Spiff's "The Last Jedi" Review (Spoilers)
Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2017 2:20 pm
My “The Last Jedi” review.
I know all of you have been eagerly awaiting my “Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi” review. The movie has now been out for a week-plus, so if you haven’t seen it yet, being spoiler-free probably wasn’t that important to you, or you would have seen it by now.
I loved “The Last Jedi.” I thought it was a fantastic Star Wars movie. I have seen it three times (with plans to see it several more in the theaters) and liked it more each time. It took the saga in new directions, some of which were unexpected and others of which didn’t work.
It wasn’t a perfect movie, but it was a highly enjoyable and entertaining one, which is what I want from a movie. So here are some of my thoughts on the film.
What I Liked
• The entire Rey & Kylo story line. This completely worked for me.
o I thought Adam Driver, did an excellent job of portraying Kylo. Gone is the whiny, emo teenager full of angst. Here is a full-fledged bad guy for whom there can and will be no redemption.
o Rey is a great protagonist. She’s powerful in the Force and full of goodness. I excited to see how she finally takes down Kylo in Episode IX.
• The humor worked – for the most part.
o A few of the jokes felt a little too colloquial to our modern day and not a galaxy far, far away. For instance, Poe and Hux playing, “Can you hear me now?”
o BB-8 again provided timely comic relief (attempting to plug the sparks, being mistaken for a slot machine, etc.)
o The porgs. They were adorable and given just the right amount of screen time. Not too much to become annoying. Their sad little faces when Chewie is trying eat one was perfect. Their shenanigans on the Falcon throughout the rest of the movie was great as well. Loved them.
• Luke. I loved where they took his character. See below for a MUCH longer explanation.
• The Snoke Throne Room scene. This was a top 5 scene in all of Star Wars for me.
o From Snoke being unexpectedly betrayed, to Kylo and Rey teaming up to take out the Praetorian Guard, to Kylo begging Rey to join him, it was a fantastic sequence.
o I don’t need lightsaber battles in every Star Wars movie. I do need emotional fights between good and evil and this scene had it in spades. It was one of the best fight sequences in Star Wars. This wasn’t a dance between Obi-wan and Anakin. This was a raw, desperate fight to the death.
• Luke and Kylo showdown.
o Luke dusting himself off after taking the full brunt of First Order.
o The emotion. The anger displayed by Kylo. The serenity from Luke. The Dark rising and the Light to meet it.
o I should have realized it wasn’t a real Luke. But got so caught up in the moment that I didn’t that he had gotten a haircut, dyed his beard and wasn’t making footsteps in the salt.
o Luke telling Kylo that every word he said was wrong. And then immediately after Luke saying that he won’t be the last Jedi, we switch to see Rey lift all the rocks and save the Resistance.
What I Didn’t Like
• Everything Finn & Rose related.
o Finn was a decent character in “The Force Awakens.” But his storyline poor in this movie.
o Rose was not an interesting character. Full stop.
o The Finn vs Phasma fight should have happened in previous movie. It really felt pigeon-holed. It was a decent enough fight, but lacked any emotional punch.
o Also, if I’m ever executing someone, there will be no delays. Kill them immediately. Don’t “make it more painful.” Don’t give a pre-execution speech. Just shoot them and be done with them.
o They should have died at the end. They failed on their mission to turn-off the light speed tracker.
o Finn could have failed in trying to destroy the Death Star field gun. Then Rose, touches her medallion like her sister did at the beginning, is inspired by Finn’s sacrifice and makes her own attempt to destroy the gun. But she succeeds and the field gun is destroyed.
• Canto Bight Casino
o Really? Police are scouring the casino for a couple for illegal parking?
o It’s a casino. A den of denizens, scum, villainy and gun runners, and there’s not one Hutt anywhere to be seen? Give me a brief shot of some Hutt lounging on his divan in the background. Show me a Bossk or Dengar cheering on the races.
o The whole sequence just fell completely flat. Other than BB-8, who is awesome every time he is on screen.
• Leia Poppins
o Yes, Star Wars requires a complete suspension of belief. But this was poor. It wasn’t good.
o A better way would have been to have to see her realize what was coming and create a protective Force-bubble around her that kept her in the bridge. It would have kept the scene more “real” and possibly hinted at what Luke had done to survive the barrage at the end.
But all in all, it wasn’t a perfect movie. It had high points and low points. But the highs out out-weighed the lows. This movie was far superior to all three prequels. So, I know you are all wondering where I rank “The Last Jedi.” Here is my updated list.
