[SPOILER ALERT] Star Wars 8 - The Last Jedi

[Etherealicer]

While a lot better than Ep.7, Ep.8 was still not a crown jewel of movie history. Certainly, not having to pay for Harrison Ford anymore, freed some resources to hire better writers. No more "we just wiped out a whole solar system but no-one cares" scenes. Sadly, it also means I'm feeling a lot less cynical than the last time

There are some glaring plotholes like "How did the Master Codebreaker know about the Rebels plans?" and while the movie has its share of good comedic moments, they are often misplaces and ruin the moment. Like Leia, making  a joke about her hair, while the whole rebellion gets annihilated.
Overall, I felt the movie took a long while until it got going. Too many different story-lines that developed at glacial speed and none of them managed to truly engage the audience. The beginning truly felt like "been there, done that" and made me worry, that like Ep.7 and the whole plot would be stolen from Ep.4-6. Fortunately, after that un-inspired/-motivated first half, the story picked up a great deal.

Characters:
Finn and Poe, IMO the strongest characters in Ep.7 are the biggest loosers. They are pushed to the sideline and become fairly shallow characters.
Rey, stays Rey. She still feels like a scavenger from Jakku (still wears the same cloth/hairdo too). I think there should have been more change to her. The mirror scene, to me at least, is an indication that she is born of the force.
After the build-up and hype from Ep.7, Snoke turns out to be utterly irrelevant (unless he finds his way in a bacta tank and survives like Darth Maul). I think his looming shadow will be missed as I don't think Ben is yet ready to step up. Which is why I predict, that Snoke returns, forcing Ben to join with the Rebellion.
Surprisingly, Ben is by far the best character in Ep.8. His development feels natural and he is on his way to become a good villain/hero (yeah, at this point, the door is still open as long as we are willing to overlook that he is a child-murderer, but that did not stop Darth Vader from re-joining the light side, so why would it stop Ben).

Questions:
- Why did they not ram the other support ship into Snokes ship at lightspeed?
- Did Rey or Ben kill Snoke? I think it was Ben, but are we certain about that?

[Whoey]

Just in from seeing it, still digesting.

Can agree about the start.

Left with more questions than answers to what we've been wondering all along.

[Don Pablo]

Just in from seeing it, still digesting.

+1.

Though the movie was long and at times I wondered when it was going to end, I was very willing to activate my "suspension of disbelief" and become engrossed in the movie. 
May have something to do with my age? 

I actually became concerned that the movie was going to end prematurely, when kylo and luke pulled out the laser swords. 

I went "that's actually kind of realistic" with the hyperspace ramming scene. 

Anyone else think that SW has gotten darker and grittier? After all, we saw the little escaping rebellion ships being picked off one by one, in a much closer and impacting way than the scene in episode 6 where the death star was picking off the big rebellion ships. 

[Don Pablo]

There was a scene, we saw a spaceship landing, accompanied by an impressive cloud of steam, and I thought "it looks a lot like an iron".
Then it turned out to be an iron. 

[Etherealicer]

There was a scene, we saw a spaceship landing, accompanied by an impressive cloud of steam, and I thought "it looks a lot like an iron".
Then it turned out to be an iron. 

I think that was an homage... to Boba Fett

[Whoey]

So apart from some sitcom cringe worthy humour moments...

The first part also felt thrown together, with poor transitions vs the rest of the film.

Luke:

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I noticed pretty quick that Luke looked different Crait, the beard, and then while fighting Kylo I saw that Kylo left a footprint while Luke did not, and knew something was up.
 His "death" seems a tad premature. Oh, and the "laser sword" comment... 

Leia:

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Using the force to pull herself back in after being blown out into space, since when? They could have reshot remaining scenes and used this as her definitive death scene, I don't think she brought much to the remainder of the movie.

Snoke:

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A lot of baddy build up to what in the end was a pretty quick end. Those guards sure did a typically good job, too little too late.

