36
by Valkrist
Ok, with Christmas activities dying down I finally have time to post some thoughts on this movie.
*Spoilers ahead*
"Let the past die, kill it!" - Kylo Ren
Well, Rian Johnson certainly accomplished that. By the time The Last Jedi credits rolled and I walked out of the theatre, I felt hollow inside, as if part of me had died along with Luke Skywalker.
Let's tackle the beast head on before moving onto the smaller things: Luke.
I want to start off by saying that I could accept and believe that Luke has turned his back on everything: family, friends, Jedi, Resistance, the galaxy itself. Much can happen in 30 years, enough to completely sour a man and fill him with disillusion, bitterness, and regret. With Johnson's excellent direction, Hamill delivered a beautiful performance that really drove the point across, and I think much of it was fuelled by Hamill's bittersweet and poignant return to a character and setting that have defined his career since 1977. That Hamill himself disagreed with Luke's actions and stance only helped the performance because I can't help but feel that some of that disappointment is evident onscreen and flows naturally into his portrayal of a broken man.
I said "could accept" and not "do accept." and here is where my biggest problem with this movie lies. It would be silly and unrealistic for us to be given a full and detailed account of all the events that befell Luke since the fall of the second Death Star in ROTJ. You could have a whole other trilogy of movies about those lost 30 years and still not cover everything. The glaring flaw here in trying to get us to accept how drastically Luke has changed is that we are given next to nothing in order to get there. Given how firmly established Luke is over the course of three movies as an impulsive, idealistic, caring, and heroic man, it becomes next to impossible to reconcile that with the Luke we are shown in TLJ. What we get is only the barest and briefest of moments, essentially 60 seconds out of 30 years' worth of time in which we are expected to understand why Luke decides to not only walk away from everything he sacrificed so much to accomplish, but also repudiate it so vehemently.
In essence, though the moment is powerful, it doesn't even come close to being enough to get me to accept that Luke would simply give up. We are talking about a guy that refused the Emperor's offer, turned off his light sabre, and placed his life and fate in the hands of Darth Vader, all based on the slim hope and faith that his father would do the right thing despite repeated attempts to murder his own son in the past. Yet later, merely because he sees darkness growing inside his nephew and entertains thoughts of murder during a moment of weakness, he just decides to throw away every single thing he's learned. including the knowledge that he helped Vader achieve redemption in the end? Yes, seeing your nephew gone over to the dark side despite your teachings, watching your school burn down, and your students brutally murdered or turned evil would drive a lesser man to despair, but that man is not the Luke Skywalker we know. The Luke that we know, a man whose life was defined by his optimism and hope, would have retreated, regrouped, and made things right by either attempting to bring Ben Solo back to the light, or ending this new threat to the galaxy if need be. No more was this point driven home than when he tosses the light sabre over his shoulder and down the cliff. Was that sheer moment of gratuitous stupidity really necessary? All I heard around me at that moment were nervous laughs from the audience; people that I knew were just as surprised, confused, and disappointed as I was. Johnson played it for cheap laughs and I hope he's happy. The Luke that accepted his father's light sabre from Ben Kenobi's hands with awe and reverence was dead in that moment. If anything, and to drive the dramatic point home, Luke should have simply dropped it at his feet and walked away slowly. The over the shoulder toss and suffering look of annoyance was tantamount to a declaration of war against fans at that point.
I've read all the reviews and explanations about how this movie is about deconstructing the myth of the hero, and how the legacy of a legend is not always what we should expect. I fully get that and I think it is a fascinating exploration of turning convention on its head. For that kind of innovation and breaking the mold of previous Star Wars movies, I have nothing but praise for Johnson's courage and vision. I just don't feel that we were given sufficient context and believable enough reasons to see the complete destruction of everything Luke Skywalker stood for in the minds of fans that have followed his adventures for 40 years. To my eyes, the flashback to Luke and Ben at the Jedi school was a mere plot driver, devoid of any deeper meaning and exploration necessary to understanding all the complex layers of what we were being shown.
I honestly feel for Mark, who waited so many years to return to this beloved role, to then have to play the character of Luke so radically different from what came before and from what we know he was expecting and hoping for. I also feel for the rest of us, labelled 'fanboys' simply because we wish things had played out the way we imagined it should, and because we are deemed entitled in our ownership of these characters. To that I say "up yours." It is because of us that Star Wars was successful 40 years ago, and it is because of that success that these movies are still being made four decades later. To simply dismiss our opinions as just so much whining and sour grapes is just as offensive to me as the fair-weather moviegoers of today who can't wrap their heads around our love and respect for the legacy of this story.
