The Last Jedi Vlog - It Made Me Feel Feelings
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- Опубліковано 14 гру 2017
- There's a lot of things that I didn't get around to in this video, but I wanted it to be a mix of criticism and the things I liked the most from a storytelling perspective, rather than just being a rundown of suff.
Written and performed by Dan Olson
Twitter: / foldablehuman - Розваги
Oh watching this in a post "Rise of Skywalker" world is... very, very sad. I'm so sorry past Dan, you deserved a much better end to the trilogy.
TFA made me optimistic. Like, okay, I was curious about the new trilogy, but maybe there was something there.
TLJ me feel... so many things. Sometimes I was bored, sometimes I was fucking rooting for the moment, and at one point I literally gasped.
TRoS made me numb. The theatre opened out into 42nd Street in New York and I literally felt nothing.
Talking about little details, I loved when Ray was standing under the Falcon and smiling at the rain. Realizing that that was probably the first time she had experienced rain.
Loved that. It was subtle, unlike the "
"Has he been Zuko'd?" is the best ATLA reference I've ever heard
+
After my second viewing, I thought about it. That instance in the red room, where everything was burning and they both were looking to each other for validation. That's when Rian should have had both switch sides. They both had visions of the other doing so, and that would have been the best time for them to kind of pass each other in the night, switching from light to dark or vice versa. Kylo was out from under Snoke, wanted to grieve for his father's murder, and wanted to see his mother and get her forgiveness. Rey just found out she was a nobody, had been rejected from the Jedi by the Premier Jedi in the universe (who was just a grumpy old dude on a hill anyway), and this was the perfect opportunity to be somebody important. The First Order was up for grabs, and she could change her story from "just a father figure seeking pleb" to "Don't need no man, and also in charge of the entire galaxy." Then the two split the same, and the rest of the movie goes off the same. Kylo is more in control, and Rey is more unhinged, both because of the force skype, but also in light of these revelations and the resulting battle.
huoshewu I would actually have preferred Rey going evil. Would have been fun having an evil couple for Fin and Poe and Rose to defeat in the next movie without the help of the Jedi.
As fun as that idea is, it's just not very plausible. It goes against so much of what Rey is. Sure you could always say that the dark side is tempting her, but I think it's a cheap trick that really is pulled off too often. With enough incentive to make the switch it could work, but it just wasn't there IMO. That's some Arthas Warcraft shit right there.
What? Her taking over? All the necessary plot points are there. Like Rey finds out she is nobody, that her parents were nobody (according to Snoke- who may not be believed), she saw Han die (her first real father figure-ish), then Luke basically casts her out (second father figure, and lamenting that she didn't turn from the dark when the opportunity arose.), and really it's only been a week since she had the force and now people are betting their lives that she can do something good for them. This is it. Kylo is willing to accept her. Take over. Maybe not fall to the dark side, but be darker than Kylo, as they are suppose to be opposites. Her whole life has been turned upside down in a bad way, and fear would be a natural response. I don't see her murdering youngling within the week, but thinking she can reform the first order only to be turned by the bureaucracy isn't too far a stretch, I think. They call it "falling" to the dark side because like falling down stairs, it's hard to stop and even harder to climb back up. Each step is only twisting the blade when you confront the person you had to be on the way down. The duality of human nature means that anyone, at any time, under the right circumstances could fall. Some just need a bigger push than others. And in the last week Rey has had a galactic size nudge. She might not even see it as giving up. If she took back control of her life, and the first order, she could do SO MUCH good in the galaxy. I'm not sure what the First Order are really doing, it's not mentioned in the movies, but if Leia is fighting them, they must be bad.
watching this in 2020 as someone who felt very much the same way about TLJ is heartbreaking
Very few people we can find who likes Last Jedi
And then JJ was like "nah, she's totally both a Palpatine and a spiritual Skywalker for no adequately explained reason."
JJ: "She's not related to anyone you know!"
RJ: "Ok, i'll make that canon, it makes sense too since it's about creating a new legacy and her one big fear is that she has none, she has to make her own"
JJ: "No wait, she's a palpatine!"