Rey:

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Kylo telling us who might be her parents still seems a tad questionable. I for some reason still think that Ben and Rey are the Solo twins from the books, some elements of the story are consistent with this such as Ben training in Luke's Jedi Academy as a kid. Also in the post Snoke battle they are pretty evenly matched power wise, as you would expect from twins. And apparently training isn't necessary to be a powerful jedi...

Ben/Kylo:

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Seems to have improved in this film, but still having his petulant child tantrums... At one point I almost believed that he might switch sides... guess that was too obvious,
 also some of the trailers made it look like Rey was looking to him to train her, so it was her I was almost expecting her to be the one to switch, even more so after her dark side trip while with Luke.

There was just enough of most of the old characters as an excuse to make/sell more merch, such as R2D2, who while BB8 is the obvious new droid in town, I felt the C3P0/R2D2 duo offered a lot to the old stories, and could have been involved a bit more...

Thanks to other languages we learned that the title was plural rather than singular, ie initially when the title was announced a lot of people panicked that Luke was the only Jedi remaining, but that seems to be unclear.

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What we do know is that there are other force users out there. If they will become Jedi or not remains to be seen, as there is not really any Jedi to train them, which I suspect is why the Jedi are now done, Rey is something else, although she did get some lessons from Luke

[Etherealicer]

Ben/Kylo:

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Seems to have improved in this film, but still having his petulant child tantrums... At one point I almost believed that he might switch sides... guess that was too obvious,
 also some of the trailers made it look like Rey was looking to him to train her, so it was her I was almost expecting her to be the one to switch, even more so after her dark side trip while with Luke.

To be honest, if the tantrums would have gone completely, it would have been odd considering the last movie, after all, they are back to back. Still thought, they developed him further. And I rather liked the helmet-smashing scene.

[Grant Lamontagne]

The movies going forward may be interesting in their own right, but for me, Star Wars is no longer Star Wars.  It is Star Wars in name only, just like the new Star Trek is Star Trek in name only.

If they had called it Space Adventure #9 and left the original characters out I might have enjoyed it quite a bit.

The scene with Leia pulling herself back into the ship was dreadful, especially when you consider that they are now going to have to kill her off again somehow, since Carrie won't be around to reprise the role.  Unless they plan to digitally re-animate her like they did with Peter Cushing.  Or, maybe they will have Princess Leia suffer some terrible accident and sub in another actress with heavy make up to look like a badly scarred Leia, which I desperately hope against.

I have a lot of questions, and even more problems with the movie, but the one that keeps coming to mind is this:

How and/or why did only one of Yoda's ears keep growing after he died?

Def

[Etherealicer]

The movies going forward may be interesting in their own right, but for me, Star Wars is no longer Star Wars.  It is Star Wars in name only, just like the new Star Trek is Star Trek in name only.

If they had called it Space Adventure #9 and left the original characters out I might have enjoyed it quite a bit.

Unless its Victorinox, I don't care much about brands

The scene with Leia pulling herself back into the ship was dreadful, especially when you consider that they are now going to have to kill her off again somehow, since Carrie won't be around to reprise the role.  Unless they plan to digitally re-animate her like they did with Peter Cushing.  Or, maybe they will have Princess Leia suffer some terrible accident and sub in another actress with heavy make up to look like a badly scarred Leia, which I desperately hope against.

It also lacked any emotions... I mean she did this amazing thing and no-one seemed impressed or even care, it was just another thing that happened. Its a bit like the destruction of the republic in Ep.7, a scene that should have been a big thing but ultimately was just uninspired and lame.

How and/or why did only one of Yoda's ears keep growing after he died?

It's probably the same reason finger-/toenails seem to be growing... maybe his head shrunk

[ironraven]

Concure on the

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Leia returning to the cruiser part. It just felt... weird.

  Almost wrote that as "forced" but that would be too punny

How and/or why did only one of Yoda's ears keep growing after he died?

He looks good for being being dead for 20 years.