Watching Luke die closed the book on this universe for me. I don't remember feeling this sad and empty inside while watching a movie since the cinematic death of the only other hero that I hold as dear as Luke, and that was Captain Kirk in Generations. Even Han's death in TFA didn't hit me as hard because as much as I loved that character, to me he was always the sidekick, the wisecracking and more experienced big brother figure to Luke's boyish heroics. To those of us who grew up with the OT, I'll bet almost all identified more with Luke's adventuresome spirit and moral compass than with Han's roguish ways. As hard as it was to bear, I could move past Han's death for the role it played in Kylo's continuing spiral into darkness. Luke's passing however, is impossible to get over. I'm grateful the plot saw fit to redeem him in the end, but without him, I no longer care.
Ok,,, the big one is out of the way. Now the rest.
- The humour: one of my greatest fears going in, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. When it worked, it definitely helped to ground me and remind me that the OT was replete with humour and to be more forgiving here. However, there were a few instances were it grated, fell flat, out of place, and just forced. Nowhere did I find this more glaring than right in the movie's opening scene where Poe, sitting in his X-Wing, makes a complete and utter buffoon out of General Hux. It was stupid, plain and simple. No one can defend that scene to me, no matter what you say or do. Given the seriousness of the situation, the dire peril of the Resistance, the sour and humourless nature of the First Order, and the dramatic tension one hopes to achieve when hundreds of lives are about to be lost, one pilot's smartass banter and slapstick humour was worse than nails on a chalkboard. It got the movie off to the wrong foot for me, and it was tough to come back from that. Then there were just the plain "What the...?" moments like Luke milking the giant alien nipple. Seriously, we're stooping that low for laughs? That was just plain awkward and unfunny on too many levels.
- Porgs: not even close to what I expected. I was pleasantly surprised to be ok with the little guys and re-embrace that side of Star Wars that is cute and makes you smile.
- Unexplained things and glaring mistakes:
I loved the look of the new B-Wing bombers but... in the vacuum of space, where there is no gravity, where is the logic of bombs that drop from a hold and seemingly behave as if they are in an atmosphere? I'm sure it can be explained that they were guided somehow, but Johnson was clearly going for the WW2 vibe here, and literally dropping bombs in space is a ridiculous concept. This is why they used proton torpedoes and concussion missiles in the OT, and yes, we see TIE Bombers dropping their payloads in TESB, but you can get away with it in a 10-second scene, not a big flashy sequence like the one in TLJ.
Tracking through hyperspace: did I miss something or was the discussed impossibility of this tech brought up and just as quickly tossed aside, then a solution figured out in two lines of dialogue by a simple mechanic? If it was that easy, it clearly wasn't as impossible to do as they made it out to be initially.
The Rebel base on the planet Crait: again, did I miss a vital line of exposition here? The Resistance ships drop out of their first hyperspace jump (I assume to recalculate their next heading,) but then get stuck when the First Order fleet shows up. Reduced to limping along at sub-light speed, they have less than a day's worth of fuel. Yet, somehow in the vastness of the galaxy and just in the nick of time, they are miraculously near a planet that can not only sustain life, but has a convenient abandoned base for them to use? I wish I had C3PO here to quote the odds on the likelihood of that being likely.
The puny size of the Resistance and the puissance of the First Order: my ongoing complaint with this new trilogy is the utter lack of background for anything that's happened since the OT. What caused Leia and the Resistance to split and be different from the new Republic? Where did the First Order come from? Clearly they are the revitalized remnants of the Galactic Empire, but how were they organized so quickly, retained so much power and hardware (Starkiller base, anyone?), and if so, why was the Republic so blind and stupid as to not have an active military to counter something that was right in front of them? Did they learn absolutely nothing? What happened to all the personnel, military hardware, and fleets that the Alliance had at its disposal? Did everyone pack it up and call it a day after the Battle of Endor? The bad guys clearly didn't, so it's utterly illogical and downright stupid that the winners of that critical battle and backers of the new government are suddenly reduced to one cruiser, two smaller ships, and a handful of starfighters. It makes no sense and again, it seems like a convenient plot device that they don't want you to look at too closely. Some could try to explain this by saying the Republic fleet was destroyed along with the Hosnian system in TFA, but it's equally ridiculous that they would keep all their ships vulnerable in one location. This is a universe with hundreds of inhabited planets and hyperspace travel, after all. Before someone points out the novels, I'm sorry but I shouldn't be required to read a bunch of (poorly written, I hear) books to explain what to me are massive plot holes and glaring omissions in these movies. Take a minute or two and explain things to me, please.
