THE LAST JEDI thoughts/reactions/reviews/mind-explosions (spoilers!!)

[Blue3]

Prepare to have your mind blown... so much... so different... rewatches required!


I need time to process and maybe rewatch before rating it myself.

[Gass3268]

Quite possibly the greatest Star Wars film ever. Still not sure.

[Mr. Smith]

Red herrings, character assassinations, meandering storylines, and continuing to apply the most boring tropes to the already baldly rehashed First Order.

The acting was okay, the cinematography was excellent...but there's no getting around the terrible story.


And yeah, it IS mind-blowing that someone thought it'd be a good idea to turn the most idealistic character who redeemed DARTH VADER into someone who said "okay Imma gonna go kill my nephew because VISION".

And unlike Anakin, there wasn't even a credible reason for him to take that vision THAT seriously.

[The DEI Hire]

I liked it much more than The Force Awakens. While I did think there were some unnecessary bits, overall, those bits were easy enough to ignore and I think it was very well done. Cinematopgraphy was excellent and I honestly think the acting was better this time around.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Bad, bad, bad. No cohesive arc. It's like they took all the promises of the Force Awakens and shoved it down a garbage chute.

[Devout Centrist]

I really, really cannot understand the hate for this film. There are a few bad moments (Leia getting blown into space and flying back to the bridge, some jokes fall flat, etc.) But I have to say, I felt way more energized after this film than after The Force Awakens.

I think Johnson took risks and stakes out his own ground in a bold new way. It would have been much easier to just rely on what worked in the past. One thing I especially love is how improvisational the cast has to be in order to survive.

[Mr. Smith]

Bad, bad, bad. No cohesive arc. It's like they took all the promises of the Force Awakens and shoved it down a garbage chute.

Glad someone finally said it.

[Lumine]

Really liked it, despite there beinf some moments that bothered me not only I was glad the film was taking serious risks (this movie will make the blood of some fans boil), I felt I was watching an film that had an actual sense of unpredictability and, more importantly, I felt I was watching a true Star Wars film. I liked The Force Awakens too despite the evident nostalgia and links to A New Hope (which I recognize were probably necessary to keep most of the fanbase calm after the prequels), but even if the ending to TFA was more satisfying than this one, I prefer TLJ in general.

I have no doubt it will be very divisive despite the (thus far) critical acclaim and I strongly disapprove of the fate reserved to a particular character, but I'm glad Star Wars is actually taking risks and trying to move in a different direction.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

If “unpredictability” means “no directional cohesion between the entries of what should actually be a naturally progressing trilogy,” I don’t want any spot on that bandwagon.

Harsh, but it really feels like there was no story map or plan for these three saga episodes.

[NHI]

Bad, bad, bad. No cohesive arc. It's like they took all the promises of the Force Awakens and shoved it down a garbage chute.

[Mr. Reactionary]

Mixed. Still better than any prequel or rogue one. I think i liked ep 7 better but im not sure yet. Rey is a wonderful character.

[TPIG]

I absolutely loved it. In my opinion, it may be the best Star Wars ever, barring Return of the Jedi. So many moments in the film left me with a sense of awe. It may have a few story issues, but it does exactly what a movie should do - leave the audience feeling like they just experienced something special.

[#TheShadowyAbyss]

IIRC, Rian Johnson didn't like what JJ Abrams did with TFA so he threw a lot of what JJ did out the window, and now JJ has to finish what Rian started

[Mr. Morden]

Harsh, but it really feels like there was no story map or plan for these three saga episodes.

Yeah, Johnson basically admits as much in this interview:

http://deadline.com/2017/12/star-wars-the-last-jedi-rian-johnson-ram-bergman-interview-spoilers-deleted-scenes-lucasfilm-plans-1202227741/

You must be logged in to read this quote.

[The sturm und drang years]

I voted 4 stars. The movie was probably my least favorite of the saga, but overall it was still great. I was annoyed with how they killed off Snoke without explaining his backstory at all, but I really enjoyed Luke's role in the film.

[The Arizonan]

I liked the movie even though it feels like a rehash of The Empire Strikes Back.

I voted 4 stars. The movie was probably my least favorite of the saga, but overall it was still great. I was annoyed with how they killed off Snoke without explaining his backstory at all, but I really enjoyed Luke's role in the film.

I thought that they killed off Snoke too soon.

[Gass3268]

Bad, bad, bad. No cohesive arc. It's like they took all the promises of the Force Awakens and shoved it down a garbage chute.

IIRC, Rian Johnson didn't like what JJ Abrams did with TFA so he threw a lot of what JJ did out the window, and now JJ has to finish what Rian started

Which is why it was brilliant.