Although... http://www.dorkly.com/post/48447/the-true-power-of-force-ghosts

[Etherealicer]

Concure on the

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Leia returning to the cruiser part. It just felt... weird.

  Almost wrote that as "forced" but that would be too punny

How and/or why did only one of Yoda's ears keep growing after he died?

He looks good for being being dead for 20 years.

Although... http://www.dorkly.com/post/48447/the-true-power-of-force-ghosts

If my history is correct, then he should be dead over 30 years...
Ben Solo is born 1 years after the battle of Hoth (end of Ep.6)... the destruction of Starkiller Base (Ep.7) is 31 years later.

Yeah, Ben is over 30 and still has hissy fits.

[Etherealicer]

Rey:

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Kylo telling us who might be her parents still seems a tad questionable. I for some reason still think that Ben and Rey are the Solo twins from the books, some elements of the story are consistent with this such as Ben training in Luke's Jedi Academy as a kid. Also in the post Snoke battle they are pretty evenly matched power wise, as you would expect from twins. And apparently training isn't necessary to be a powerful jedi...

Seems unlikely, as Rey supposedly was born 15 ABY, which makes her about 10 years younger than Ben.

The endless repetition of herself makes me think she has no parents and was born of the force.

[Grant Lamontagne]

In my opinion...

They had ample time to rewrite the ending between when Carrie Fisher passed away and the release of this film.  They could have simply had the death scene and left her there, then had Luke feel it through the Force and return to lead the next generation of the Resistance, which is what I am assuming they had planned for Leia.  I think we all would have felt better about that, and all it would have cost was a quick re-write and a few re-shoots.

Also, not to keep picking on someone smaller than me, but did anyone else notice that Yoda stopped speaking like Yoda for a minute and then started up again?

oh, read the texts you have, real page turners they are hmmm?

Oh yeah and we probably shouldn't lose Rey the same way we lost Kylo.

Return to the galaxy you will, train her you must.

Def

[Don Pablo]

Concure on the

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Leia returning to the cruiser part. It just felt... weird.

  Almost wrote that as "forced" but that would be too punny

How and/or why did only one of Yoda's ears keep growing after he died?

He looks good for being being dead for 20 years.

Although... http://www.dorkly.com/post/48447/the-true-power-of-force-ghosts

If my history is correct, then he should be dead over 30 years...
Ben Solo is born 1 years after the battle of Hoth (end of Ep.6)... the destruction of Starkiller Base (Ep.7) is 31 years later.

Yeah, Ben is over 30 and still has hissy fits.

Is that correct? 

[Etherealicer]

Concure on the

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Leia returning to the cruiser part. It just felt... weird.

  Almost wrote that as "forced" but that would be too punny

How and/or why did only one of Yoda's ears keep growing after he died?

He looks good for being being dead for 20 years.

Although... http://www.dorkly.com/post/48447/the-true-power-of-force-ghosts

If my history is correct, then he should be dead over 30 years...
Ben Solo is born 1 years after the battle of Hoth (end of Ep.6)... the destruction of Starkiller Base (Ep.7) is 31 years later.

Yeah, Ben is over 30 and still has hissy fits.

Is that correct? 

According to the sarwars wikia Star Wars Wikia Timeline)

0 ABY - Battle of Yavin / Destruction of 1st Death Star
4 ABY - Battle of Endor / Destruction of 2nd Death Star
5 ABY - Ben Solo is born
34 ABY - Destruction of Starkiller Base

Oh wait, he is around 30, not over 30 (I thought he was born 3 ABY)

[Don Pablo]

Concure on the

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Leia returning to the cruiser part. It just felt... weird.

  Almost wrote that as "forced" but that would be too punny

How and/or why did only one of Yoda's ears keep growing after he died?

He looks good for being being dead for 20 years.

Although... http://www.dorkly.com/post/48447/the-true-power-of-force-ghosts

If my history is correct, then he should be dead over 30 years...
Ben Solo is born 1 years after the battle of Hoth (end of Ep.6)... the destruction of Starkiller Base (Ep.7) is 31 years later.