The hyperspace ship-missile maneuver: Ignoring for one moment the sheer awesomeness of the whole thing, why has this never been done before? Why not remote-pilot a single cruiser into the first Death Star and be done with it? This is a gaping plot hole and one can of worms that I'm sure will be conveniently ignored going forward, but it was still one of the best moments this movie had to offer.
The Crait battle: What exactly was the point of sending out 13 skimmers falling apart to battle the First Order's ground assault hardware? Yeah they were going for the ram-cannon, but Poe and Leia couldn't possibly be stupid enough to not see that they didn't stand a chance. Sure enough, they go out and nearly all die in a pointless attack that accomplished absolutely nothing, not even a bit of additional time as the cannon is priming to fire the entire time. The whole thing felt like a filler action scene that went nowhere and the sole point of which was to have Rose save Finn so they could show us that she loved him. Ok then.
- Finn, Rose, and Canto Bight: why did I get the feeling that they just didn't know what to do with Finn in this movie? To keep the poor guy busy and with a purpose, we get a budding romance that feels shoehorned and lacks any chemistry whatsoever, and the most pointless detour ever in the history of the Star Wars movies. The Canto Bight caper brought back the worst memories of Prequel Trilogy scenes filled with CGI eye candy, forgettable extras, and zero substance. It added and advanced absolutely nothing in the story except to get Finn and Rose onto the First Order ship, only to then fail and still add and advance absolutely nothing. Benicio Del Toro did the most he could with what he was given and I liked his performance as DJ, the guy that takes no sides, but the character was as ultimately pointless as the entire side adventure he was a part of. Add the obligatory chase scene with cutesy riding animals and the tug-at-your-heartstrings moment with some kids and the formula for what you supposedly need in a movie these days is complete. No thanks.
- Captain Phasma: Boba Fett 2.0 ... need I say more?
- Vice Admiral Holdo: I love Laura Dern, and I really liked her character, yet I have to question why she was chosen for one of the movie's most awesome and pivotal sequences. Call it fan service if you will, but would not the sacrifice she made have been more meaningful and poignant to the fans if it had been Lando Calrissian or Admiral Ackbar instead, two characters that we are more familiar with and are at least more emotionally invested in? To me, the sheer wow factor of that scene was robbed of impact by the fact that I simply didn't care about Holdo. Sure she was brave and heroic, but we knew her for less than half an hour's worth of scenes, so why should we care? Instead Lando is shunned for this entire trilogy, and Ackbar gets unceremoniously sucked out into space with barely a word of acknowledgment. Poor decision.
- Force powers: I loved the two-way communication/bond between Rey and Kylo. There was a precedent established for this in the OT already, with Luke, Leia, and Vader being able to sense one another across vast distances, and even hear each other's thoughts. Johnson simply took it to the next level in a way that served the movie beautifully and effectively. Luke's Force Projection of his image onto the planet Crait was also a twist that I found to be extremely cool and believable in the sense that the effort to do so would be so massive and taxing that it cost Luke his life. What I couldn't wrap my head around was Leia's ridiculous Mary Poppins in Space moment. I literally couldn't believe my eyes as I watched that scene. Yes, she is Force-sensitive, and yes, it is not inconceivable a Jedi could survive in the vacuum of space for a short time. However, the whole thing was poorly executed, awkward-looking, and elicited more than a few laughs where I'm sure none were intended. Surely there was over a dozen ways they could have done the Kylo-Leia near-death scene without resorting to such a cheesy moment? That was just hard to watch. Also, knowing that the movie was still being put together after Carrie Fisher's untimely death, I had a moment of wondering why they didn't move this scene to much later in the sequence of events and have Leia actually die and resolve the problem of what to do with the character in the next movie. I get it would have likely required scrapping her scenes on Crait, but perhaps even that could have been reordered around? We'll never know.
- Missed opportunities: "Where's Han?", Luke shouts ... well, let me tell you. Or not. Who cares, right? Certainly not the fans that were cheated out of seeing Han and Luke onscreen together one last time after over three decades. In a movie that spent a ton of time going off to a random casino planet to find a no-name thief and then accomplish nothing in the process, Johnson saw fit to not devote a single second of screen time to Rey sorrowfully telling Luke of his best friend's tragic death at the hands of his own son. I guess that might have provided too much of an incentive for Luke to perhaps get off his rear end and do something about his evil nephew, but instead what could have been an emotionally-charged and beautiful but painful moment in this tale as Luke is hit by the realization that he too is responsible for Han's death, is instead casually ignored because I guess Johnson was in such a rush to kill the past that he could care less about providing some closure for the OT characters. To contrast this with a scene I felt was handled perfectly: my eyes teared up when Luke was inside the darkened Falcon, and especially when R2 played Leia's original holographic message. I was overwhelmed at the strength of my feelings during that moment.
