Star Wars Episode 8: The Last Jedi (2017)

[jjc2009]

BTW, I really don't understand the critics. Even if I'm being too critical, there's no way in the world that this movie deserves a 94% Rotten tomatoes score. I know that this sounds like a conspiracy theory, but critics are just too benevolent and forgiving with Disney products.

I think you have to consider the lens through which these films are being reviewed, not just by critics, but by most fans too.

I think most critics view the original trilogy as being in a league of its own, and that it is either unfair or unrealistic to compare Episodes VII-IX to IV-VI. If they come close or match it, great. These same critics (and most fans) realize that the prequel trilogy was a steaming hot mess of shit, and the main objective of the current trilogy is to get as close to the OT and as far from the prequels as possible. So far, the first two films have managed to avoid most of the major mistakes of the prequels (there are a few notable exceptions to this). But I just don't think critics are looking at these films in a vacuum and that is why the ratings are probably slightly higher than you'd think.

I for one am not as down on this film as some are here. Is it the best of the entire series, no. But its definitely in the top 1/3 IMO. I certainly get the criticisms here and I also can see the viewpoint that it maybe is just a shade over-hyped, but for the most part, it has everything you want in a Star Wars story, and doesn't stray too far into the ridiculous like the prequels did too often.

 

[Clayton]

After the first two Star Wars movies, I'd say none of them qualify as truly great. The Last Jedi is definitely in the top half and definitely not top 2.

Spoiler

The entire Rey/Snoke/Red Room fight scene is one of the best things thats ever happened in Star Wars. Benicio Del Toro playing a Mercenary character correctly and not as a hero was fantastic in my opinion. They had an evil BB8. The effects of the Salt Planet. Mark Hamill in general was fantastic. Adam Driver was fantastic. Daisy Ridley was good. The jokes really worked. The diverse cast was nice to see. Going without sound for 5 seconds had a huge payoff.

But

They really had an issue here with heroics and tone. Star Wars is a power fantasy and its a space cowboy movie. The thing about cowboy movies is that they are always supposed to be reflections of the current time with social allegories. The problem is that the movie couldn't decide if being a hero was a good thing which is really peculiar to see in a struggle for survival. Luke does the reluctant mentor thing, Poe does what the audience wants to see, the woman with the pink hair was made to be more unlikable than needed to prove some sort of point that didnt really matter in the end. Finn's fetch quest was a waste of half an hour and I felt like it really hurt the movie's ability to breathe. Finn in general was a negative nancy. "I can't do this." "I'm scared." "You can't do that." "Its too strong." "Its not possible" And then once or twice every movie he gets a scene where he gets the power fantasy where he is rising above the Empire, they call him guttertrash and then fall into the fire. Thats Suicide Squad level stuff there.

Everything in spaceships was problematic, too, but from a movie going standpoint I can overlook things like being out of range and people not noticing ships leaving, etc. The attrition of the people in space never really hits home because they never give that struggle a chance to breathe. The movies cuts are quick and sudden as if the movie knows its too long and thats never a sign of a good movie. The whole thing felt like 2 movies crashing into each other and then it just sort of ends with a whimper.

Overall, I'm thinking B-. Similar to that of a 2nd tier anime.

 

[DarthVedder]

Top 1/3? We are talking about 9 movies total, so I don't see how this is the 3rd best SW movie ever, when all the movies in the OT and Rogue One are superior films. I'm a huge Star Wars and this was just a huge letdown. It has some good parts, but the problems are just too big that they took me out of the movie.

 

[juliansteed]

Top 1/3? We are talking about 9 movies total, so I don't see how this is the 3rd best SW movie ever, when all the movies in the OT and Rogue One are superior films. I'm a huge Star Wars and this was just a huge letdown. It has some good parts, but the problems are just too big that they took me out of the movie.

Well everyone is going to have a different opinion but I tend to agree with yours.

The originals are still Top 3 in my opinion in any order. My favorite from these changes all the time but they all tell one great story. I feel like I'll have to defend ROTJ but it is one of my favorites despite a few problems I had with it.

After that I would say Rogue One with Revenge of the Sith not being far behind. I'm sure I'll have to defend putting the latter even as high as the mid-point but I remember walking away from it after seeing it in the theater for the first time liking it a lot more than 7 & 8. It didn't age well though.

Then a bit of a gap and Episodes 7 & 8 in either order. Right now I'm leaning towards 8 being a bit over 7. Episode 8 had higher high points but it also had lower low points so I'm not sure.

Then episodes 1 & 2 in either order. It doesn't matter. They are both just a bit above the Holiday Special and the Ewoks movies.

 

[mr.hockey4242]

Tom Hardy shine??

 

[DarthVedder]

Yep, everybody will have a different opinion... I just don't get how people can overlook the HUGE problems in this movie, when those are basically 70% of the movie. The Rey+Luke+Ben plot was really good, but nothing else worked and some of those points are even insulting.

Anyway, to me:

TESB
ANH
RO
ROTJ / ROTS / TFO (all three have great parts and a few bad parts)
TLJ / AOTC
TPM (it has the second best baddie and the best lightsaber fight of the whole series so far)

 

[Comeds]

The whole plot part with Finn and the Casino was pointless, they didn't achieve anything and didn't advance the plot in any way... It was just to set up the new trilogy with the slave kid, I guess.

