The more I think about this film, the more I am stunned at how bad it is.
Take away the first 15-20 minutes, and the rest is a complete amateur-hour, mess. There's no point to anything, everyone's actions feel irrelevant, and the only character I gave a **** about was Rose's sister at the beginning of the film.
Complete and utter missed opportunity on so many fronts. And yet, as usual, the critics are giving it 100/100???
Anyone that could give this thing 100/100, after that embarrassing Leia scene, is either being paid for their review, or smoking some serious weed.
I had hoped I would never have another 'Phantom Menace' head in hands Star Wars moment. I though TFA was ok and Rogue One, superb.
Every person in the cinema near me said it was awful. The best bit was when Leia flew through space and someone near me said 'let's get our coats' lol.
I have no desire to buy any TLJ figures and now regret the majority of TFA purchases.
They exist in visual dictionary only. And likely some comic books, etc. They're too cool to ruin in one of these movies. Bet they are all glad they didn't make the cut.
Interesting how many news stories are talking up the Rottentomatoes.com high rating for TLJ, but if you actually start looking at the "fresh" reviews, at least a couple of the "Top Critics" reviews listed under "Fresh" are actually negative reviews that should be listed under "rotten": for example, Variety and CNN both gave the movie a fairly negative review (CNN even calling into question Disney's pre-release decision to choose Johnson to helm the post-ST Trilogy - how could that be considered a "fresh" review?)
A few people have mentioned this to me on other movies - about how someone at RT makes the decision on whether a review that's often more middling is to be considered as fresh or rotten, but you'd think that the editors of RT would be under enormous pressure from studios (especially with RT trying to become more a content creator than review aggregator) to interpret a middling review as fresh to up the overall score - I mean who takes the time to look beyond the headline percentage rating?
I saw it today... The thing that stuck out to me most is how much I miss the old 'Star Wars language,' so to speak.
There was a certain way they talked and the way the sentences were structured that was purely Star Wars, even if sometimes it could get a bit hammy. It could be stilted at times but it was also uniquely timeless. TFA moved away from that a bit but I could still feel it within the same universe as much as I dislike that movie. Though I liked this better I feel it completely steered away from that timelessness. It's like it was written in our own present with our vernacular and style of joking etc, I didn't like it now, and in few years it's the first Star Wars movie that's going to seem 'dated.'
It's weird but out of everything I just couldn't immerse myself in the world because of the change in language.
This was one of my major problems with the new film. It was written like a Marvel movie, not a Star Wars one, and it desperately needed someone to take a 'language pass' on the script, because a lot of the words used and the style of humour employed just feels anachronistic to the established Star Wars universe as we know it. Certain phrases and words would just pull me out of the film, especially when it was an established character we already knew so well.
I mean Mark Hamill was great in the film, but there were moments where, because of the dialogue, he came across more as Mark Hamill than Luke Skywalker. Not his fault, the lines he was sometimes given are completely to blame.
They exist in visual dictionary only. And likely some comic books, etc. They're too cool to ruin in one of these movies. Bet they are all glad they didn't make the cut.
There's clearly a lot left to reveal. That's what the middle episode is for. Not saving everything for the last episode. The last episode is supposed to just bring everything established to a head and end it. JJ has his work cut out for him.
Truthfully, I no longer have an interest where this goes.
I think my future is in the one-offs. Complete, no extended storylines dragged out for years. Just a finished film.
Though hopefully not started by a morbidly obese guy who was waylaid by a quarter ton of his Star Trek collectibles falling on him (true story.)
Sounds like he's recently crashed and burned along with Weinstein and Spacey, though in his case... he had no real talent or power other than the ability to get studio execs to give him things (and get something in return.)
There's clearly a lot left to reveal. That's what the middle episode is for. Not saving everything for the last episode. The last episode is supposed to just bring everything established to a head and end it. JJ has his work cut out for him.
Truthfully, I no longer have an interest where this goes.
I think my future is in the one-offs. Complete, no extended storylines dragged out for years. Just a finished film.
You know that "movie set inside OT movie" like RO is what hardcore fans really want for standalones - not a Boba Fett, Obi Wan or even Han Solo movie.
Who knows? We might even get a movie "set inside" ROTJ based around the ragtag group of Rebel Commandos who use a stolen Imperial Shuttle to tensely (due to a possibly expired code) sneak past an Imperial security blockade and reach a lush planet where a high security Imperial facility has to be destroyed (and a shield brought down) so that the Rebels can then attack a Death Star... oh, wait.
This is what disgust me so much, as Otomofan as pointed out Disney took the most popular pop culture franchise of all time, and had the arrogance and disrespect to pursue it with no coherent plan in mind.
Re: Star Wars: The Last Jedi SPOILER DISCUSSION THREAD
Just got back from it and I saw all the glowing reviews online and then came here. Thank god for you guys all hating it, because I feel like I am not crazy now.
It was so long, tepid, and lifeless. I didn't feel anything. I mean I was kinda bummed, I guess. At least I hated and was angry at the prequels There was an emotion. Disney dragged out the rotting corpse of Star Wars and they zapped it with electricity to try and make it look alive, for my entertainment ... Cripes. How many MacGuffins can you use to prop your movie up with? Was this the movie with the most Macguffins ever? 'Find Luke ... Get the codebreaker ... turn off the thing ... Get on the planet ...' and a million smaller ones. I think we need a 'one MacGuffin per movie' rule. 'General, we've got to thing the thing so we can thing! This will restore hope to the galaxy!'
