Star Wars (Spoilers)

[scotmany12]

Yeah Last Jedi was great. Not perfect but no Star Wars movie is. Is the main complaints just the humor (which has always been a part of Star Wars) and the Finn subplot? I actually like that Finn and co failed with it, shows that plans actually don't always work in space war.

[scotmany12]

I do wish we could learn about Snoke more though. I also thought the very ending could have been done better.

Rey's parents being no bodies is more than fine. Don't know why people complain about that.

Also anyone complaining about physics in a Star Wars movies has to just be trolling.

[scotmany12]

Kylo Ren explains in the TFA that they get the map from records from the Jedi archives or something like that. As to why a part of it is missing who knows.

Also don't know if I mentioned it but I liked TFA so I'm one who likes both TFA and TLJ. I don't know where I would placed them but IV V VII and VIII are definitely the best.

[scotmany12]

I think the only big questions left over from TFA were Snoke on Rey's parents. I'm happy with Rey's parents not being anybody of notice. I think that's way better than making her Luke's daughter or something like that. Only other loose ends are like the map (which meh not a big deal) and Luke's light saber being found which also not a huge deal (I assume it has something to do with mining a gas giant duh).

I would love more backstory to Snoke.

[scotmany12]

Yoda was great and had probably the best lines in the movie. Also Adam Driver is amazing and Kylo Ren is everything Anakin Skywalker should have been.

I am also seeing a lot of hate around Luke's characterization in this movie. Im about to go to bed so I don't have time to get into it but I think how he is portrayed is brilliant.

[scotmany12]

I like the Finn/Po dynamic but Finn not dying felt kind of cheap given I think it'd have been a fairly decent way to go

Finn shouldn't have died, but he also shouldn't have been put into a position like this because you're right. At the point at which he was making that suicide run he should have died. OR alternatively at least Rose Tico should have sacrificed herself. She could have come out of nowhere just like she did in this one, but rather than doing so pointlessly she could have been the one to take it out.

I am going to give more thoughts in a bit (still really like the movie) but I'm surprised this is such a common thought. I thought it was obviously that Finns ship thing was falling apart and that he was never going to be able to stop the laser. That he would just be killing himself (this isn't Independence Day).

[scotmany12]

Yeah Finn is but everyone else knows it won't work. It's why Poe calls everyone back, there was no stopping the drill at that point.

[scotmany12]

Like his speeder thing was clearly falling apart. It's shot where you should know it wouldn't work.

[scotmany12]

Also I am going back and forth and whether or not Finn thought it would work or if he was just running away by needlessly sacrificing himself. Finns development here is definitely the thing I'm least sure about (John Boyega is great though).

[scotmany12]

Okay, some quick thoughts during my break.

The Good

-Kylo Ren
-Overall, the acting was pretty good
-Rey's interactions with Kylo, and both their development
-That the rebellion basically fails. At almost everything they do. And the Finn/Poe/Rose plan is ultimate what cause the downfall (without them trying to turn of the tracker, the escape pods make it to the base unnoticed)
-The dissent among the rebels. It's part of the reason why I liked rogue 1, and I liked it here. It works with Poe's character development. How he went from continuing an attack that cost a lot of lives in the beginning (that ultimately accomplished very little) to pulling back in the attack on the drill. Also, Holdo doesn't have to tell Poe anything, she's the commanding officer, not him.
-Kylo Ren
-"We are what they grow beyond. That is the true burden of all masters." "Failure is the most courageous teacher." Thanks Yoda. You were great.
-The action scenes, especially the throne room fight (thank god the royal guard dudes actually put up a fight) and the hyperspace battering ram
-Kylo Ren
-Luke's character arc. I see a lot of hate of the idea that Luke had a moment of darkness where he considered killing Ben. That works with who Luke is. Even in RotJ, he has a moment where he considers killing Vader. And people forget that Luke only had, at most, a year of training with Yoda. There is no inclination that he might be a good master. He failed at being a master, and I like that. His growth to saving the others works, and I'm fine with him passing onto the force.
-Rey's parents being nobodies is good.
-I like how Hux is basically a cartoon villain.
-Seriously, Kyle Ren. Adam Driver is amazing.

