Star Wars episode 8 : The last Jedi

[Freyaka]

Freyaka! OMG! LMAO!

Seriously, as you could probably guess, I'm not the best person if you're looking for a critique of the films. I'm a fanboy that leans more towards enjoying the stuff regardless of issues.

That said, I enjoyed it regardless. lol.

I have spent plenty of time since seeing the movie Friday in reading the comments online from various fans. I get where the complaints come from. Some I agree with, some I disagree with. I do feel that Rotten Tomatoes was brigaded, and long term will probably even out.

My wife came out of Thor: Ragnarok pissed off about the Disney-fication of what should have been a great movie. She hated it and while she didn't say anything, I know she was very worried about TLJ going in. Coming out, she was happier with the movie than I was.

Among the many many comments, I did see a bunch of people that were saying that they came out a little unhappy or more on the first viewing, but much happier the second time around. I think I personally spent way too much of the first half of the movie concerned about how they were going to handle X mystery or X loose thread from TFA... and I started to worry part way in that it felt like they weren't getting to anything good for quite a while. After a few times when it felt like it should be closing in on the climax, and realizing I was wrong... I remembered how long the movie was, and I realized how many clips from trailers I'd not yet seen. I calmed down a bit and relaxed and enjoyed the second half much more.

My wife definitely wants to play hooky with me again this week to see it a second time. I look forward to it.

I'm currently trying to find the part of the soundtrack that is reminiscent of the imperial theme though... couldn't find it scanning through.

The soundtrack is on spotify in case you weren't aware. I was listening to it to hype myself up for the movie. the Anch-to theme was great!

[Freyaka]

I dunno, I about died when poor Chewie was trying to enjoy is Kentucky Fried Porg and had to deal with his future meal crying in front of him. Some of the humor fell flat, but the Porgs were great.

The biggest complaint that just has me shaking my head is the people that are like "MARY SUE!!! MARY SUE!!!" People just cannot accept that Rey picked up on the force and lightsabers without years of training. I've heard it called "lazy writing"

I've tried to point out Luke's experience consisted of one lesson with Obi-wan, a week or two at best with Yoda and then nothing, and then he goes and takes on Vader his father who HAS had years of training and holds his own, eventually defeating him.

So it's fine and believable for Luke, but if Rey does it, she's an over powered mary sue. I'm yet to get an angry fan boy explanation of how Luke's situation was any different from Rey's.

[EddieMac]

Was a little disappointed in some parts...but liked a lot of it too.

Total fan boy too,

The cutesy characters scattered throughout, albeit addding humour, annoyed me. It was distracting from the story.

And although the little humours quips were well placed....they were not all pulled off very well, and didn’t suit the characters using them

Other than that... good show.

[LordTrychon]

Freyaka! OMG! LMAO!

Seriously, as you could probably guess, I'm not the best person if you're looking for a critique of the films. I'm a fanboy that leans more towards enjoying the stuff regardless of issues.

That said, I enjoyed it regardless. lol.

I have spent plenty of time since seeing the movie Friday in reading the comments online from various fans. I get where the complaints come from. Some I agree with, some I disagree with. I do feel that Rotten Tomatoes was brigaded, and long term will probably even out.

My wife came out of Thor: Ragnarok pissed off about the Disney-fication of what should have been a great movie. She hated it and while she didn't say anything, I know she was very worried about TLJ going in. Coming out, she was happier with the movie than I was.

Among the many many comments, I did see a bunch of people that were saying that they came out a little unhappy or more on the first viewing, but much happier the second time around. I think I personally spent way too much of the first half of the movie concerned about how they were going to handle X mystery or X loose thread from TFA... and I started to worry part way in that it felt like they weren't getting to anything good for quite a while. After a few times when it felt like it should be closing in on the climax, and realizing I was wrong... I remembered how long the movie was, and I realized how many clips from trailers I'd not yet seen. I calmed down a bit and relaxed and enjoyed the second half much more.

My wife definitely wants to play hooky with me again this week to see it a second time. I look forward to it.

I'm currently trying to find the part of the soundtrack that is reminiscent of the imperial theme though... couldn't find it scanning through.