That hyperspeed (light speed?) kamikaze trick sure would have been useful against the Death Stars, huh? Jumping out of hyperspeed to drop something off right next to an enemy ship and then hyperspeeding away again sure would be a useful trick, huh? What if what you dropped off was a bomb instead of a Rey? And people are very easily able to steal ships and get through shields whenever the plot demands it, yet the relentlessness and power of the First Order fleet is meant to be a major plot point and the fleet is basically the antagonist.
How many times do they have to say 'hope'? What hope are we supposed to be feeling? That the central characters will be ok and triumph? WELL GEEZE DO YOU THINK THEY WILL? Oh how inspiring. You followed standard protagonist storytelling rules. I feel such hope.
So many characters and Kylo Ren was the only one I found interesting. I didn't mind Rey and Finn in the last one but here Rey was cardboard and Finn was barely in it. I like the idea of 'The Jedi were flawed and we should start afresh and good vs bad is a faulty idea' but it's hard to execute that in a rip-roarin' adventure movie, and it didn't really work here.
It's nice they tried to do something different with Luke, but I don't know. It didn't feel like Luke to me. The dude who went out of his way to save Darth Vader, mass murderer, is tempted
to kill his own sleeping nephew, from behind? The nephew his beloved sister and adventuring partner put specifically in his care? I mean sure, Luke's traumatised, whatever. That would be cool for any other character but Luke. I don't quite buy it. I kind of like the intention! Show the grey areas. But Luke is an established character and we feel like we 'know' what he would and wouldn't do.
And were we supposed to be charmed by the milking? Blue milk comes from some semi-aquatic species? And it's the staple drink on Tattooine? But we need a blue milk gag because us Star Wars fans can't stop talking about blue milk, right? It's soooo essential to the mythos.
They applied the 'Marvel movie carbon copier' to all the dialogue. That stuff might work in Marvel movies, but the cheap reflections always just come off as cheap reflections.
But hey Adrian Edmondson was in it. It was fun to see him as generic baddie officer #346198. Young Ones and Bottom fans rejoice! But he didn't even tell a joke, in a movie filled with awkward jokes.
I used cinema rewards points to see it for free and I still feel like I paid too much. So much stuff not explained or dropped. Fun moments, but they were too diluted by the unevenness and the tedious length. It's somehow the Star Wars movie with the slowest pacing, and yet also a lot is thrown in and underdeveloped. One suspects too many cooks.
Eh, sorry for the rant, but I got home shaking my head, saw all the glowing reviews, thought whaaaa? Am I mad? And then seeing opinions here that rang true made this thread feel like a haven I had to vent. This is me smashing my helmet against a wall, like in one of the few good scenes with one of the few interesting characters, Kylo.
I mean I probably sound more down on it then I feel. It just seemed like a bit of a mess, so I don't actually feel much one way or the other. The bad cancelled out the good ... IS THAT LIKE THE BALANCE OF THE FORCE? Man, so meta. Maybe I have to re-evaluate this movie ...
The Red Letter Media review better be worth it.
This is all, of course, just my stupid, standard-movie-goer opinion, and if people enjoyed it then I am very happy for them, because an enjoyable continuation or reboot of an old favourite is a special kind of fun and should be treasured.
Re: Star Wars: The Last Jedi SPOILER DISCUSSION THREAD
Yoda has had Botox it seems. Damn he looked weird.
Why didn't the Star Destroyers chasing the fleet light speed ahead of the rebels, turn around and light speed back a bit so they'd run directly into them?
Finn and Rose heading off to Canto Bight defused all the tension of being pursued by the destroyers too.
I don't know what I thought of this film. Need to see it again.
Re: Star Wars: The Last Jedi SPOILER DISCUSSION THREAD
George right now.
I've agree with most on here that it just didn't feel right, story was dull even though I'm a huge Luke fan. As been mentioned before the Luke considering killing young Ben didn't make sense with his previous compassion with Vader.
Some of the Luke scenes looked like an advert for Just For Men. Flying space Leia WTF?
At least this is saving me some money on not wanting any figures from the film.
Re: Star Wars: The Last Jedi SPOILER DISCUSSION THREAD
Well Rian Johnson managed to do the impossible and made a Star Wars film I hated as much as TFA. For me, ep9 is beyond saving now, especially with old JJ coming back.
Re: Star Wars: The Last Jedi SPOILER DISCUSSION THREAD
Did anyone else feel hungry after seeing the roast Porgs?
Luke watching the sunset as he became one with the force felt poignant as that's essentially how his journey started.
I so wanted him to lift his X-Wing out of the sea!
Many mixed emotions after seeing it though. Like others, I thought the humour was a bit over the top, almost slapstick. I'm glad to see that Rey's parentage was irrelevant. Snoke's demise was a surprise - his past seemed more interesting. I thought the main leads did a great job though. Rey looked great too! But I wanted so much more from Luke. I expect he'll return as a force ghost in episode 9.
Shiny Phasma was still terrible. Del Toro was a missed opportunity.
There was an emotion. Disney dragged out the rotting corpse of Star Wars and they zapped it with electricity to try and make it look alive, for my entertainment ... Cripes. How many MacGuffins can you use to prop your movie up with? Was this the movie with the most Macguffins ever? 'Find Luke ... Get the codebreaker ... turn off the thing ... Get on the planet ...' and a million smaller ones. I think we need a 'one MacGuffin per movie' rule. 'General, we've got to thing the thing so we can thing! This will restore hope to the galaxy!'