@@thakillman7 you are a clown
@@vetobandito2635 You're the one malding over an 8-month-old comment. Besides, just google JJ's comments from before TFA and you'll know it was his idea originally.
@@vetobandito2635 😂
Listening to you praise the ambiguity and sad set up of Rey’s parents makes me so disappointed knowing what they did to that plot line in the third (ninth) movie.
"I don't care if you hated this movie. It made me happy".
That comment is as beautiful as the lightspeed scene itself.
@@WeedGuyMike I mean it doesnt make sense lore wie but it is beautiful visaully and from the sound design perspective
aiaii when you don’t and have to tell everyone
aiaii When you’re so insecure with your own movie opinions that you have to make fun of people that have a different worldview.
I'm quite pleased to hear that Rey isn't a long lost relative.
She was told that her parents were nobodies by Kylo. Kylo then immediately launched into his "let's forget the past and burn it all down" spiel. So, can we trust that Kylo isn't lying? He had just showed that he could conceal his feeling/intentions from Snoke so Rey wouldn't be able to tell if he was. And it would be easier to convince Rey to turn her back on her parents if those parents were nobodies. So they can still retcon that reveal if they want to.
Rey's reaction when told she must know it to be true herself seemed very legitimate, and it lined up with what she saw earlier in the movie when she went looking for answers. There's reason within the world for it to be possible that Kylo was lying- but from a story perspective it seems entirely pointless to have her be someone's relative at this point, especially with Han/Luke already gone and Leia probably not being around for much in IX. It would go completely counter to the themes of starting over they set up in this film.
Kylo didn't hide his feelings and intentions from Snoke though. Thats why Snoke narrates them. he simply moves both lightsabers at the same time with the same thoughts. Snoke blinded himself. However, kylo could very well be lying. But Anakin was from nobodies.
+kudosbudo - Kylo didn't hide his feelings or intentions from Snoke. He just hid who those feelings and intentions were directed towards. Considering the extent of Snoke's mind-reading powers displayed in the movie, that's not nothing.
Anakin's mother told him that he was conceived without a father. Anakin is basically Jesus - an evil Jesus, but still. So, being the product of a virgin birth (assuming Shmi wasn't lying) kinda implies that Anakin's father wasn't exactly a "nobody".
I always figured that Anakin was the child of a local politician slumming with the slaves. Maybe Senator Palpatine, with a bit of charm and/or mind control, or just a rape. With or without knowledge of the pregnancy and birth.
"I don't care if you hated this movie; it made me happy!"
A great philosophy for moviegoers everywhere.
...even though I wasn't a big fan of this movie...
If by great you mean "humanity is doomed" made manifest.
@@NeiasaurusCreations that's a bit of an over reaction.
@@LordOfTheTermites Not really. But I doubt anything I say will have any impact that years of this movie being torn to shreds scene by scene hasn't. Or the 9th movie literally taking every opportunity to shit on it, and the director. I don't even like the 9th movie, it was probably somehow WORSE than TLJ, but the point stands that not even the creator of 2/3rds the trilogy liked this movie. And the pathetic excuse "it made me feel feelings" is just...It's the death of critical thinking. I could go into a monologue about how people not critically thinking has literally lead to things like the holocaust, but why bother? It's utterly pointless to talk to someone that lets their emotions rule them so absolutely they can't use critical thought.
@@NeiasaurusCreations meh, you're probably right about what you say won't change my opinion, but imo the movie cold have been executed better at some points, but i liked some ideas it put forward
Dang sucks they never had a follow up to this great film
I think they just quit while they were ahead.
There’s only 5 Star Wars movies. Crazy they never made more.
that's a great ending for the saga though, broom boy looking up at the stars
@@ZachCGagreed
This vlog is so sad to come back to after The Rise of Skywalker :( So many of the things that Dan praises were walked back SO hard in TROS
‘I don’t care if you hate this movie, it made me happy’ sums up my feelings exactly. This has been a Hell year for me, and going to a galaxy far far away was somehow the only time I’ve felt at home in months. I’m trying to stop myself from going and seeing it again, because I really can’t afford to - but god it sent shivers down my spine and brought me so much joy 😊
I feel you! 2:30 hours of pure escapism from my life!
