I feel like the director shied away from explaining things that I think that the books would have explained, after all George Lucas wasnt senile for a quite a while after releasing those books. Makes me think that I should have read the books instead.
I think that was part of the point. Where Force Awakens was trying desperately to hang on to the past Last Jedi worked hard to throw it all away.
Especially the Jedi and Sith are dead - time to start something new with the force. The force isn't the monopoly of the two orders; they just happen to be the current religions around it.
I actually thought Episode 8 was a little bit better than Episode 7, but I can't understand the stellar reviews and positive reception for either of them. They basically just ignore the fact that the rebels "Win" in episode 6 and reboots back to episode 4 but with new characters.
Personally I found the continuation in EU much more logical and interesting, to bad they scrapped it all from canon.
Episode 8 was at least pretty entertaining, and there were some twists that weren't actually expected which was welcome after the copy-paste of the previous one. But there's way to much action and way to little explanations.
We have to destroy that Dreadnought! - We have to disable that tracking device! - We have to destroy that battering ram cannon!
Oh, and a ship travelling at light speed will obliterate everything it passes? In that case, why haven't they used that before, seems like an easy way to destroy an entire fleet at the cost of "just" one cruiser…so many annoyances that just puts the new movies in the "decent action but no more" department.
all good points, and I found it entertaining too, but where does the European Union fit in?
There were a few things that bugged me with the new movie:
- Luke's portrayal. He seems like a very weak character. They could have done a better job on how he went out.
- Leia's all of a sudden OP Force Powers. If she had powers like that this whole time, how come she never used them before?
- Snoke getting killed; this was a big surprise and I'm hoping he's not really dead because of the next point
- Kylo Ren - He's such a horrible villain. I feel that he is weak in mind and comes off as a spoiled brat to me. Snoke is the better villian, but they killed him off
I still liked the movie very much, it's just I felt there were parts that could have been written better.
Luke's portrayal at least ends his run as a Mary Sue. That there's a second flaw in his character (he was naive and easily manipulated in the first one) is refreshing and understandable disappointment by Luke's fans including Hamill himself.
But it again throws away expectations - not unlike Muadib in the Dune sequels which also disappointed fans - but also connects Luke to his predecessors. Are all Jedi's destined to check out of civilization in their old age and become a crazy old wizard hermit?
All the interesting questions from Force Awakens like Who are Rey's parents? What is Snokes story? What has become of Luke? Who is Phasma? Have all been thrown away deliberately.
The one interesting thing to me is what happens with Hux. Kylo Ren has clearly showed himself to be an unstable leader - Hux had to repeat Ren's order for example for his soldiers to obey them.
Ren is going to on a different path than the Sith so I can see him abandoning the First Order as they abandon him. What happens then to the Knights of Ren?
I thought it was a 7.5 myself. A few complaints:
One segment I really hated was the visit to the casino planet. I was like warping back to Phantom Menace. Just painful filler material.
did anyone else notice that actions taken by Finn & Po caused more death and loss for the rebellion than all previous movie combined? Pretty much traitorous actions across the board compounded by extreme incompetence?
I have to defend Kyle Ren. Having a cardboard copy of Darth Vader would have been a bad move. Kyle’s character is supposed to show the progression of inner conflict while he is being betrayed by everyone and how it is pushing him darker. I like how he is resolving his inner conflicts by killing all ties. Makes sense. I personally think he is a great character and his whining/tantrums are consistent with his evolvement. Just look at the betrayals of Ray, Luke and Snokes manipulations and humiliations. His character just makes sense and I love the complexity there
The Casino planet is universally hated, however it gives some true motivation for the rebellion characters. A giant hole in the first trilogy is the Empire brings order and stability and the rebels just brought chaos, i.e. the empire were good guys.
The casino of war profiteers along with Del Toro's character shows what Rose is really fighting against.
This turns Finn's character around who at the beginning displayed his character to get out of the insane situation he found himself in he had in the last movie, to one where he's willing to become a martyr for the cause.
Yes Poe did show he caused more deaths and that was part of the point too - its also a common theme in history of the recklessness of young soldiers in war vs their aging commanders. Its an important theme for instance in War and Peace.
This was, once again, the director throwing the old away - Luke was considered a hero for blowing up the Death Star and no one once considered the other lives lost or the people on the station. Poe is showing the consequences his actions.
Leia resurrection scene is also universally hated. However, its an obscure joke about why Fisher was braless in the first movie. She said that Lucas told her to go braless because if she didn't and found herself stuck in vacuumless space, her bodies expansion would kill her. So Fisher joked that's how she wanted to die - to be strangled by her own bra in space.
Second point to this, is this answers the question whether Leia was ever trained in force, being that she was "there is another" if Luke failed in his quest to stop Palpateen/redeem his father.