Spiff's Star Wars Ranking
1. Return of the Jedi (my favorite)
2. Empire Strikes Back (the best Star Wars movie)
3. A New Hope
3. The Last Jedi
5. The Force Awakens
6. Rogue One
7. Revenge of the Sith
8. The Phantom Menace
9. Attack of the Clones
Also, here is my take on Luke’s arc in “The Last Jedi”
Luke showed that he was a true Master of the Force, not a Jedi Master. One of the things I most hated about the prequels was the proliferation of lightsabers; specifically the ones wielded by Yoda and Palpatine.
In the OrigTrig, Yoda and Palpatine don't use lightsabers. Why don't they use them? Because they don't need to. They're so powerful that they don't need to resort to using a lightsaber. It's why Yoda says things like, "Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter." And Palpatine mocks Luke by saying, "You want this, don't you." True masters don't need to resort to (to paraphrase Leia), "Grabbing their laser sword and chopping through things."
Luke is now so powerful that he didn't need to employ his lightsaber. He was able to harness the Force to such an extent that he could project himself across both time and space that he could fool even the photo receptors (eyes) of a non-living droid in C-3PO. It was a great demonstration of Force power and control beyond anything we had ever seen before. And he’s not gone.
He has more to teach Rey and I fully believe he’ll be back as a Force ghost to further instruct her. He found his peace. He found his purpose. He found his moment to merge with the Force and continue on.
Were there things I would have loved Luke to have done? Sure, but in the end, I’m ok with they did with his character. I'm ok with how they had him pass the torch to Rey, since he won’t be the last Jedi
I was glad we had an on-screen moment with Luke and Leia. It was very touching and may have even brought a tear to this Star Wars nerd’s eye. After my third viewing, I’m pretty sure she knew he wasn’t physically there.
I'm glad they didn't have him completely save the day, the Resistance still had to get away on their own. They didn’t just wait for Luke to beat Kylo. They realized he was buying them time and used it.
Luke’s conversation with Yoda was the best we’ve seen Yoda look in 30+ years. They used the old puppets and didn’t just take the lazy way and completely CGI him. He gave us wisdom about the Force and continued teaching Luke. A great appearance by a great Jedi Master.
All in all, I like that they took Luke’s story in unexpected ways and had him find his peace and purpose.
I know all of you have been eagerly awaiting my “Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi” review. The movie has now been out for a week-plus, so if you haven’t seen it yet, being spoiler-free probably wasn’t that important to you, or you would have seen it by now.
I loved “The Last Jedi.” I thought it was a fantastic Star Wars movie. I have seen it three times (with plans to see it several more in the theaters) and liked it more each time. It took the saga in new directions, some of which were unexpected and others of which didn’t work.
It wasn’t a perfect movie, but it was a highly enjoyable and entertaining one, which is what I want from a movie. So here are some of my thoughts on the film.
What I Liked
• The entire Rey & Kylo story line. This completely worked for me.
o I thought Adam Driver, did an excellent job of portraying Kylo. Gone is the whiny, emo teenager full of angst. Here is a full-fledged bad guy for whom there can and will be no redemption.
o Rey is a great protagonist. She’s powerful in the Force and full of goodness. I excited to see how she finally takes down Kylo in Episode IX.
• The humor worked – for the most part.
o A few of the jokes felt a little too colloquial to our modern day and not a galaxy far, far away. For instance, Poe and Hux playing, “Can you hear me now?”
o BB-8 again provided timely comic relief (attempting to plug the sparks, being mistaken for a slot machine, etc.)
o The porgs. They were adorable and given just the right amount of screen time. Not too much to become annoying. Their sad little faces when Chewie is trying eat one was perfect. Their shenanigans on the Falcon throughout the rest of the movie was great as well. Loved them.
• Luke. I loved where they took his character. See below for a MUCH longer explanation.
• The Snoke Throne Room scene. This was a top 5 scene in all of Star Wars for me.
o From Snoke being unexpectedly betrayed, to Kylo and Rey teaming up to take out the Praetorian Guard, to Kylo begging Rey to join him, it was a fantastic sequence.
o I don’t need lightsaber battles in every Star Wars movie. I do need emotional fights between good and evil and this scene had it in spades. It was one of the best fight sequences in Star Wars. This wasn’t a dance between Obi-wan and Anakin. This was a raw, desperate fight to the death.