Yeah, Ben is over 30 and still has hissy fits.

Is that correct? 

According to the sarwars wikia Star Wars Wikia Timeline)

0 ABY - Battle of Yavin / Destruction of 1st Death Star
4 ABY - Battle of Endor / Destruction of 2nd Death Star
5 ABY - Ben Solo is born
34 ABY - Destruction of Starkiller Base

Oh wait, he is around 30, not over 30 (I thought he was born 3 ABY)

So one year after the Battle of Endor, not the Battle of Hoth?

[Whoey]

According to that timeline, Endor indeed, and Rey was born on 15ABY.

This is how well some people are receiving the new movie:

Some even disliking the movie so much they have created a petition asking Disney to "strike Star Wars Episode VIII from the official canon."

   

[Don Pablo]

This is how well some people are receiving the new movie:

Some even disliking the movie so much they have created a petition asking Disney to "strike Star Wars Episode VIII from the official canon."

   

Who says history doesn't repeat itself?
I don't think that it deserves that though... Ouch.

[ironraven]

I would like to hear  their argument for decanonization. Sure, there was the one really stupid scene, which I suspect was setup for the IX and honestly should have been cut. No argument. But they didn't, so we get to deal with it. Some of the characters made stupid choices, which shows they are human. If you want saints and angels, don't watch a movie with the word WAR in the bloody title.

I suspect these they can't stand someone being even more of a millennial whine-ass than they are. *coughs* Kylo *coughs* Or a bunch of "original fans" who hate that Fisher got older, so did Hammill and Ford. It happens.

Although, I'm also reminded of all the pishers who hate Rebels and want it decanonized because the art style is different than Clone Wars. And the people who piss and moan about Rogue One because oh no, there are morally imperfect choices made in the name of surviving and winning and sometimes the latter is more important than the former. Guess what primates, Darth Mickey has spoken. If I can deal with the origional Thrawn trilogy and the Rogue Squadron books getting axed, they can suck it up.

And that being said, to lighten the mood,

[El Corkscrew]

Big disappointment for me.

Here are my gripes:

- Too long for basically nothing to happen
- Rey is just so good that she'll never need any formal training?
- Lack of backstory/development on Snoke, the Dark Side of the Island (why is Luke so afraid of Rey/ her going down to the   mystery hole
- IMO a colossal lack of decent lightsabering
- Luke's unexplained/cheap death. ( Hey, why don't we take all of our favorite characters and give them cheap, unearned   deaths?   )
- Snoke's death, again, cheap. 
- over-elongated and somewhat boring chases
- overall lack of good story development.
- I don't mind the pointing to Empire, but c'mon, make it exciting, make it meaningful.


On a positive note I did find Driver's and Boyega's performances better this time around.



Okay, who thinks I'm an idiot? 

[El Corkscrew]

In my opinion...

They had ample time to rewrite the ending between when Carrie Fisher passed away and the release of this film.  They could have simply had the death scene and left her there, then had Luke feel it through the Force and return to lead the next generation of the Resistance, which is what I am assuming they had planned for Leia.  I think we all would have felt better about that, and all it would have cost was a quick re-write and a few re-shoots.

Also, not to keep picking on someone smaller than me, but did anyone else notice that Yoda stopped speaking like Yoda for a minute and then started up again?

oh, read the texts you have, real page turners they are hmmm?

Oh yeah and we probably shouldn't lose Rey the same way we lost Kylo.

Return to the galaxy you will, train her you must.

Def

Agree completely on the Leia issue.  Didn't notice the Yoda dialogue difference... will have to pay more attention next time.

[Don Pablo]

Big disappointment for me.

