The Last Jedi

Well, I've just come back from my 2nd viewing of Star Wars - The Last Jedi!

and...

it...

was...

not that good!


2nd viewing was better than the first, but it still lacked that Star Wars feel, and the first half dragged like crazy.  There were a few redeeming features, including Kylo who was great, and seeing some of the battles and fights, but all in all I was rather underwhelmed.

Better than Attack Of The Clone, but not as good as any of the others!

I totally have to disagree with this.  While not the same as other Star Wars movies, I think this is what I loved about it.  Luke doesn't act like you'd expect.  The tone is even darker than The Empire Strikes Back.  And, you see that the Force and the whole Star Wars saga doesn't revolve around a Skywalker.  This film gives you an entire universe to explore.

That's all I can say without really giving spoilers.

I do agree that Kylo is definitely more wicked, but he still comes off as just a whiny brat who thought that nobody loves him so he might as well be bad.

Havent seen it yet but will go sometime in the next week or so... I'll stya out of the thread to avoid any spoilers. I havent read the first 2 msgs yet!

alldatndensum wrote:

...

I do agree that Kylo is definitely more wicked, but he still comes off as just a whiny brat who thought that nobody loves him so he might as well be bad.

Just like his role model Anakin!

Staybrite wrote:

alldatndensum wrote:

...

I do agree that Kylo is definitely more wicked, but he still comes off as just a whiny brat who thought that nobody loves him so he might as well be bad.

Just like his role model Anakin!

During episodes 4 & 5, Luke is also a pretty big whine-baby.  The whole Skywalker clan, save for Leia, seems to be a big whine-fest! 

Fundy, despite our differences in our opinions of this movie, you should join me in my quest to mess with people by posting obviously fake spoilers for people on Facebook.  I did this with The Force Awakens and actually had people get mad at me for doing it because they wouldn't actually read the posts.  Now, they've come to expect it and I am getting even very few comments.

alldatndensum wrote:

Staybrite wrote:

alldatndensum wrote:

...

I do agree that Kylo is definitely more wicked, but he still comes off as just a whiny brat who thought that nobody loves him so he might as well be bad.

Just like his role model Anakin!

During episodes 4 & 5, Luke is also a pretty big whine-baby.  The whole Skywalker clan, save for Leia, seems to be a big whine-fest! 

True dat! 

alldatndensum wrote:

Fundy, despite our differences in our opinions of this movie, you should join me in my quest to mess with people by posting obviously fake spoilers for people on Facebook.  I did this with The Force Awakens and actually had people get mad at me for doing it because they wouldn't actually read the posts.  Now, they've come to expect it and I am getting even very few comments.

That could be a good idea.

Funny thing about The Last Jedi, was I liked some of it, just not as much as I hoped.  The best bit by far was when Jar Jar popped in for like half a scene (on the casino planet).  I'm sure they want him to come back in the next movie, and that will surely annoy people no end!

I'm one of the few who didn't hate him.  In fact I think George did a good job with TPM as a film.  He was trying to create another New Hope, and pretty much achieved it, or at least I think he did.

What he got wrong was quite simple.
1 - The kids who watched A New Hope back in '77 have all grown up now, and wanted something 'darker' (a bit like Christopher Nolan did with the Batman films)
2 - Kids nowadays watch a lot scarier stuff than back then, so a silly alien with a stupid voice doesn't really cut it quite the same!

It's not a superb film, but I can see what he was trying to do, and I do enjoy it.  When he realised the audience wanted something darker he did 'Clones', then 'Sith' each one darker and more sinister.  But when you think of Clones there aren't many memorable scenes other than a bit of a fight at the end, and the space pursuit at the beginning.
In The Phantom Menace there were a number of great moments...
-The Pod Race
-Darth Maul
-The battle at the end

So, bring on Jarjar!

I loved it. I think it's my favourite Star Wars film. It has elements of Empire Strikes Back, but it is truly its own film, with new worlds and twist after twist. And humour. And Porgs.

Fundy wrote:

I'm one of the few who didn't hate him.  In fact I think George did a good job with TPM as a film.  He was trying to create another New Hope, and pretty much achieved it, or at least I think he did.

What he got wrong was quite simple.
1 - The kids who watched A New Hope back in '77 have all grown up now, and wanted something 'darker' (a bit like Christopher Nolan did with the Batman films)
2 - Kids nowadays watch a lot scarier stuff than back then, so a silly alien with a stupid voice doesn't really cut it quite the same!

