Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Reaction and Discussion *CONTAINS SPOILERS*

[saskdw]

Another one of my staff members saw TLJ for the first time this weekend.

Just like everyone else I've talked to he and his wife absolutely loved the movie. He can't stop talking about how great it was.

Another vote for movie of the year!!

 

[jknezek]

I can kind of see the Mary Sue complaint with Rey in TFA but not in TLJ. If they had fleshed out an explanation it would probably go down better (perhaps one of the reasons people want her parents to be known force users).

That said, I think there has always been a huge double standard with the concept of Mary Sues. When male characters can do extraordinary things you get James Bond, Jason Bourne, Luke Skywalker, and every superhero character ever created. When female characters can do extraordinary things, it’s totally unbelievable wish fulfillment.

I'm with you on this. Especially the bolded part. Though I do think it's reasonable to believe that Luke got a lot more training. I mean we don't know how long it took the Falcon to limp to Cloud City in V. Conceivably Luke got at least a few weeks with Yoda at Dagobah. And we don't know how long it took to get to Alderaan from Tatooine, so he could have gotten some significant time then as well with Obi Won. And the small training shots they do show gave a sense that Luke didn't just "know" how to do it. He does get hit by the dummy a few times. And there is the time skip between Empire and RotJ. We don't really know how long he had there to practice, even if he didn't have an instructor.

Rey really got nothing, especially in TFA, and yet could swing a lightsaber with the best remaining Sith warrior around and just picked up on the fly how to manipulate minds. It was more than a little silly. As for piloting, that doesn't bother me in the slightest. In all the Star Wars movies and cartoons characters can just up and fly anything at any time. Apparently galactic tech is pretty interchangeable.

As for TLJ, I just don't see Rey using that much of the Force. She gets drawn into the mental connections, her one lightsaber duel is against a non-Force talent, so I'm ok with that. She doesn't win the lightsaber tug of war with Ren... really just lifting about 3 dozens boulders at once is the big oddity. That took Luke some time on Dagobah, but I'd let that one slide no problem.

No, my problems with TLJ don't include Rey, who I think Daisy Ridley did a much better job with this time around.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Rey really got nothing, especially in TFA, and yet could swing a lightsaber with the best remaining Sith warrior around and just picked up on the fly how to manipulate minds. It was more than a little silly. As for piloting, that doesn't bother me in the slightest. In all the Star Wars movies and cartoons characters can just up and fly anything at any time. Apparently galactic tech is pretty interchangeable.

As for TLJ, I just don't see Rey using that much of the Force. She gets drawn into the mental connections, her one lightsaber duel is against a non-Force talent, so I'm ok with that. She doesn't win the lightsaber tug of war with Ren... really just lifting about 3 dozens boulders at once is the big oddity. That took Luke some time on Dagobah, but I'd let that one slide no problem.

As for the flying - in Rey's background story it said that on Jakku she had fixed up a flight simulator "game" system she had found and spent tons of time using it (as not much else to do). Not saying that is the same thing as actually piloting ships, but she at least had some working knowledge of how different classes of ships worked, etc. (she also had rebuilt a ship on Jakku and flew it at least once so she had flown *something* in the past)

As for the rocks, on Ahch-tu she moves the rocks and breaks others during the first training lesson with Luke so she had some experience and from Luke's reaction you can tell she is very strong with the Force abilities

 

[ShadeDK]

As for the flying - in Rey's background story it said that on Jakku she had fixed up a flight simulator "game" system she had found and spent tons of time using it (as not much else to do). Not saying that is the same thing as actually piloting ships, but she at least had some working knowledge of how different classes of ships worked, etc.

Yes, but did she have the critical experience of targeting womp rats in a T-16 Skyhopper? All joking aside - I'm with you and the others that don't have any real problem with Rey's abilities. Sort of unbelievable? Sure - but that bantha left the paddock a long time ago with Luke's training on Dagobah. Oddly enough - I remember playground arguments three decades ago about how Luke could make the lightsaber jump into his hand on Hoth - same issue even if the scale is different.

What actually bothers me more: sort of important information/context that isn't included in the movies and put into books or spin-off material. It's not just a SW problem - but for those of us who just see the movies it can be a bit confusing. Of course they can't put everything in (and I thought TLJ was already too long) - but rather than sparking my interest in learning more, it leaves me a bit disinterested in the whole thing.

 

[pmaurer74]

I am interested in seeing the deleted scenes when the DVD comes out but those complaining about Rey's skills with a light saber, remember that she spent a lot of time on Jakku with that staff, which is similar to a light saber. I am sure that helped.

 

[jade1]

The Last Jedi Hits $1billion worldwide:

http://money.cnn.com/2017/12/31/media/star-wars-the-last-jedi-box-office/index.html

Also now 8th highest grossing domestic film at $517m ... so despite the mixed reactions I think Disney will be ok with these result

#2 Star Wars Domestic now.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

#2 Star Wars Domestic now.