I agree- totally made me feel like a kid again!
pn your paypal - next viewing is on me!
that's exactly how i felt!!
That shot of the orphans Rose and Finn abandoned as they saved those stupid horses... Horses that WILL BE recaptured, where are those things going to escape to really? So, this Little Space Rascal uses the force to pick up a broom and starts sweeping...and it ends with him staring to the sky..with that rebel ring. Maybe that looked like "new hope" of something? This kid dreams of having adventures and being a hero, maybe? But all I saw was another child who'll be thrown into the meat grinder. I cant wait for this orphan to have his own adventures, meeting the grizzled, failed future Poes, Finns and Reys. I can't wait for his ignoble death in the next 6 movies after he fails his own protege.
It was like the end of Starship Troopers, where it depicts a neverending war where the heroes are endlessly swapped out for the younger generation in a conflict without end.
I have watched 5 different reviews and you are the FIRST one to mention how good Daisy Ridley was in this movie. This girl worked so hard on this movie and still it somehow gets ignored.
Marga Esperanza Theres a backlash against movies staring women and minorities.
clariola wow is this still a thing in America? Can't these dudes find a way to make themselves happy instead of getting all petty over fictional characters?
It's all the same with Holdo. If she was a man, nobody would object about her decision to not share her plan with Poe (demoted pilot who destroyed almost whole Resistance fleet). But since her sex, she is often see as a weak leader.
My problem with Rey is that I don't think her character development gets the treatment it deserves. I love the character and I have no issues with Daisy, but I don't feel there's enough opportunity for her to show her acting chops (thus why I can't say I like Daisy) and depth. It's a writing problem for me, not an acting or 'character' problem. Regarding Holdo @Fiono, my only problem with that is that it's a 'plothole in so, so many movies, that if there was just some communication between characters, then half the problems of the movie would simply go away (i.e. Rose and Finn would never of had to leave and that whole, ultimately nothing arc). It's a contrivance to get Finn to face Phasma and give rose some development and set that last shot up. And it does make her seem inept, even though she very clearly isn't. It's not a character flaw like with Kylo Ren, it's sloppy writing. I agree with Dan-O that we didn't get the true reveal of how bad ass and significant she was until those final moments of her story, which was a huge shame.
Fionor, well Holdo was at first set up as morally dubious and Poe is a likable hero so I get why there might be some people holding on the impressions. And fandom dislike that she got more screentime and importance than Akbar who has been part of the series since the first trilogy. But I think you are right and it's a large part of her being a woman and people not used to seeing women play authority figures who are right in the end even though they weren't nice to the heroes for the whole time.
I thought the same thing about the ramming scene. Just mouth agape at how beautiful that whole sequence was, and I loved how they put a bullet in the head of the importance of Rey's parents. I also really liked Luke's bookends with twin suns. I liked this movie and I will be seeing it again.
I’m glad that people’s voice can get out from the stupid criticism. Like, holy hecc people are crying about literally nothing.
TripleDaddy the luke scene had me tearing up, I love that his journey both starts and ends with a double sunset
Heh. It was childish. They effectively put a bullet in the head of their own story.
Luke asking her who She is since she knows the island. The voice speaking to her when lured to the saber. The absurd amount of power compared to kylo BY luke. yin and yang imagery of kilo with a little light in him and rey with a little dark in her. What was the point of all that?
We also just saw kilo mind trick a Sith Lord. A sith Lord who just explained how he manipulated the conflict in kilo.
Bustaperizm Snoke was definitely not a Sith Lord, maybe an adept force user but from what we’ve seen of him he was a full Sith at best
Bishop Gale I can accept that. But what are we doing? Filling in our own explanation when that's the movie's job.
That's how we got here from force awakens with kilo, rey, and everything else. I'm done giving this shit a pass.
Guess I'm not a "true fan"
I love the Rey parentage twist. I put it up there with "I am your father" as a rug-pulling moment. In fact, it is brilliant because it is the *inverse* of the 'I am your father' moment.