The movie was a big disappointment to me. The bad parts took me off, and I couldn't even enjoy the few good parts (Rey's story was pretty good).

That was the worst. About that time I thought the movie was really bad. It got better near the end, overall I think it was OK.

Spoiler

Leia's non death was stupid.

 

[Clayton]

There were some bad parts in the end.

Spoiler

"I need to sacrifice myself to the Giant Laser"


"No You don't. I'm going to crash into you at super high speed to show that I love you. Even though my mom sacrificed herself so that we could all be here to save the Rebellion. Wait...what is this movie about again? Didn't I just meet you? Lets kiss! Are you even straight? Didnt you already have a romance plot? Sorry about that Good Guys. Good luck with that laser"

 

[DetroitDevil]

In theater now.... its about to start.

 

[juliansteed]

There were some bad parts in the end.

Spoiler

"I need to sacrifice myself to the Giant Laser"


"No You don't. I'm going to crash into you at super high speed to show that I love you. Even though my mom sacrificed herself so that we could all be here to save the Rebellion. Wait...what is this movie about again? Didn't I just meet you? Lets kiss! Are you even straight? Didnt you already have a romance plot? Sorry about that Good Guys. Good luck with that laser"

Spoiler

Yeah forgot about that part. That was really dumb! The risk absolutely did not justify the reward. Was Finn in any less danger as a result of her move than he otherwise would have been? You'd think one of those things crashing into another at high-speed would be pretty dangerous, and now she's putting herself in danger in addition to Finn. Yes Finn's move was bold and dangerous but at least he was prepared for what the First Order would have done to counter it. Plus there would have been a huge payoff had it gone well, or even if he were to die at least he might do some damage to the First Order instead of 2 Resistance members taking each other out.

 

[DetroitDevil]

Exactly what A Disney StarWars was feared to become. 4 of 10 stars. Good thing they put some litttle disney penguins and 101 glittering puppies in it.

 

[DetroitDevil]

Yep, everybody will have a different opinion... I just don't get how people can overlook the HUGE problems in this movie, when those are basically 70% of the movie. The Rey+Luke+Ben plot was really good, but nothing else worked and some of those points are even insulting.

Anyway, to me:

TESB
ANH
RO
ROTJ / ROTS / TFO (all three have great parts and a few bad parts)
TLJ / AOTC
TPM (it has the second best baddie and the best lightsaber fight of the whole series so far)

Thats about right.

 

[Sparhawk]

It was just ok, for the reasons mentioned here.
Felt disjointed. Good bits of humor, but the movie lacked the flow of the other ones.
I recently watched Rogue One and that seemed super smooth compared to this.

One nice use of the force that we had not seen before and one egregious use.

 

[OutlawImmortal]

I didn't really think the characters in Rogue One were all that interesting. To me, it's better than the prequels but certainly not RotJ. Darth Vader's redemption makes up for any ewok.

 

[juliansteed]

I didn't really think the characters in Rogue One were all that interesting. To me, it's better than the prequels but certainly not RotJ. Darth Vader's redemption makes up for any ewok.

That's how I feel too. That plus it was the only original movie to have the Emperor. With I guess a bit of an exception with the manner in which Vader easily disposed of him, any scene with the Emperor in it was great in my opinion. I loved the 3 way head games between him, Vader, and Luke. I also liked the Jabba stuff at the beginning (yes I know the "plan" didn't make much sense) before the special editions butchered it. Then you have the great space battle.

I can overlook the Ewok stuff. It's not like they single-handedly took down the Empire. Han had a whole team on Endor. Plus Lando and the fleet still had to do their part and then Luke and Vader took care of The Emperor himself to make sure there was no chance of him escaping the Death Star.

 

[wildturkey]

So should we make a separate Spoiler discussion topic or maybe update the thread title to say "spoilers"? The movie is out and I hate having to tag everything.

 

[OutlawImmortal]

Well, everyone was complaining about The Force Awakens not being different enough, I hope those of you are happy with TLJ because Disney listened to you guys but in the process, missed a lot of opportunities.

I'd probably give it around a 6/10.

 

[Voltaire26]

I haven't seen it yet, but the movie is getting hammered by the user reviews on IMDB. Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017) - Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017) - User Reviews - IMDb

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

Hmm I thought it was good. *POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD*

They added some story archs, some interesting takes on Kylo Ren. I like that Luke had his own plot line and they didn't just do some stupid Jedi training montage like Empire. I loved the new force abilities (especially Luke's which was badass). The disappear leaves some things to question, not sure what they'll do with that. I think they say "Luke's gone" but they don't say he's dead (if I recall).

Space battles were awesome. I liked that they kept the central theme of STAR WARS in the fucking STARS, instead of a ground movie the whole time.

The casino city was kind of cool and didn't overstay it's welcome. It reminded me of a small part of a video game like Knights of the Old Republic or something.

The acting was great outside of the asian chick who was fairly forgettable, but everyone else was spot on.

IMO V > IV > VIII > VI > VII > Prequels (they were all terrible).

 

[DarthVedder]

seen

Well, everyone was complaining about The Force Awakens not being different enough, I hope those of you are happy with TLJ because Disney listened to you guys but in the process, missed a lot of opportunities.

I'd probably give it around a 6/10.

It's not just about being different for the sake of it. Yes, we might want a different story, but at a more basic level, we want a good movie, a movie that makes sense and follows logical plot lines.