Imagine if people liked it!

 

[KaptKaveman]

Imagine if people liked it!

Before this movie you could have slapped the label "Star Wars" on any movie and made 3/4 of a billion dollars. Now building off this no-sense movie, I wonder if that will be the case going forward. Time will tell. I will be very unlikely to drop a 50$ spot on Space Balls 9 or Solo by Opie.

 

[umichigan10]

Before this movie you could have slapped the label "Star Wars" on any movie and made 3/4 of a billion dollars. Now building off this no-sense movie, I wonder if that will be the case going forward. Time will tell. I will be very unlikely to drop a 50$ spot on Space Balls 9 or Solo by Opie.

I mean the prequels made bank so I don’t think they’re too too worried right now

 

[jknezek]

#2 Star Wars Domestic now.

You do realize those numbers are not adjusted for inflation, right? It's not real helpful in understanding how popular this movie is compared to the other Star Wars movies. It does show the movie is incredibly successful, but is it as successful as other Star Wars movies? The data isn't really available yet.

However, we can infer a lot from this link that sorts movies by estimated tickets sold based on an inflation adjustment. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm?sort=adjustedgross&order=DESC&adjust_yr=1&p=.htm

It shows about what you'd expect. Episodes IV, VII, III, and I are all inside the top 20 for all time tickets sold. Now, TLJ isn't included as the run hasn't ended yet. But... we find Beauty and the Beast from this year, with $500 million domestic gross, sitting at 72nd. TLJ, so far, sits at $533 million. That is just about where Rogue One ended up, and Rogue One sits at a very respectable 57th all time at about $532 million in gross. So TLJ is clearly ahead of Beauty and the Beast already, about tied with Rogue One, but still has a few significant weeks to go. It will, however, have a long way to go to climb up the list toward even Episode I let alone Episode VII.

Now that does not mean it isn't a run away success. It certainly is. But... probably not as much as some stats would have you believe.

 

[Redcon1]

Saw it a second time this weekend. Still LOVED it!!! The story flows better, even the casino scenes didn't seem as long or as out of place as the first time. There's also the payoff with DJ turning and exposing the Resistance plans of using evacuation transports to reach Crait. I agree there could've been a better usage of Finn, but it doesn't drag it down as much as it seems on first viewing.

I also picked up on more foreshadowing this time around and other little things like hearing BB-8 jangle with all the coins inside of him prior to shooting them at the guards (still don't know how he tied and gagged the other ones though ).

I think the lessons characters like Poe learn become more evident the second time around and this is the type of layered film that rewards multiple viewings.

Two questions: I wonder what happened to DJ? Did he make it off the First Order ship in time before the collision and if so, will he return in IX?

Also, what type of fortress only has one way in and out? I wonder if the location where the ice dogs escaped was originally the emergency exit? It just seemed odd to build into a mountain and not leave an alternate escape route.

 

[KaptKaveman]

Rey' character being a complete Mary Sue is problem number fifty-something with this movie. The movie is visually stunning(except the casino planet, they musta farmed that whole sequence out) and the sound is phenomenal, but like all movies that is a complete waste if the writing sucks and the plot goes no where. There are things you can overlook with movies if the story and the characters are engaging, Rey living as a junker but being able to pilot anything in the galaxy just as good as Han Solo, Luke only having a few months of training max with Obi Wan and Yoda before letting his dad beat the emperor, etc. Unfortunately this movie had a plot that made an episode of Blue's Clues look dang near Machiavellian. First Order lost nothing after TFA, Rebellion lost everything, slow speed chase through space looking for a 7-11, first order watches home movies of Luke on Salt Planet while Rebels escape outta bathroom window.

Then we come to character and character development and this movie was a complete waste in this department. At the end of TFA, for example, we were wondering "Will Finn recover, what role will he play in the rebellion, and are he an Rey a thing?" This movie dumped on his character almost as much as they did Luke. The guy starts off the movie walking around the rebel ship in a leaking bag of.... well who knows what, then he deserts, then he gets zapped by Rose, then he goes on some worthless side mission to Bowling for Canto-Bight gets a parking ticket and gets captured by the first order? Who wrote this and what finger paint did they use?

Rey? Character development? Hero's Journey? Pffft why? She already beat down Kylo Ren with no training. Now that she has the Jedi for Dummies books movie IX should be 15 minutes of her beating the tar out of Kylo Ren on Endor and an hour and 30 minutes of Porgs and Ewoks celebrating with BB8 and R2. Though in all fairness given this movie, I half way expect the Screen Crawl in the next movie to start with "Kylo Ren of the first order has slipped on a banana peal and fallen on his lightsaber!"