I know, everybody was waiting for "Your parents are «this very famous character»" or "You are the daughter of «another famous character»" aaaand nope.
That's what I wanted from the beginning, for her parents to be no one. There have been enough familial coincidences in SW as it is. Just absolutely perfect the way they did it.
i am betting my soul that there will be a moment in episode IX that ghost luke says "you know, my grandmother was a slave, my father also came from a nowhere planet, you are who you are rey, the steps you make, you are not the place you come from"
Zennim
That's a beautiful sentiment, I truly hope it is in the film in some form or fashion
Zennim Yes, I want this too
This is quite the rewatch after the debacle of episode 9.
I agree on almost every count. I love that Rey's parents were nobodies, and her future is not going to be dictated by her bloodline or having a famous last name. I like that the movie is mostly about characters dealing with failure, and somehow creating hope out of that. This tightly focused film, though, really needs to be followed by a galaxy-spanning epic for Episode IX.
The entire Resistance is reduced to literally just one ship and 12 members. That's it, how is that supposed to give hope to anything.
Im just bringing your attention to this comment you made two years ago so you can laugh bitterly at the irony
In my opinion the real hope is Luke, just as it always has been. Think about it this way, fascism can only survive when the people living under it are too afraid to fight back. But now the story of Lukes final moments will he told and retold all across the galaxy by the surviving rebels. A story where the First Order and Kylo Ren, at the height of their power, lost humiliatingly to a ghost and let a small group of rebels slip through their fingers on a dinky old rust bucket ship.
This story will show the failure and incompetency of the First Order and inspire others to rebel. The point of the ending scene with the broom kid is that none of these things exist within a vacuum. There are still force users out there, there are still people with a spirit to fight and rebel, all they need is a spark to inspire them.
The First Order can’t stop people from resisting them in the same way they can’t control the force. For all their power, the First Order is doomed to fall. In my opinion that’s the most hopefully ending imaginable.
Combing through some of your older videos after watching the Flat Earth/QAnon video. One thing I wanted to comment on--which has been pointed out by others before me--is that the Rey Nobody twist is also an effective storytelling decision because of how it essentially positions her character as being in direct, opposite communication with the villain. In the original trilogy, the hero is revealed to be linked to the villain by family; here, they are linking Rey to Kylo Ren through her explicit longing for the family and belonging that he has thrown away. It was an incredibly clever decision that provided a lot of thematic depth and story that could have been explored throughout Episode 9. It's so rare to see a hero/villain combination where there is a true sense of kinship articulated through the way that loneliness can be both externally imposed (as with Rey) and internally imposed (as with Kylo Ren). I think Rian Johnson is a writer who understand the ways that human characters can have complicated relationships with each other that can't be defined in simple terms. You have to give it the thought that it demands from you to really unpack it.
Absolutely, I thoroughly enjoy this movie on its own for this reason
The section about how he likes how Rey's parents aren't from one of the great space families hurts
I can respect the decision to present Carrie Fisher's final film as she performed her part in it, but It does leave her passing hanging over how to handle the next film.
I was convinced Rey was Luke's daughter and would not have been surprised to see Lando frozen in carbonite to explain who would have left her there and why no one was able to come back for her. The message is the legacy of the Force does not belong to a single lineage, and I do find that to be a satisfying answer.
I was expecting Lando be one of the allies in outer rim and show up in the end. It was rather depressing there was no allies and hopefully Lando can still show up. Since now Carrie Fisher is gone and Luke and Ackbar were killed and Yoda cameo used they would be need some old character to return anyway). But the theme was kind of letting go of old heroes so I feel maybe not.
I think the next movie is gonna be in the future with Leia passing away from age in a natural way.
They better not pull a Rogue One Tarkin with Leia in the next movie.
Dan saying "good morning Amy" at the beginning brings joy to the world.
"Has he been Zuko'd?"
Exactly what i was thinking when i watched the movie.
explain yourself please :/
Pruneballed I think Kylo kinda *did* pull a Zuko; both had the chance to choose which side they were gonna be on, and both faltered to the darker side (Zuko in Crossroads of Destiny in Book 2, and Ben/Kylo in TLJ). I don’t know if Kylo will turn to help Rey in the end like Zuko with Aang, but it is interesting that new Star Wars has Last Airbender elements, which itself has Star Wars elements
It looks more like he's been Azula'd.