[dead0man]

Red herrings, character assassinations, meandering storylines, and continuing to apply the most boring tropes to the already baldly rehashed First Order.

The acting was okay, the cinematography was excellent...but there's no getting around the terrible story.


And yeah, it IS mind-blowing that someone thought it'd be a good idea to turn the most idealistic character who redeemed DARTH VADER into someone who said "okay Imma gonna go kill my nephew because VISION".

And unlike Anakin, there wasn't even a credible reason for him to take that vision THAT seriously.

this....I mean, it's a fine movie (I gave it 3 stars), but it ain't no Force Awakens or Rogue One.

[7,052,770]

Voted 4 stars. Entertaining, but I wouldn't rank it ahead of Star Wars movies other than the prequels.

[Hoosier_Nick]

Gah, I want to love this, but just... no. The plot was such a mess and arguably 60% of the movie was a complete waste of time (everything besides the Rey/Luke/Ren drama just seemed to be background noice and didn't have much of an impact.) The resistance vs. empire stuff really shouldn't be around. Seems like a complete rehash of the OT with them in the same spot.

The plot was also weird. I'm okay with killing off characters, but Snoke? We learned nothing about him. I really hope Episode 6 explains him, or else his build-up will be so pointless.

And while I could also complain about the humor and doing dumb things like having Leia survive her death, they're small so whatever.

Overall, I liked some of it, but it was just well-designed. There was a lot of cool stuff (Yoda, Ren/Rey battle against Snoke's minions, etc.) but it was drained out by a lot of flaws.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I generally liked it.  My main problem was with the whole cruiser chase sequence.  It's not as if the First Order didn't have enuf ships to send some into light speed so as to cut off the fleeing Rebel Resistance Romulan fleet.  (Cloaked transports, really?) Plus it seemed like Finn/Rose and Rey/Chewie spent far more time planetside than the fleet supposedly had before it ran out of fuel.

Prediction: Captain Phasma will be the new Sith apprentice in Episode IX.

[politicallefty]

I saw it Thursday night at 7pm. We didn't get great seats in a nearly full theatre, but we were definitely part of an exuberant crowd. I loved it and I think I would rank it above TFA. I do want to see it again.

It wasn't perfect and I did have a couple issues. First of all, I wasn't expecting Snoke to die. I was at least expecting to have a larger backstory for him and who he was, but apparently that's not where they're going with this trilogy. That throne room was pretty awesome though, as well as the Praetorian Guard. And apart from a few scores we know from past movies (such as Leia's theme or the Imperial March), I didn't find the musical element of this movie to be all that compelling (I think ROTS was one of the best in terms of music/soundtrack).

The scene that froze me was Leia in space. There was no noise in the theatre at that point. I was thinking they might have rewritten the movie to kill her off, but then I thought there was no possible way they were going to remove the rest of Carrie Fisher's scenes. To be honest though, that scene stunned me. Overall though, for being her final movie, I think they gave Carrie Fisher a great send off. It's once again heartbreaking to realize that she's no longer with us, especially in light of her command of the role this time. I won't lie that I found the Leia/Luke scene a bit emotional. On the other hand, Carrie Fisher once said that she is Leia and Leia is her. I think the best scene that showcased that was when she stunned/shot Poe. That almost seems like it was written by Carrie herself. I'm really crushed that we're not going to have her again for Episode IX.

Other than that, of note, Admiral Ackbar was killed in the scene that sent Leia into space. I'd also have to say they gave Admiral Holdo a great death, sending her ship into a suicide attack at light speed. That was a bit of a jaw-dropping scene. I did like that they gave Carrie Fisher's daughter, Billie Lourd, a bigger role in this movie. And they made her one of the more rebellious members of the Resistance. She got a bigger role this time than TFA, but I hope they give her a bigger role next time.

This movie was the first time I'd ever really tried to get to one of the very first showings and I'm glad I did. The theatre burst into applause when the scroll began and when Snoke was killed. Overall, I'll give a 4 in the poll. Not as good as ESB or ROTS, but still very good.

[MasterJedi]

Rated 4 stars, it's very good. I would still prefer to not have Disney take control of the franchise and give up all the new movies for the old EU to stay in place. MUCH better stories, a competent/non-impotent Luke. Can't go wrong with the old EU.

[Statilius the Epicurean]

Meh.

The scenes involving Luke/Rey/Kylo = great
Everything else, especially the ludicrous casino planet and the plot around the Resistance trying to escape the First Order = pretty bad

It's appropriately large and epic for a space opera, but the film sort of falls apart when you examine it too closely.

[CatoMinor]

I had much higher hopes for Snoke but I suppose it was necessary and now Johnson has freed JJ Abrams from having to repeat the whole Emperor/Vader story arc.

overall is say 4/5