 

[rteetz]

Rey' character being a complete Mary Sue is problem number fifty-something with this movie. The movie is visually stunning(except the casino planet, they musta farmed that whole sequence out) and the sound is phenomenal, but like all movies that is a complete waste if the writing sucks and the plot goes no where. There are things you can overlook with movies if the story and the characters are engaging, Rey living as a junker but being able to pilot anything in the galaxy just as good as Han Solo, Luke only having a few months of training max with Obi Wan and Yoda before letting his dad beat the emperor, etc. Unfortunately this movie had a plot that made an episode of Blue's Clues look dang near Machiavellian. First Order lost nothing after TFA, Rebellion lost everything, slow speed chase through space looking for a 7-11, first order watches home movies of Luke on Salt Planet while Rebels escape outta bathroom window.

Then we come to character and character development and this movie was a complete waste in this department. At the end of TFA, for example, we were wondering "Will Finn recover, what role will he play in the rebellion, and are he an Rey a thing?" This movie dumped on his character almost as much as they did Luke. The guy starts off the movie walking around the rebel ship in a leaking bag of.... well who knows what, then he deserts, then he gets zapped by Rose, then he goes on some worthless side mission to Bowling for Canto-Bight gets a parking ticket and gets captured by the first order? Who wrote this and what finger paint did they use?

Rey? Character development? Hero's Journey? Pffft why? She already beat down Kylo Ren with no training. Now that she has the Jedi for Dummies books movie IX should be 15 minutes of her beating the tar out of Kylo Ren on Endor and an hour and 30 minutes of Porgs and Ewoks celebrating with BB8 and R2. Though in all fairness given this movie, I half way expect the Screen Crawl in the next movie to start with "Kylo Ren of the first order has slipped on a banana peal and fallen on his lightsaber!"

Okay we get it you don't like the movie do we have to keep going on and on about it having no plot and no writing?

Some of us did like the movie and respect others opinions but this is getting to be a bit much.

 

[umichigan10]

Okay we get it you don't like the movie do we have to keep going on and on about it having no plot and no writing?

Some of us did like the movie and respect others opinions but this is getting to be a bit much.

I could give a lengthy rebuttal about how the movie basically was ALL character development, but I know it’d just get waved off

 

[BrianL]

The guy starts off the movie walking around the rebel ship in a leaking bag of.... well who knows what...

I know, I know! The substance is called Bacta, and is a general purpose medical solution that helps heal wounds. Luke was in a tank full of it after his run-in with the Wampa in the Empire Strikes Back. </NERD>

 

[KenHutch]

After everyone's reviews here I thought I would give it another shot so this weekend I went and watched it a third time. In result I must hope JJ fixes this crap. The casino scenes-- a waste of time. Luke becoming a whiney crybaby who thought about murder? Totally unbelievable. One reviewer/blogger has said that this movie while wildly popular will miss the profit estimate Disney had by 15-20%. We can only hope that the loss is enough to keep this director away from SW.

 

[umichigan10]

After everyone's reviews here I thought I would give it another shot so this weekend I went and watched it a third time. In result I must hope JJ fixes this crap. The casino scenes-- a waste of time. Luke becoming a whiney crybaby who thought about murder? Totally unbelievable. One reviewer/blogger has said that this movie while wildly popular will miss the profit estimate Disney had by 15-20%. We can only hope that the loss is enough to keep this director away from SW.

Welp he’s directing his own separate trilogy so you better get comfortable because he’s not going away

 

[jknezek]

After everyone's reviews here I thought I would give it another shot so this weekend I went and watched it a third time. In result I must hope JJ fixes this crap. The casino scenes-- a waste of time. Luke becoming a whiney crybaby who thought about murder? Totally unbelievable. One reviewer/blogger has said that this movie while wildly popular will miss the profit estimate Disney had by 15-20%. We can only hope that the loss is enough to keep this director away from SW.

Unfortunately he is already tabbed for the next trilogy and I believe shooting begins this summer. On the upside, he won't have any original trilogy characters left to ruin...

 

[STLstone]

After everyone's reviews here I thought I would give it another shot so this weekend I went and watched it a third time. In result I must hope JJ fixes this crap. The casino scenes-- a waste of time. Luke becoming a whiney crybaby who thought about murder? Totally unbelievable. One reviewer/blogger has said that this movie while wildly popular will miss the profit estimate Disney had by 15-20%. We can only hope that the loss is enough to keep this director away from SW.

Everyone gets to have their opinion, but to cite "Luke becoming a whiny crybaby" as if it is 100% out of character, doesn't seem to have a factual basis. He was often a whiny crybaby throughout the Original Trilogy. It could be argued that he whined just as much as he did not.

Even in ROTJ, when he should be at his most mature, he's whining to R2, and then ghost Ben, that he doesn't think he can do it alone, after Yoda dies.

 

[rteetz]

Unfortunately he is already tabbed for the next trilogy and I believe shooting begins this summer. On the upside, he won't have any original trilogy characters left to ruin...

No that is shooting for Episode 9.