Star Wars, Episode VIII

[yovargas]

The Canto Bight stuff is pure Cantina/Mos Eisley/Jabba's Palace/Cloud City...

I'd say it's probably worse than all of those, and I say that as someone who hates everything about the Jabba scene. That chase on those horse-things was super lame and superfluous. I might rather watch a podrace. (Okay, maybe not *that* bad. )

Contrived story? Have you even seen the original trilogy?

Yes. It's super contrived.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

It's a space opera. It's supposed to be contrived.

[yovargas]

Better storytellers are a bit better at hiding the seams.

[Alatar]

Yeah, but then it wouldn't be Star Wars!

[Frelga]

Just saw it. I thought it was excellent. Possibly the best of the lot, or tied with TFA.

[Impenitent]

I've got past needing Star Wars to be 'good'. I enjoy these new incarnations as pure entertainment without any need for deep and meaningful analysis. Otherwise, the disappointment would squash yhe enjoyment.

I'm surprised no one commented on the Kylo Ren t-shirt. I was impressed because it was produced so quickly following the film release.

Sent from a tiny phone keyboard via Tapatalk - typos inevitable.

[Túrin Turambar]

I’ve just returned from seeing it. Honestly, it didn’t work for me. There isn’t one single thing I can point to which wasn’t well done, but I found myself bored and fidgeting for most of it. If I had to be more specific, the re-hashing of previous plots and characters gets on my nerves, and I thought the overall plot was pretty thin given the length of the film. These were similar to my criticisms of TFA, and I found TFA forgettable and haven’t felt any urge to re-watch it since I saw it in the theatre.

I agree with yov that the story came across as contrived, like a sequence of video game levels each with a ‘boss’ or some other arbitrary objective. This is obviously an issue with Star Wars in general, but I found myself asking a sceptical “why?” more in this one than I usually do. I struggled to buy into the universe, and didn’t find myself invested like I did with Rogue One (even though I knew the outcome there going in).

[Primula Baggins]

I saw it last night, and overall I quite enjoyed it. However, there was a lot of wasted narrative. Defeat after defeat after defeat, and after a while it was numbing. And Canto Bight—

Hidden text.

they never achieved their objective, they just got in, failed, and got out alive. When I've written a chapter like that in a novel, that pointless loop of plot cries out to be excised from end to end, and almost always it does nothing to the remainder of the story to do so. Even if there is Cool Stuff in the problem chapter, or Big Character Moments. If it doesn't advance the story, it doesn't (IMO) belong.

I did actually find myself liking Kylo Ren a lot. And Rey. And Finn, and Rose, and Poe, and all the "new" characters. I wasn't fully invested after Episode 7, but I am now.

Rogue One is still my favorite of the "new" films. I'm looking forward to the Han Solo one next year.

[Alatar]

This says most of what I think about The Last Jedi (and Ars Technica also gave it Best Film of 2017)

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/12/ ... -for-kids/

[yovargas]

The article could easily be read as an apologist defense for the prequel's and therefore everything about it is null and void.

[Alatar]

Funnily enough, I heard some Teens/Early Twenties describing The Last Jedi as "full of Prequel Nonsense" and I had a to fight the temptation to yell out "You weren't there! You don't get to talk about the prequels! Its like Vietnam, man!!"

All joking aside though, most of the people complaining about these movies are the ones who were kids when the Prequels came out, so they never had that gut wrenching visceral disappointment. They're making up for it now, but they really don't realise how lucky they are that they have so little to complain about. They complain about a grumpy Luke, we had a whiny teen Vader! They complain about a plot strand with no payoff, we had the Jedi reduced to tax collectors in trade disputes and a senate vote! They complain about Luke not getting a heroic end, we waited decades to see Anakin turn into Vader.... Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

[yovargas]

[yovargas]

(Posted just cuz it's cool.)

[Túrin Turambar]

The article could easily be read as an apologist defense for the prequel's and therefore everything about it is null and void.

I agree (and I heard quite a bit of this when the Prequels came out). Plus, there are kids'/families' movies which are exceptionally good on their own merits, like The Lion King and the Incredibles, so I've never accepted that they must be inferior in some way. And I would argue Star Wars is not and never has been a kids' movie in the same way Disney/Pixar films are.

[River]

Saw it. Will say more when the baby is fed and I can type with both hands, but I liked it less than Rogue One but more than Episodes I-III and Episode VII. My husband disliked it for reasons people in this thread have already stated.

I liked grumpy, snarky Luke. I like the new characters. And the critters were awesome. Just the right amount of cute IMO.