• Luke and Kylo showdown.
o Luke dusting himself off after taking the full brunt of First Order.
o The emotion. The anger displayed by Kylo. The serenity from Luke. The Dark rising and the Light to meet it.
o I should have realized it wasn’t a real Luke. But got so caught up in the moment that I didn’t that he had gotten a haircut, dyed his beard and wasn’t making footsteps in the salt.
o Luke telling Kylo that every word he said was wrong. And then immediately after Luke saying that he won’t be the last Jedi, we switch to see Rey lift all the rocks and save the Resistance.
What I Didn’t Like
• Everything Finn & Rose related.
o Finn was a decent character in “The Force Awakens.” But his storyline poor in this movie.
o Rose was not an interesting character. Full stop.
o The Finn vs Phasma fight should have happened in previous movie. It really felt pigeon-holed. It was a decent enough fight, but lacked any emotional punch.
o Also, if I’m ever executing someone, there will be no delays. Kill them immediately. Don’t “make it more painful.” Don’t give a pre-execution speech. Just shoot them and be done with them.
o They should have died at the end. They failed on their mission to turn-off the light speed tracker.
o Finn could have failed in trying to destroy the Death Star field gun. Then Rose, touches her medallion like her sister did at the beginning, is inspired by Finn’s sacrifice and makes her own attempt to destroy the gun. But she succeeds and the field gun is destroyed.
• Canto Bight Casino
o Really? Police are scouring the casino for a couple for illegal parking?
o It’s a casino. A den of denizens, scum, villainy and gun runners, and there’s not one Hutt anywhere to be seen? Give me a brief shot of some Hutt lounging on his divan in the background. Show me a Bossk or Dengar cheering on the races.
o The whole sequence just fell completely flat. Other than BB-8, who is awesome every time he is on screen.
• Leia Poppins
o Yes, Star Wars requires a complete suspension of belief. But this was poor. It wasn’t good.
o A better way would have been to have to see her realize what was coming and create a protective Force-bubble around her that kept her in the bridge. It would have kept the scene more “real” and possibly hinted at what Luke had done to survive the barrage at the end.
But all in all, it wasn’t a perfect movie. It had high points and low points. But the highs out out-weighed the lows. This movie was far superior to all three prequels. So, I know you are all wondering where I rank “The Last Jedi.” Here is my updated list.
Spiff's Star Wars Ranking
1. Return of the Jedi (my favorite)
2. Empire Strikes Back (the best Star Wars movie)
3. A New Hope
3. The Last Jedi
5. The Force Awakens
6. Rogue One
7. Revenge of the Sith
8. The Phantom Menace
9. Attack of the Clones
Also, here is my take on Luke’s arc in “The Last Jedi”
Luke showed that he was a true Master of the Force, not a Jedi Master. One of the things I most hated about the prequels was the proliferation of lightsabers; specifically the ones wielded by Yoda and Palpatine.
In the OrigTrig, Yoda and Palpatine don't use lightsabers. Why don't they use them? Because they don't need to. They're so powerful that they don't need to resort to using a lightsaber. It's why Yoda says things like, "Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter." And Palpatine mocks Luke by saying, "You want this, don't you." True masters don't need to resort to (to paraphrase Leia), "Grabbing their laser sword and chopping through things."
Luke is now so powerful that he didn't need to employ his lightsaber. He was able to harness the Force to such an extent that he could project himself across both time and space that he could fool even the photo receptors (eyes) of a non-living droid in C-3PO. It was a great demonstration of Force power and control beyond anything we had ever seen before. And he’s not gone.
He has more to teach Rey and I fully believe he’ll be back as a Force ghost to further instruct her. He found his peace. He found his purpose. He found his moment to merge with the Force and continue on.
Were there things I would have loved Luke to have done? Sure, but in the end, I’m ok with they did with his character. I'm ok with how they had him pass the torch to Rey, since he won’t be the last Jedi
I was glad we had an on-screen moment with Luke and Leia. It was very touching and may have even brought a tear to this Star Wars nerd’s eye. After my third viewing, I’m pretty sure she knew he wasn’t physically there.
I'm glad they didn't have him completely save the day, the Resistance still had to get away on their own. They didn’t just wait for Luke to beat Kylo. They realized he was buying them time and used it.
Luke’s conversation with Yoda was the best we’ve seen Yoda look in 30+ years. They used the old puppets and didn’t just take the lazy way and completely CGI him. He gave us wisdom about the Force and continued teaching Luke. A great appearance by a great Jedi Master.
All in all, I like that they took Luke’s story in unexpected ways and had him find his peace and purpose.