It's not a superb film, but I can see what he was trying to do, and I do enjoy it.  When he realised the audience wanted something darker he did 'Clones', then 'Sith' each one darker and more sinister.  But when you think of Clones there aren't many memorable scenes other than a bit of a fight at the end, and the space pursuit at the beginning.
In The Phantom Menace there were a number of great moments...
-The Pod Race
-Darth Maul
-The battle at the end

So, bring on Jarjar!

The problem with the prequels was the huge reliance upon all the technology to make the films.  The original trilogy had those actors working on live sets in smaller scales and you FELT something for them.  Vader had powers and was shrouded in mystery that made you want to fear him and yet be drawn to him.  Granted the prequels had to build that, but they never achieved that closeness of the characters or truly made you feel that mystery with the villian as you were just writing in what was already known.

Jar-Jar was a huge mistake in my opinion.  Oh, having a alien like him as a character was fine.  The studid voice and the silly antics were just too much for adults to handle.  This character was written for kids in mind and was meant to sell a ton of toys.  It didn't work.  Plus, they killed off Darth Maul so fast and then had to scramble to invent a new big bad each film.  Each new Sith feels rushed and you never get to the place where you love to hate them like we do Darth Vader.  Even Kylo Ren, as whiny as he is, has earned a place at the big bad table unlike Darth Maul, Count Dooku, and General Grievious.  None of those guys come off as believable Sith Lords under Palpatine.

Now, if George Lucas had of made Jar-Jar more serious, they could have worked that to the end that they originally wanted.  There are many tales of how Lucas wanted the story to revolve around Jar-Jar as the ultimate Sith.  He would have been pulling Palpatine's strings had fans liked him.  Lucas wanted this new cute alien to be the antithesis of Yoda in the prequel trilogy.

Darth Maul was interesting in The Phantom Menace.  Had they kept him around longer, he could have really been a cool character.  The pod race bogged down an already slow section with little Mannequin Skywalker.  Sorry, the kid wasn't even cute and gave off almost no emotion with his acting.  Of course, the performances by Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen were near phoned in as well.  Lucas wrote decent stories and did a fantastic job of creating the CG effects, but he seriously forgot how to direct actors in all that creative chaos.

alldatndensum wrote:

Lucas wrote decent stories and did a fantastic job of creating the CG effects, but he seriously forgot how to direct actors in all that creative chaos.

Which reminds me of what Harrison Ford said...

"You can write this **** but you can't expect me to say it."

(Or words to that effect!)

I thought the series of "big bads" in the  prequels were just tools that the Emperor was using to get to his ultimate goal--taking over the Republic and converting Anakin.

I think that is how they tried to sell those lesser Sith or whatever you wish to call them.  However, none of them got much screen time and they almost got lost in the films.  You felt nothing for them which is how most people felt watching the prequels.  You don't have a clear cut hero or villian, so there is not really an emotional attachment to any of the characters.

I, too, was in the approximately half the people that were underwhelmed. I was rather shocked beforehand when I saw the 56% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Once I saw it I understood why the score was that way. It never really pulled me in. BTW, the score has since dropped to 53%.

Part of that drop is due to them not telling anything real about Rey's parents.  I have a feeling they saved that until episode 9.  Also, they give no back story still on Snoke.


BIG SPOILER ALERT--CLICK OUT IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE LATEST STAR WARS MOVIE!!!!

With Snoke's death coming so quickly, people are mad.  They wanted him to be the evil Sith that was Palpatine's master.  That is still possible as he was able to jump from body to body.  Snoke could have sacrificed himself to get a new body and needed a powerful Dark side user to come back into.  Ren is now that person if Disney goes this way.  If they go this route, then I feel people will change their minds about The Last Jedi.  They have to have a big picture story or Ep. 9 really doesn't need to exist.

I think part of it is that a lot of people have in their mind the way they want the story to play out and anything other than that is unacceptable.  Plus you have a big chunk of the fanbase that spent the past 30 years reading the books and so they think that is the way this new chapter should have gone.  Relatively few people are going into these movies prepared to see them for what they are.

Saw it today and it's the first Star Wars movie I ever went to alone. Always saw them with someone and this time no one wanted to go. So the girls dropped me off and went shopping.

I enjoyed it more than I expected and I really liked it. However they could've easily cut out 30-45 min and just saved some of that stuff for the BluRay. Really only gripe is there wasn't enough Chewy. He seemed like a "guest star" with nothing to do and limited screen time but I know these new movies aren't about the original cast. 

Will see it again at some point but really need to go back and watch Force Awakens. Got it on Blu-ray last year and never watched it (yet). Only saw it in theaters the one time when it was released.