Unsure

-Finn. I'm going back and forth on just how much he developed. And I don't know if either way if it is a bad thing. I loved when he called himself rebel scum though

The Bad

-The chase between the ships stuff. It just came off as a poorly done imitation of Battlestar Galactica.
-The execution of Canto Bright. I like that they showed basically rich people in the galaxy, who aren't necessary aligned to either the first order or the rebellion. I just don't think it was done very well. Tried to do too much with the kids and the war profiteering and everything.
-Rose. I truthfully just didn't think the actress was great. It's the one performance I thought was done poorly (except for maybe snoke). I understand the point of the character, just didn't think it was executed well. Also don't really see any chemistry between her and Finn. That felt forced.
-Some humor does fall flat, though I think the only time it really does truly take away from the gravitas is after Finn defeats Phasma.
-The very ending with the kid and the force grabbing the broom. Don't care about some kid. I also don't think it works as the ending to part 2 of a trilogy.

Probably more rambling in there than I meant to be, and I'm still going back and forth on some stuff. But I thought it was a great film. I need to see it more to decide if its better than TFA but that won't happen for a while. I don't plan on spending money to see it in theaters again.

[scotmany12]

Oh, also. Leia force thing. Just badly done and didn't need it. Find another way for her to survive. Totally fine with Ackbar having basically one line before dying. Get over it people. He barely had any part in the OT to begin with.

[scotmany12]

Yeah, her doing that kind of ruins the entire point of the arc? Like, it starts off with Rose chastising Finn for wanting to abandon the rebels to go help someone he cares about, and then ends with Rose stopping Finn from saving the rebels because she cares about him?
Kind of bonkers.
Not sure how that made it into the final draft of the script.

Because Finn wasn't going to save the rebels (whether or not he thought he was)..all he was going to do was kill himself.

[scotmany12]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the cannon fire right after rose knocks Finn out of the way? And Finn still had a decent distant to go in his speeder that was getting torn apart? He was never going to make it to the drill.

[scotmany12]

Basically, Finn is becoming like Poe (he's learning to fight for a cause, not just who he cares for), while Poes arc is him learning to be a leader.

I can go more into on my lunch break.

[scotmany12]

So, there are very clear parallels between Poe's opening attack on the dreadnaught (where he loses basically half the fleet) and Finn's "sacrifice." Poe is told to pull back by Leia. He decides against it, even turning off his comm. It results in many lives dead all for a victory that turns out to mean nothing. We are made to view it as a failure. Leia demotes him, and tells him there were no leaders out there.

Jump to Finn. Poe tells everyone to fall back, realizing they can't reach the drill in time (also not that they do not know reinforcements are not yet coming). Finn does the same thing Poe does, turning off his comm and pushing forward. Plus the way it is shot just points to it resulting in failure. The drill is already heating up, it's tearing Finns speeder apart. Why do people think it would have stopped the drill? The final shot would have just obliterated him and still took out the door. Maybe it could have been done better, but I think the intent was definitely to show that Finn would not have been successful.

Also, Yoda basically spells out one of the main themes of the movie, failure. Finn wasn't going to succeed in stopping the drill, and everyone but him knew it. Hence Rose saving him.

[scotmany12]

That was more towards Hiplop.

Finn's arc is about him finding something to fight for other than Rey and Poe. In the beginning of the film, he doesn't really care about the Rebel's cause. He cares for Rey, hence trying to run away. At the end, he truly views himself as a rebel and is willing to die for it, even though his plan was foolish and would have been futile. He becomes Poe.

[scotmany12]

rose saved him by charging into him full speed in front of a heating up laser and it was treated as a fine and rational decision

By who? The only one who even addresses it is Finn who yells at her. All the other speeders have already turned back.

[scotmany12]

Well Rose kisses Finn who acts kinda shocked then Rose passes out, with the next time we see both of them Finn asking for a medic for her. Not sure how that points to anyone saying her decision was rational. She was trying to save a friend from basically killing himself. That's all there is to it.

[scotmany12]

No cause Rose knows Finn won't stop the laser. That's the whole point...

[scotmany12]

Still love TLJ

[scotmany12]

A lot of the world building, unfortunately, has been relegated to all the other media in the franchise. I believe a lot of the novels expand on who the new order is, why there is a resistance, etc. Which obviously not everyone is going to experience.

Still love TLJ, definitely top 4 for me.

[scotmany12]

TLJ still great

[scotmany12]

TLJ still a great movie

[scotmany12]

Also complaining about laws of space in a star wars film is hilarious