this one

 

I recently (as in Monday) decided to torture myself and rewatch Episode 8 of Star Wars. The Last Jedi. I don't believe it ever made it to the spot of my favorite SW movie, due to the lack of true, amazing, dramatic lightsaber vs. lightsaber duels, but I enjoyed it when it first came out. (then again, i've enjoyed every SW movie the first time i saw it and i think all of them have been the fav for a time).

Anyways, I decided today I wanted to let you know my opinion of The Last Jedi and what I think doesn't work about it. The pros and cons, so to speak. If you weren't aware, SPOILERS AHEAD.

To begin on a positive note, I feel like a lot of what Rian Johnson was trying to do could have worked. A lot of his ideas were very interesting, and there was a lot of potential with what he had. The issue was, he did not focus on that potential as much as he should have. 

For example, Poe's arc as a solo, trigger happy hero to a well rounded leader was well done. There was a lot to juggle with all the different storylines to follow, but he had a start and an end point. The transition between start and finish felt very sudden, but it was there. 

On the other hand, Finn's arc from running away to ready to sacrifice himself was not well done. I don't know exactly where the switch was, and there was little to no sign of growth. Just "Oh, I'm running away... and now I'm saving everyone."

The Rey and Ben thing... okay, so I have a love-hate relationship with Reylo. I don't actually mind it if Rey and Finn get together, because one ehhhh thing in SW is that there is literally no media that has a boy and a girl around the same age who are not in a relationship (thinking Ahsoka-Lux, Ezra-Sabine, Anakin-Padme, Obi-Wan-Satine, Leia-Han) so if Finn and Rey are simply platonic, that's great. I think that there could have been a bit more to Rey and Ben's interactions before she ran to him, but I feel like their Force connection thing is not the worst part of the movie (especially since I dEfInItElY haven't used that in my SW stories...).

HOWEVER A FEW MORE THINGS THAT DON'T WORK...

Leia. Oh, Leia. I am not mad that Leia used the Force. I am not mad she survived in space. There is actually a Force skill that lets Jedi survive in space for short periods of time (confirmed in the High Republic series several times, and witnessed in Rebels and I think Clone Wars). HOWEVER. When the bridge explodes... and everyone else explodes... but Leia just kinda Mary Poppins away from everything... no. It doesn't work like that. The ship explodes, all the people explode. Sorry if that's really morbid, but it's truuuuuue. JUST DIE LEIA. 

Phasma. Why did they bring her back? She was chucked down a garbage chute. Starkiller Base EXPLODED. AGAIN. JUST DIE ALREADY, WOMAN. She was literally brought back for the sole purpose of hyping up audiences for the five second Finn-Phasma duel. Hux or any of the other random officers could have done exactly what she did. Disney, when you kill people, LEAVE THEM DEAD.

Snoke. Okay, so Snoke wasn't terrible? I don't mind that he died in 8 rather than 9. Makes it just a little less like a copy-cat of the originals. However, he was on screen for maybe five minutes and just threw everyone around willy-nilly. If you going to make it so shocking that Ren kills him, let him exist a little more.

Luke. I think what Rian Johnson was trying to do with Luke had potential. So many legends are perfect and selfless and never make mistakes with lasting consequences. Making Luke, the sole surviving Jedi (somehow all the Order 66 survivors are ded?), suffer from hubris is actually great! Grounds the characters, makes them more relatable. He had all the responsibility of the Jedi on his shoulders, trying to train all these Force-sensitive kids, juggling being a war hero, the whole works. He's gonna mess up. I just don't think he would have run away and hid the way he did. It's just not who he is. (also, I don't mind how me dies, it's basically the same as Obi-Wan and Yoda, he just fades into the cosmic Force.)

Canto Bight and DJ. So I understand why they were there, I just didn't think they were necessary. Are you telling me that in all of the crazy mish-mash of the Resistance, there is not a single person who knows how to break into a Star Destroyer? Seriously? And Maz doesn't know a single other codebreaker besides this very particular fellow in a casino? It just... no. And DJ is just there to get them caught... and pull a Lando and all that rot... ugh. NO.

So I'll stop there for now. I've ranted for a while, and I could rant a while longer, but I'll stop there. Hope you got a smidgeon of enjoyment from all this, thanks y'all, bye.