[River]

Okay, coast is clear(ish)...

Some more fleshed out thoughts. As mentioned, I liked it less than Rogue One, but more than any other Star Wars movie that has come out since RotJ. The acting was great, the visuals were everything to be expected/hoped for, and the new characters are actually developed. My main beef is it sometimes felt like it was barely hanging together. The Canto Bight excursion is only worthwhile if it has some significance in Episode IX. I'm also left wondering if attempting desertion at least once/movie is going to be a thing with Finn. In TFA he successfully ditched the First Order and he's been trying to shake off the Resistance ever since. Though he never quite succeeds.

[Anduril]

Not gonna see this film after the last one made the original series, let alone the prequels, utterly pointless for absolutely no believable reason (except cynical nostalgia money). And from everything I've heard, this just reinforces it. Talk about beating a dead horse, they went further and butchered it.

This whole travesty puts PJ's Tolkien trilogies in perspective. We really lucked out in hindsight. If you thought that was doing a disservice to stuff at times...

[Alatar]

Mark Hamill took to Twitter on Tuesday to apologize for his recent comments criticizing director Rian Johnson’s portrayal of Luke Skywalker in “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.”

“I regret voicing my doubts and insecurities in public. Creative differences are a common element of any project but usually remain private,” he tweeted. “All I wanted was to make a great movie. I got more than that — @rianjohnson made an all-time GREAT one!”
#HumbledHamill https://twitter.com/StupendousWave/stat ... 9150500865 …

Hamill commented in response to an IMDb interview where he said, “I’ve had trouble accepting what [Rian Johnson] saw for Luke but again, I mean, I have to say, having seen the movie I was wrong. I think being pushed out of your comfort zone is a good thing because if I was just another benevolent Jedi training young padawans, we’ve seen it!”

The actor, who has played Skywalker since 1977, has made a number of similar comments criticizing Johnson and his character’s portrayal throughout the film’s press tour. He told Spanish outlet SensaCine, “I almost had to think of Luke as another character. Maybe he’s Jake Skywalker — he’s not my Luke Skywalker.”

Some “Star Wars” fans have echoed Hamill’s sentiments on the new direction taken in “The Last Jedi,” but that hasn’t stopped the film from dominating the box office since its Dec. 14 release.

Naturally, the fanboys are now claiming he was forced by studio pressure to issue an apology. I despair of my fellow geeks sometimes.

[Anduril]

People can be wrong. He wasn't before, but he is now.

Also, it's bad form not to put up a united front, especially when it's about your film that's still in theaters. For instance, the director of the newest Fantastic Four movie complained about studio interference on social media. Now he can't get gigs. More recently, the replacement director of Justice League (instrument of that kind of studio interference) agreed on social media that the villain was poor. He got flak for that too.

Maybe "forced" isn't the right word, but rather "advised" or "nudged". We'll know the truth in his autobiography 20 years from now.

[Pearly Di]

Not gonna see this film after the last one made the original series, let alone the prequels, utterly pointless for absolutely no believable reason (except cynical nostalgia money). And from everything I've heard, this just reinforces it. Talk about beating a dead horse, they went further and butchered it.

I prefer these new films to the prequels by miles.

I demand absolutely nothing from a Star Wars movie except sheer entertainment. I demand only a couple of thoroughly enjoyable hours at the cinema featuring characters I like, an immersive world and great set-pieces.

The Force Awakens, Rogue One (which I LOVED, seriously, what is NOT to love about that film) and The Last Jedi all deliver that degree of entertainment in spades.

This whole travesty puts PJ's Tolkien trilogies in perspective. We really lucked out in hindsight. If you thought that was doing a disservice to stuff at times...

Oh, I still have loads of issues with PJ's LotR and always will have. There is also so much to love to pieces.

So here's my shallow reaction to Last Jedi:

- I really liked the film, but maybe it's a tad too long.
- Grumpy Luke. Worked for me.
- I do like battle scenes in which someone like me can actually work out what's going on.
- I totally ship Kylo Ren and Rey. Oh yeah.
- Kylo Ren, you magnificently moody, emo, Severus Snape-y anti-hero, you. Bless. So much more interesting than Vader.
- I also ship Finn and Rey. I'm sure it'll all work out somehow.
- Rose. Top girl.
- Loved Laura Dern space-captaining it like a boss, AND with mauve hair. What is not to love.
- I want a Porg as a pet, also one of those gorgeous little crystal foxes.
- So many scenes on Skellig!