Finally saw it and I thought it was bad. Everyone has already hit on my complaints for it so I don’t have much to add. I would give it a solid C+ and I’ll never rewatch it again like I have done with the three originals and rogue one.
It's interesting the polarity this film is having on those who have seen it. I have no idea how you could watch it and truly think it was bad. I'm not a fanboy but my sister is and we both really liked it. Again, I'm not saying it was perfect and there were a couple things I had a problem with but the movie as a whole I thought was really good.
56% or whatever the fan score is on RT is clearly not indicative of the quality of the film.
If I had to guess why the rating is that low - I would say that for the last two years people spent time reading theories and building the film in their mind. Then it got rave reviews from critics. People expected a masterpiece and those theories to be validated. Instead, Rian went a completely different direction. TLJ simply made some of the questions asked in TFA unimportant. People are angry about it and are in turn picking apart the film. Was it perfect? Nope. Is it better than a 56%? Absolutely. It's not close.
Okay, just saw it.
I liked it, but admittedly it takes a lot for me to dislike a movie, especially one I am so invested in. I need to see it again, but someone please tell me the meaning of the gold dice. I totally missed it. I did leave to go to the rest room, so maybe I missed something.
I can see why many are frustrated. After TFA, we have been wanting to:
Know who Rey's parents are
Know who Snoke is
See Luke Skywalker kick major butt
See Leah do anything important
Instead we get:
Rey is trailer trash
Snoke is an irrelevant d-bag
A brooding downtrodden Luke
Leah finally uses the force to SURVIVE IN OUTER SPACE AND FLY BACK TO HER SHIP!
The casino plot would have been worth it if it were the plan that worked.
I am disappointed, but I still liked it. It evaded my expectations, but I do not own this story and when I suspend belief to get into a movie, I assume what is happening is real and there just happens to be lots of cameras around.
Bring on 9. I am glad Abrams is doing it. He will provide a clean wrap up.
Johnson can take a break and then take it wherever during the next trilogy.
Here's an interesting article about the disconnect between the 56% user score shown on RT and all the other metrics that seem to show it as a very good movie.
It is sorta funny to me... when I first saw it and had a few reservations about it (which I posted at the start of this thread) I though folks would rail against me for having anything negative to say about this film. Now, I feel like bashing it is the "trendy" thing to do and I reflexively want to defend it from too much criticism. I think we all agree it is a very good movie, it just lets us down in a couple ways that keep it from being truly great. There is no sin in that. The number of truly great films every year is generally really, really small... and sci-fi soap operas are really rarely among them.Typically, user scores aren’t that far from their critical ratings. Simply put these are all unscientific means of measuring audience reactions. Anyone can log into these sites several times (anecdotally we played around with this last night) and weigh down the audience grades against a movie. The consensus from non-Disney sources this morning is that “trolling” occurred here in regards to the online reaction to Last Jedi. In addition, there’s no way to filter on these sites whether or not the users have actually seen Last Jedi or not.
-Jason "Reddevil's list of 4 questions from VII that are unsatisfactorily answered in IIX is dead on target!! A trilogy with different writer/directors can be very awkward" Evans
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
Agree with most of JE assessment. The whole casino planet thing, in retrospect, seems so pointless. That being said, the ending where the kid reaches for his broom and it floats to him was great, and it wouldn't have made sense without the casino planet.
Just to address your (and several other people's disbelief at this) you actually can survive for a short while in space. It's not the instant freeze/explode/death that so many movies portray. The being blasted to the outside would likely have killed her but if she survived that, she could realistically survive for the short while she needed to reach out and pull herself back in.
That being said, if she were just unconscious for the time offscreen and she didn't instantly reach out to bring herself in, then yeah.
All that being said, this is a world with the force and magic light swords
Duke '03
Tent 1 '99/'00
Right. I find it strange that folks will believe that someone strong with the force can lift an aircraft with their mind, or can create fake, talking images of themselves that appear on another planet, but don’t buy that someone strong with the force could survive a few seconds in space and propel themselves through space. Seems like a strange place to draw the line in what is credible.
According to NASA and Scientific American, humans can survive about 2 minutes in space without a suit, but would lose consciousness in about 15-20 seconds.
For people familiar with the old school SATs:
The Last Jedi:Star Wars::Gods & Guns:Lynyrd Skynyrd.
That moment was one of my least favorite of the film. Absent taking out the battering ram, everyone was going to die. They had every reason to think they would be immediately stormed as soon as the blast door was taken out, and they were sure there was no way out. As the late Bill Paxton would have said, game over man, game over. Of course you sacrifice yourself to take that gun out. It made no sense for Poe to call them off, and it certainly made no sense for Rose to stop Finn. Even if she had a crush on him, there was nothing up to that point to suggest she was so overwhelmingly in love with him that she'd flat out risk her life and crash her speeder into his to try and save him (and it's pretty sketchy logic to try and save someone by t-boning them. They both could easily have been killed in the crash). And again, all she's likely accomplished is dooming everyone, including both herself and Finn, anyway.
Demented and sad, but social, right?
Eh... What was the end game? I mean, you take out the battering ram, and then you have a standoff where you arr wildly outgunned and stand to starve to death. I mean, better odds than getting the door knocked down, but still not a great plan.
I saw it as parallel to Poe's impulsive actions early in the film.
No, not great, but they went to the base in the first place. They knew their best case was being pinned inside - safe for the time being, but unable to do much unless they found some allies willing to come help. And it's not like Finn rode out on his own to take out the battering ram. They made that decision for a reason. And then reversed it because one or two more guys might die in the effort? That really doesn't make much sense.
Demented and sad, but social, right?
One last complaint (for now) - Phasma was wasted. What was the point of introducing her? Maybe she is not dead. Abrams created her, so he can bring her back for a better showing.
After some reflection, I have come around on the topic of Rey. She does not need to be a descendant of anyone known. Having Force sensitivity or powers is not something inherited necessarily. Any commoner like Rey, or the boy with the broom could potentially have it. After all, Anakin was but a slave boy. It plays into the class disparity theme.
Now as for SW9, there are very few members of the resistance as we know it, but perhaps the word got out and people are mobilizing. There has to be a real threat to the First Order. I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE for the wookiees to come into the fold. Some may find it cheesy, but this is Star Wars, and there is always room for a little cheddar. The marketing and much humor could be funneled through this possibility.
Well, go back to the original trilogy and look at how many scenes/lines/importance characters like Boba Fett had. Phasma is perfectly in line with that.
The Snoke/Rey decisions were perfect to keep this trilogy from just being a repeat of the Original (like Episode 7 was). The only thing I'm a little sad about is the idea that the Skywalker/Solo names are forever gone from future non-prequel Star Wars movies, although I guess that is not 100% certain yet.
My Star Wars fan coworker disliked the movie, and I got him to distill it down for me... He is disappointed about how his favorite characters from childhood (Han, Luke, Leia) were dismissed rather inelegantly. I understand this perspective, but I disagree.
Han was rather wasted in Ep VII, largely because it felt like Harrison had no interest in being anywhere near the set. Contrast with Mark Hamill, who seemed to really get the most out of his last chance to play the role that made him a household name. Luke (to me) went out in a blaze of glory, going down in an act of redemption and exhaustion, saving the rebels one more time.
Of course, it is yet to be seen how they deal with Leia - killing her off screen would be rather ignominious, CGI would be horrific, recasting unimaginable - but I felt Luke's final chapter was properly epic.