- Snoke's death and Kylo vs. Rey: Easily one of the highlights of the movie for me. This is where TLJ got a chance to shine and I loved every moment of it. When I felt that trailers gave too much away, I was immensely pleased to see how wrong I was. Like my previous point about not knowing enough, I lament the fact that we know absolutely squat about who Snoke was or how he rose to lead the First Order. He seemed too much like a poor-man's Emperor to me. On the other hand, this lack of background made him highly disposable and his death is one that served the plot well. That Rey was so masterfully played by Ren in order for him to further his own ambitions was pulled off quite well, and there were several moments where I was left feeling things could go in any direction at any moment, and I found that lack of certainty refreshing and thrilling. To put the cherry on the cake, we were treated to one of the most awesome battle sequences in all the movies so far as Kylo and Ren fend off the Praetorian Guards.
- Rey's parents: I liked how they handled this. Either way we look at it, I think the storytelling wins. If Kylo was telling the truth (and given the source of these facts, this is highly dubious) I find it refreshing that Rey isn't somehow connected to the Skywalkers, or Kenobi, or whoever else we may have heard of before. Anakin Skywalker, the Chosen One himself, came from a single mother who was a nobody herself, so why is it so shocking that Rey's parents were alcoholic vagrants? The Force can and should manifest itself in anyone it chooses, regardless of heritage and in the case of Rey, it is in keeping with the theme of a fresh start to this story. If this is a break from the past, then this is the best way to do it. However, being the master manipulator and liar that he is, there's a high chance Kylo was lying in order to destroy Rey's hopes and dreams and seduce her to his side. I think he wasn't lying though, and this is hinted at by Rey's experience in the tidal grotto on Ahch-To. When she looks in the reflection and asks to see her parents, she sees two shapes at first and we think we are in for a big reveal, but instead the two shapes blend into one, revealing only Rey's reflection. I think the significance of that was to tell her that her parents were indeed no one of consequence, so much so that even their faces were unimportant. All that mattered was that they sired her, and she was the one that was there and now, and important. Thus, she was shown herself.
- Callbacks: With TFA being slammed for being a copy of ANH, we were right to fear that TLJ would be too much like TESB. It wasn't and yet it was in many ways. For all the praise this movie is getting for breaking the formula, I still saw far too many similarities and blatant copies of scenes from TESB and ROTJ. From start to end we get: a planetary evacuation of rebel forces while an enemy fleet awaits in orbit; a tense space chase; the Jedi Master and apprentice moments on a remote planet; that place where the Dark Side is strong and where you find only what you bring with you; the visit by the admonishing ghost of a dead Jedi Master; the throne room scene where the evil leader gloats, allegiances shift, and said evil leader gets his comeuppance; the rebel base with the big gate, trench, low-flying speeders over a stark white landscape, overmatched by assault walkers; etc. Even Kylo watching the Falcon speed off in the sky on Crait reminded me of Vader watching the Falcon leaving the base on Hoth. For me, it was several one-too-many on the nose winks to what we've seen before, and for a movie that's taking all kinds of credit for doing new things, I didn't find it all that different.
Ok... phew... you tired of reading yet? Congrats if you made it this far and thanks for listening. In summation, there is much in this movie that I appreciated, but in the end I feel as Kit did. Not so much that it took a crap all over Star Wars, but I would say that Luke definitely came out of this stinking like poop. I will watch SW IX but it will be mostly going through the motions at that point and more for the sake of completion. I do want to see what happens with Leia as the last link to the OT (Chewie, C3PO, and R2-D2 seem like mere afterthoughts at this point,) and I am mildly curious about how the whole Kylo/Rey thing will end, but mostly I could care less about where this goes. The thought of a new Johnson-led trilogy that will possibly even jettison the likes of Poe, Finn, Rey, and Kylo holds even less appeal therefore I humbly pass the Star Wars legacy into the hands of a generation that I feel will have less than one tenth of the appreciation that we did for those wonderful movies that came out all those years ago, in what seems now like a galaxy far, far away.