re: Star Wars Episode 8: The Last Jedi Discussion Thread ***SPOILERS***

You know after rewatching Rogue One a few times, it's a pretty damn good Star Wars movie. It adds some cool elements to the universe, explains the power behind the Death Star, has the most badass Vader Scene, shows Tarkin as a ruthless general, Chirrut might be my favorite new good character and second best overall character introduced in TFA, TO, or TLJ. Kylo is by far my favorite.

The battle on Scarif leading to the Vader scene is definitely the best scene and climax of any of the new movies.

One Eyed Whittaker is about the only glaring flaw in the movie and he's dead in the first hour.

Rewatching TFA and Rogue One I tend to like each one a little more each time.

As much as I am absolutely going to hate doing it, I will rewatch TLJ at least 2 times, like I did with BvS and IM3. That's going to be painful.

quote:

---

You know after rewatching Rogue One a few times, it's a pretty damn good Star Wars movie.

---

I've come to the conclusion that Rogue One is the only new Star Wars movie for me.

Breesus, remember that commentary about making movies "kid friendly"? Rogue One lacks that. There is no slapstick giggle humor, there is little humor at all other than the personality of the droid (something that harkens back to the original Star Wars movie).
And there's no social agenda or message, either. What we're shown-
Empire- bad. Rebels- ... well, their ideals are good. Their overall goals are good. In practice, they're pretty damn bad too. Cuz sometimes you might just have to kill a mofo for the greater good, and that's a big boy view of the world. It's shades of gray, not black and white.

And the presentation of it all- the Empire DOES kill people, and we see that they can do it pretty well.

There's nothing cute about this film, there's nothing warm and fuzzy for the little girls or preschoolers. No floppy clownish aliens, no semi intelligent teddy bears, no big eyed toy sellers. And when we see the original cast portrayed, they aren't winking and saying "look, it's ME", they fit into the overall story.

THIS is the tone I wanted for the new trilogy. It sucks that we didn't get it, but at least we got a one-off. If only it had the Star Wars music...

I think Disney got it backwards. They should have used this tone for the new trilogy, building on the existing Star Wars that we knew and presented new characters into it (like Rogue One), and saved the social messages and cutesy kid stuff for the one-off films.

Stone Cold ET is a national treasure. Especially when he orders drive thru food.

(no message)

quote:

---

there are a couple of moments so much better than anything in the prequels

---

List them. I'm honestly curious which moments from TLJ you thought were miles above the prequels.

quote:

---

I think the prequels are better.

---

Is this even debatable?

TLJ is a better looking film. The dialogue is better (at least if we pretend the terrible jokes don't exist). And the music is better IMO. So if you just off your brain and watch the action I could see how it would be a more enjoyable film individually than any of the prequels.

But the problem is it isn't a new story. It is just the most recent chapter in a longer story. It doesn't make any damn sense as a part of that. And this isn't a detail. This is the reason Disney paid so much for the movie rights and why so many people wanted to see it in theaters.

Just watched TLJ for the first time a couple hours ago.

All the bitching and moaning I've seen here is just a further example of how idiocracy rules this land. There was not the first thing wrong about that movie, outside all that cute hokey humor they could do without. This country is full of pussies just looking for outrage everywhere they can. It's just a fricking Star Wars movie, nothing more or less.

It was better than The Force Awakens as far as I'm concerned.

quote:

---

There was not the first thing wrong about that movie, outsi

---

Here you go. Star Wars nerd anger aside:


The movie itself fails at the core of being a movie.

There's no protagonist. Rey is a straight up goddess. She absolutely masters everything she thinks of without training or struggle. She never waivers in her convictions. She easily overcomes every situation without conflict or resolution.
She's boring as frick and completely unrelatable. Also, she has almost nothing to do in the entire movie and she's absent for the final third of it. Until she miraculously shows up at the end somehow getting to Snoke's escape ship and operating it and then transferring from that to the Falcon and then somehow showing up at the exact right place and time despite not knowing where any of that was or whatever.

Luke, who was absent for 30 years and the focal point of episode VII, is again absent, refuses to train Rey, and then also isn't there for the climax. He was supposed to be but then they just decided to rob the audience of that climax and he's really just levitating on the island he never left.

And then at the end Leia, who is an extremely powerful force user, and the leader of the resistance, and just came back from the dead, and everyone just watched her communicate with Luke, says, ah frick it, just follow Poe down this cave he's never been in, I'm too lazy to lead yall anymore. Couldn't she just throw all those rocks out the way? She literally can fly through space but she can't move a couple rocks or whatever.

The antagonist is I guess whoever is operating the laser cannons on the one ship the first order decides to fire at the escape pods with? They never send Fighters or bombers or call in back up or anything they just let one ship lob unharmful cannon fire at them for a while or whatever.

The plot of the movie is a nightmare. There seem to be atleast 4 different stories being told all at once and we just kind of randomly jump in and out of them so the viewer gets no clear attachment. None of the plots of any of these 4 stories (resistance ship being attacked, Rey and Luke, Finn and Rose, Poe and Dern) affect any of the characters in any meaningful way. I'd be amazed if any of you could show me significant character growth in any character outside of Finn, who for the first time decides to stay and fight instead of run but the viewer is robbed of this climax when rose ex machina saves him. And then he somehow just walks right past the entire first order and the explosions surrounding Luke into the base or whatever the frick that scene was.

Also, those 4 plots never intersect for a conclusion.

Rey with Luke doesn't effect any of the other plots. The entire Finn and Rose line failed, Poe was right the entire time and the only reason they're alive is because he destroyed that dreadnaught, but for some reason he rebuked for it while Laura Dern allows the entire fleet to be destroyed along with most of the escape pods before she decides to hyperspace herself through whatever.

I hate this fricking movie. It's a failure on the basic level of storytelling and plot structure.

It's a failure at character building.

It's a failure as a stand alone Scifi fantasy movie.

It's a failure as a second movie in a trilogy

It's a failure as a Star Wars movie.

It's an abject failure at every level you look at.

Rian Johnson and Disney Studios should issue a public apology and then just let JJ and Kasdan redo episode 8. Bring in a team of writers who understand the IP to help write both VII and IX with a clear outline and plot before filming begins.

I was kinda leaning towards that post being a troll until I read the part "Its just a fricking Star Ears movie".

That just tells me you've never thought about the better children's movies or stories. And even at the dumbest and most simple level TLJ fails because the creators robbed Rey of the necessary imperfections that allow for a great children's fable.