Here are my gripes:

- Too long for basically nothing to happen
That's not what I thought.
- Rey is just so good that she'll never need any formal training?
Hmm... Kinda like a certain Skywalker in the original trilogy?
- Lack of backstory/development on Snoke,
Like a certain emperor in the original trilogy?
-the Dark Side of the Island (why is Luke so afraid of Rey/ her going down to the   mystery hole

- IMO a colossal lack of decent lightsabering
There was only ONE lightsabering scene in A New Hope
- Luke's unexplained/cheap death. ( Hey, why don't we take all of our favorite characters and give them cheap, unearned   deaths?   )
Not in my opinion.   He just did a Yoda after finishing what he felt that he needed to do.
- Snoke's death, again, cheap. 

- over-elongated and somewhat boring chases
 
- overall lack of good story development.
 
- I don't mind the pointing to Empire, but c'mon, make it exciting, make it meaningful.
 

On a positive note I did find Driver's and Boyega's performances better this time around.



Okay, who thinks I'm an idiot? 

[El Corkscrew]

C'mon, Luke received direct training from Ben and Yoda in awl three episodes.

The emperor has ample backstory

If Snoke was so chuck Norris and strong with the force, he would not have allowed the weak kylo get him so easily.

This one was aimed at being more like Empire than New Hope... I def felt it under delivered in that department

 

[Smashie]

Possibly the best review of it I've seen so far (I'm going to hell for this). I laughed so hard poo came out

Nope deleted it, had second thoughts

[zoidberg]

Possibly the best review of it I've seen so far (I'm going to hell for this). I laughed so hard poo came out

Nope deleted it, had second thoughts

PM it to me please, I need the laughs.

[Don Pablo]

Possibly the best review of it I've seen so far (I'm going to hell for this). I laughed so hard poo came out

Nope deleted it, had second thoughts

PM it to me please, I need the laughs.

Can I have it too?   

[Don Pablo]

C'mon, Luke received direct training from Ben and Yoda in awl three episodes.

The emperor has ample backstory

If Snoke was so chuck Norris and strong with the force, he would not have allowed the weak kylo get him so easily.

This one was aimed at being more like Empire than New Hope... I def felt it under delivered in that department

 

Episode four: Ben teaches Luke how to feel the force, so he can swish a lightsaber to catch a few laser stings shot by a training Droid.
Episode five, Yoda teaches Luke how to run around and get sweaty, while force lift a bunch of small things.
Episode six, Luke watches Yoda vanish.

When cinema goers came out from watching Return of the Jedi, what did they know about the Emperor? His backstory had to wait like 20-30 years. 

Snoke didn't have to be weak for that to happen, he was just clouded by ignorance. 
Remember that kylo was mirroring lightsaber movements.

[Smashie]

PM's sent 

[kaput]

I just saw this and really liked it. The movie theater I was in was packed and in 3D, which I thought I'd have not liked but was really enjoyable. Anyway, the crowd in the theater ooh and ahh at the right moments and actually made the movie experience just that. And experience.

Oh, it's also one of those movie theaters you can drink alcohol at, so there's that too 

[El Corkscrew]

C'mon, Luke received direct training from Ben and Yoda in awl three episodes.

The emperor has ample backstory

If Snoke was so chuck Norris and strong with the force, he would not have allowed the weak kylo get him so easily.

This one was aimed at being more like Empire than New Hope... I def felt it under delivered in that department

 

Episode four: Ben teaches Luke how to feel the force, so he can swish a lightsaber to catch a few laser stings shot by a training Droid.
Episode five, Yoda teaches Luke how to run around and get sweaty, while force lift a bunch of small things.
Episode six, Luke watches Yoda vanish.

When cinema goers came out from watching Return of the Jedi, what did they know about the Emperor? His backstory had to wait like 20-30 years. 

Snoke didn't have to be weak for that to happen, he was just clouded by ignorance. 
Remember that kylo was mirroring lightsaber movements.

Fair points, but an hour with Yoda on Dagobah is like a year of formal Jedi training at state school....
I'm just saying how about leaving out the Casino scene and devoting some time to characters?  Kylo is the only one who has any depth.

And the laughs felt "forced" to me....