The Last Jedi Thoughts- Spoilers Galore
Okay, just got out of my first viewing. I’m not sure how I feel about this movie yet. I’ll see it again with my son and family over Christmas so I’ll have another chance to see what things I missed.
Below are spoiler thoughts in no particular order.
- Luke/Rey/Kylo/Force stuff was great. Yoda Force ghost! Well played. Luke vs Kylo at the end was epic without becoming ridiculous. You both bought that Jedi Master Luke could survive that barrage and that its all okay because it was just a Force Illusion. Also, cool new Force power to get recanonized.
- The way Kylo took out Snoke, very nice but really leaves hanging just who the hell Snoke is, where he came from and all that. But it does leave an irredeemable Kylo in charge of the bad guys which I think is a great place for the Episode IX.
- Rey being from a nobody family, perfect
- Rey and Kylo’s visions both coming true, from a certain point of view. Now Rey needs to build herself a double bladed saber in Ep 9 and train up some apprentices.
- The Raddus lightspeed ram, wonderfully done
- Poe vs the Vice Admiral- Mixed. I kind of get what they were going for, Poe growing up and not sacrificing everything for a small win. But that didn’t seem like a flaw until the movie told us he had it. And hasn’t Star Wars always been about risking it all? That was the plot to Rogue One after all.
- Overall plot- I like the idea of the Resistance fleet being pursued and in trouble. It just felt like it could have been tighter if they were making multiple hyperspace jumps. Poe wanted to risk it all to try and disable the tracker, Vice Admiral wanted to get everyone off the ship sneakily. Then it plays out exactly as its shown but with just a little more clarity that both had a point but Poe’s way would have gotten everyone killed
- Hangar Bay- I liked that the fighters in the hangar bay were destroyed by Kylo. It neutered Poe and set up his scrambling to do something. That worked. But all those cool X-wing pilots we saw in the last movie, in the comics and in X-wing minis game, are they dead? We saw Nien Numb. But what about Snap and Jess Pava? And was that Ello Atsy, didn’t he die twice in TFA? We need clarity here!
- Casino Planet- I like the overall growth of Finn and the relationship with Rose. But for the overall story it felt like a distraction that just made the movie longer. Maybe it just needed to be trimmed some.
- Porgs- Did not get overused. An amusing scene with Chewie.
- Luke/Leia scene- great as a goodbye
- The Betrayal- Only part I didn’t like about Del Toro’s bit was how he revealed the location of the Resistance transports. How did he even know to give the First Order that information even if he somehow knew how to find them? But the turning on Finn/Rose was great.
- Super Badass BB-8- When BB-8 popped out of the AT-ST, after ripping part of it off, that was ridiculous. That crossed a line. Him firing the guns to give them a chance to escape? Sure, that works. The broken AT-ST to show Killer Astromech, no, just no.
Overall I think I come down on liking it but I am not as eager to watch it again as I was TFA or Rogue One so I am concerned there. Another viewing will help.