[Freyaka]

Oh and one last thing (highlight for spoilers)

This just in, Kylo Ren has been put on leave of absence as Supreme Leader by the first order, due to recent reports that he sent unsolicited shirtless force connections to a female force user. The investigation is ongoing.

[Freyaka]

Obviously spoilers ahead I'm going to white out the key bits. Highlight to see them.


The humor was not the problem. I stand by that, the humor wasn't that much different than every other Star Wars movie. The problem was that the director isn't a very good director. He tried to weave too many webs of story together and the first half of the movie suffered for it. The whole Rose and Finn nonsense. That's the most damaging part of the movie. It's pointless, it serves no purpose, it was a stupid freaking plot The problem was the pacing of the movie. It spent too much time cutting between too many strands of story and you never developed an interest in any of the individual strands because you never stuck with one for long enough to care. The movie only starts to shine once enough of those threads have converged into one place so that the pacing slows down and the story can be told. The final hour or so of the film is fantastic, but you have to suffer through the first half to get to the worthwhile second half.

It's not the best since Empire, it just flat out isn't. It's better than the prequels, but that's where I'd put it. I don't by far hate it, I liked the direction it ended up in, the convoluted mess leading up to that was what kept this from being a better overall film.

Now the rest is going to mostly be spoilers so it's all gonna be white

I liked where they went with Luke, he felt like a broken and more cynical version of Yoda. I wish the film would have cut out the Finn and Rose story all together and focus more on Luke and Rey. There was more there that could have been explored, but instead we got little bits and pieces here and there.

I liked Yoda showing up and basically telling Luke to get his crap together and remember what he taught him. It was good seeing the whimsical dagobah Yoda again.

I didn't like them killing Luke off, however, that final shot, with the two suns and Luke in the forground. That was an extremely beautiful cinematic masterpiece that did an amazing job of calling back to our very first moments with Luke on Tatooine. That was a beautiful send off.


*edit* oh and please don't hit reply to my comment if you haven't seen the movie. You will see the spoilers. Also probably best if no one quotes my post directly without removing the spoilers, I don't know if they will bleed through.

[Lumiere]

Not much of a review, I'm holding off for about a week so I don't spoil anything. I will say this --Mark Hamill said that he disagreed with literally everything Luke Skywalker says and does in this film, and I have to agree with him now, unfortunately.

I myself am hardcore (I've seen every film in the theaters when they came out, and most on opening day since 1983 when I was finally old enough to control that) and I am old school. I am also an old Disney fan and an old Marvel fan too. But this latest stuff with the main saga films is disrespectful to the canon, and now looks to be merely Disney's "McStar Wars" cash cow. But at least the spinoff films are decent so far, and I'll bet that "Solo" will be better than TLJ!

I really wish that Lucas was doing the stories. He is so excellent at that, a true visionary and Joseph Campbell's "best student" on mythology and archetypes --which is the true power and substance behind Star Wars that makes it so compelling, even 45 years later! He just sucked at a lot of the execution -- dialogue, character direction, etc. When he left that part that to others like Irvin Kirshner (ESB), and Steven Spielberg (Indy), the results were truly awesome!

D'oh! Maybe “review” wasn’t quite the right word…your summary critique of the movie. That’s exactly the mind frame that I’m looking for in a review of this movie. An old school fan who will hold Disney to an high level of accountability given the history of this franchise. If Disney’s modus operandi is to release new Star Wars content using recycled plots, they will surely make billions. The movies would be “safe” offerings…some vintage Star Wars narrative covered in bubble wrap.

Eagerly awaiting the full review, bud!

[L.M.]

Thanks for the review, LM. Red Box it is!

Disney and Star Wars might be a match made in heaven. There are loads of hyperzealous (the fanaticism is off the charts and is deserving of its own word) Disney fans that believe Disney can do no wrong…anything and everything Disney gets a golden review. Likewise, there are fanatical Star Wars fans who would probably wait in line for a week to see the first screening…and afterwards, be glad that they did. The combination of the two could produce brain meltdown in many people.

I suppose like most things, the truth lies somewhere in between.

Not much of a review, I'm holding off for about a week so I don't spoil anything. I will say this --Mark Hamill said that he disagreed with literally everything Luke Skywalker says and does in this film, and I have to agree with him now, unfortunately.

