I didn't much like being taken in the direction of the casino scene, but I'm also a sucker for scenes involving liberating captive animals no matter how implausible. I really didn't like how short they sold Captain Phasma (again). While I was hoping that she would be able to establish herself as a badass of the series, she went down more pathetically than Boba Fett.

The training scenes seemed like comic relief at best and the only actual difference they seemed to make was discovering more about Kylo's past.

Snoke went down like a bitch, which was very disappointing and seemed to undermine his presence in the previous movie. There should have been some kind of fight, maybe him versus Kylo and Rey. He got cut in half, because he wasn't paying attention to the positioning of a lightsaber that was right fucking next to him. Free advice; if you're in close proximity to someone with telekinetic abilities and wavering morals, don't leave deadly objects in positions where they could easily be used to kill you. Jabba was harder to kill than Snoke.

This movie felt very transitional. It didn't necessarily disappoint me, but it didn't leave me with any "that was so cool!" reactions.

4 out of 10 for me. The only thing I got out of it was Leia and Luke.

 

[Trance Metaphor]

Yes, Spoilers.

I have only seen A New Hope (Special Edition), The Empire Strikes Back (Special Edition), Revenge of the Sith, The Force Awakens and Rogue One at the theatre, but as a big Star Wars fan, I try to see all upcoming Star Wars movies at the theatre because it's the most fun that way.

The Last Jedi was interesting. I know the comedic timing/parts didn't gel well with a lot of people, but they did for the most part with me including the beginning exchange between General Hux and Poe Dameron. The fight against the Dreadnought was awesome and was expected of a Star Wars movie.

Finn and Poe Dameron had good interaction in this one, but at the same time, I felt like Finn's moments were sparse here compared to TFA. He did nothing memorable. Princess Leia being nuked out along with Admiral Ackbar made me think that that was the way they were gonna send her off. Nope. She used the force to return. At first, I thought, when and how did she learn to do that? But I later theorized that there's a lot that must've happened in the 30 years that I don't know about and perhaps during that time, she must've learned it from Luke or whatever. Still, that's just a theory.

Canto Bight was stupid. I feel like they could've drastically shortened that entire part by taking out the fathier rescue and ride. Hell, maybe they could've just had them meet DJ and get out of there already. That could've put more focus on Rey's training. I didn't care about Rose.

Rey's training felt lacklustre. She didn't struggle. She just knows how to do everything, so it's like she didn't even need Luke Skywalker's guidance or training. I did like lesson one, because now Rey knows what the force actually is. I liked her staff fight with Luke. Grumpy and disillusioned Luke was cool. It was different and what happened in 30 years is understandable if he wants to shut himself off from the force. His self-blame for what happened to Kylo Ren was believable. I can also see how for a split second he ignited his light saber only to feel shame. He lost himself in darkness for a few seconds when he smashed his light saber against Darth Vader's until he cut his hand off in ROTJ. It's not like Luke is a flawless Jedi master with no times of regret at all. I don't care about the porgs. Yoda making his appearance was cool. But, they sure are putting Rey over as knowing everything. Episode IX should just explain that she's a force child.

The way Kylo Ren and Rey were connected by the force was interesting. Snoke's death was surprising, but for all his hype, it was also disappointing. The Kylo Ren & Rey vs Praetorian guards was awesome. This movie looked good all the way through. Very cool cinematography. Music by John Williams was great as usual.

Finn vs Captain Phasma was a slight improvement from the TFA disappointment of Phasma doing nothing. Even though this was my favourite one vs one fight in the movie, I still felt like Phasma's constant Kenny-ing sucked. Come on Brienne of Tarth! You can do better!

I hated Holdo and her condescending behaviour towards Poe Dameron. The entire thing was nonsensical. I get it. She thinks Poe is "trouble" because he defied Leia's orders previously, but it put her plan in near jeopardy due to the mutiny...all because she wouldn't tell him the plan. She could've just said "Yes. I have a plan." I don't know. Her sacrifice was cool though. That scene looked great with the silence.

The last part on Crait was fun. It was new and the skirmish between the resistance and the First Order culminated with Finn trying to sacrifice himself to save his allies...only to have Rose interfere and make a very awkward and out-of-place kiss scene with an explosion happening at the same time. I didn't like that. She could've just said what she said and fainted right as the explosion happened and Finn looked over.

Uh oh, Luke Skywalker comes back and it looks like there's gonna be a bad-ass scene between him and the AT-AT's. Yep. After all that effort and Luke dusts his shoulder off, my heart is racing. It's exciting. But there's barely a light saber fight between Kylo Ren and Luke Skywalker afterwards. Luke just toys with him and I mean, if he can touch Leia and give her the dice, then I'm sure he can make his light saber touch Kylo Ren's. Not even three clashes of the sabers. Two dodges and then the revelation of force projection...which in its own was awesome, but man I wanted a proper light saber duel. That's what I waited for. Then Luke gives himself to the force like Obi-Wan Kenobi.

I watched the Last Jedi in the theatre twice just like I did with The Force Awakens. Even after watching it twice, I couldn't figure out whether I liked it or not. A few days later, I kind of felt upset and hated it and went online to watch reviews on YouTube that shared my thoughts. A month and a few weeks later, I ended up watching the movie twice more via digital purchase and picked up on some dialogue that I must've not caught in my first two initial viewings. There was more I could put into perspective. I actually like this movie overall though. It has grown on me with repeated viewings.

7.5/10