I myself am hardcore (I've seen every film in the theaters when they came out, and most on opening day since 1983 when I was finally old enough to control that) and I am old school. I am also an old Disney fan and an old Marvel fan too. But this latest stuff with the main saga films is disrespectful to the canon, and now looks to be merely Disney's "McStar Wars" cash cow. But at least the spinoff films are decent so far, and I'll bet that "Solo" will be better than TLJ!

I really wish that Lucas was doing the stories. He is so excellent at that, a true visionary and Joseph Campbell's "best student" on mythology and archetypes --which is the true power and substance behind Star Wars that makes it so compelling, even 45 years later! He just sucked at a lot of the execution -- dialogue, character direction, etc. When he left that part that to others like Irvin Kirshner (ESB), and Steven Spielberg (Indy), the results were truly awesome!

[Lumiere]

Well...I feel about how I felt after TFA, underwhelmed, disappointed, and that the film was overrated by the critics and the hype. There were some very likable, enjoyable and entertaining aspects to TLJ which pulled me in, but the treatment of certain characters and outcomes and the blatant copying of multiple story elements from the original trilogy (yet again!) pushed me back out.

At this point I do like it better than TFA, slightly. TFA 5/10 TLJ 5.5/10 maybe, but I need to watch it again to decide.

Thanks for the review, LM. Red Box it is!

Disney and Star Wars might be a match made in heaven. There are loads of hyperzealous (the fanaticism is off the charts and is deserving of its own word) Disney fans that believe Disney can do no wrong…anything and everything Disney gets a golden review. Likewise, there are fanatical Star Wars fans who would probably wait in line for a week to see the first screening…and afterwards, be glad that they did. The combination of the two could produce brain meltdown in many people.

I suppose like most things, the truth lies somewhere in between.

[L.M.]

The movie was too silly, childish for my taste. It's a Disney movie for kids. I need a dark, mature version of Star Wars written and directed by Rob Zombie or Quentin Tarantino, with a lot of Jedi and Sith stuff going on.

Rod wants a porg doll for Christmas!

[L.M.]

Rotten Tomatoes TLJ

93% fresh score from critics

57% (spilled popcorn icon) audience score. It's rare to see such disparity between these two numbers unless it's the reverse, diehard fans vs persnickety critics.

But it makes me wonder now if Disney owns a bunch of critics. Do their films ever get rotten ratings?

They know (as nearly everyone knows now) that Rotten Tomatoes has grown in power and their critical scores affect peoples' decisions in the consumer market. Some studios have openly complained that they are hurting their business.

Anyway, I hope it's not true, but I can't help but feel a little suspicious now.

[L.M.]

Well...I feel about how I felt after TFA, underwhelmed, disappointed, and that the film was overrated by the critics and the hype. There were some very likable, enjoyable and entertaining aspects to TLJ which pulled me in, but the treatment of certain characters and outcomes and the blatant copying of multiple story elements from the original trilogy (yet again!) pushed me back out.

At this point I do like it better than TFA, slightly. TFA 5/10 TLJ 5.5/10 maybe, but I need to watch it again to decide.

[Freyaka]

Well Star Wars and empire were not kid like.... especially empire.... but since the introduction of ewoks.....


Ya....and rock bottom was jar jar....

3po and r2? Little mouse droids rolling around making goofy noises. YODA There has always been an element of childish humor mixed in with the darker adult overtones.

[EddieMac]

Well Star Wars and empire were not kid like.... especially empire.... but since the introduction of ewoks.....


Ya....and rock bottom was jar jar....

[Freyaka]

The movie was too silly, childish for my taste. It's a Disney movie for kids. I need a dark, mature version of Star Wars written and directed by Rob Zombie or Quentin Tarantino, with a lot of Jedi and Sith stuff going on.

Teddy bears and an illiterate child level intelligence alien are find, but if Disney's involved...stupid kids movies. I mean you've got the right to feel that way, I just find this statement funny considering star wars has always been a kids movie with dark overtones woven in. It was that way in the original series, it was that way in the prequels.

I haven't seen it yet, I will be watching tomorrow afternoon so I don't really have an opinion on the movie, I just found this criticism to be humorous.