THANK YOU
I absolutely love how it followed the beats of a traditional Star Wars film at first. The Jedi heroine is off somewhere training to be stronger but winds up face to face with the big bad before she's ready. The rebels are basically fucked but they have one last fleeting hope that almost certainly looks like it's going to pan out thanks to sheer dumb luck. The bad guy looks like he may be about to change sides because maybe he's not completely gone.
But then Snoke died, and the second he died the entire structure of the film changed. The rebels go from probably gonna be ok to completely fucked barring a miracle. Rey finds out the answer she wanted means nothing. Kylo is now the new big bad and is probably too far gone to save. Just really loved how it took the expectations you would have had for how a Star Wars movie is supposed to go and completely changed it up, and then still brought it around to be all about building up a sense of hope.
Thank you, this right here is exactly what Johnson was going for. I feel like people who disliked this movie to the point of calling it worse than the prequels missed how brilliantly Johnson subverted expectations. This movie is not junk food, it's a fine wine.
I like The Force Awakens. I like the Last Jedi. I like Star Wars. It makes me happy too.
You're welcome to like it, but it's still the worst star wars movie, and probably the worst movie released that year. And I'd say it's one of the worst movies I've ever watched in twenty-two years of watching movies.
@@NeiasaurusCreations it is not by any means the worst. It is the one you liked the least to be more correct. Unless the subjectivity was implied. I know I'm spliting the hair on a minuscule thing that wouldn't change anything. I feel like a dick now. Yeah like one of those FUCKING SWOTS that correct you everytime just for making you feel a bit more insignificant than you already think you are. But the way you articulated the sentence is incorrect.
Rise of Skywalker really sucked btw lol
get a load of @@NeiasaurusCreations over here.
imagine being this insecure about people having different opinions
@@NeiasaurusCreations I mean… maybe? If you’ve only watched okay and good films all your life. I mean, this movie had plot problems sure, but it was also heavy in subtext and themes, fresh characterization, good music, and visual splendour. I mean you can hate it, sure but it’s by no means a crap sack. No need to go to such extremes
@@Black_pearl_adrift I firmly disagree. The movie has so many issues, not just with the story but on a technical level. For instance mauLer made a 5ish hour critque of the movie, going basically scene by scene, and breaking down issues that are objectively problems. You get to see the many, many flaws with the technical aspect, and just the story's consistency. And while the 3 party series is not for everyone, it speaks volumes that there is 5+ hours worth of stuff to critique about the film.
You're free to like the movie, but it's objectively a broken mess. I can't even offer any ideas where to start on fixing it beyond "scrap the entire project, and never let Ryan touch another movie, ever". But that's not exactly productive. It's legitimately one of the worst movies I've seen, and I'm the sort to seek out bad movies to get ironic enjoyment from. You can usually find something you like about bad movies, but in this case I couldn't. I couldn't find literally anything I like. Graphics don't empress me, at all. And everything about the story and characters make me hate Ryan all the more. Being someone whos pretty into star wars lore this movie is a disaster. (Well I was, until this movie. This movie kinda shattered my attachment to star wars finally. It wasn't the only reason, but it was the killing blow, only so much any fan can take before they just walk away to find more productive use of their time then sticking around a place they hate, and hates them. It's clear to me that disney doesn't want any older fans to stick around, with how they handled this film.)
Again you're free to like the movie, but I feel being dishonest about it even to yourself doesn't do anyone any good. There's a reason this is one of the most hated films with the star wars name, if not THE most hated. It hit all the worst notes with the people pre-conditioned to like it. It takes a LOT for a big fan of star wars to say they openly hate something to do with it. Star wars fans are almost as fanatic as warhammer 40k fans. So to turn major chunks of them against you is a work of art. Art of failure, that is. Not even JJ could save the trilogy after Ryan got done with it.
I don’t see Rey’s parents being nobodies as being disappointing - if anything, it’s a solid decision to support one of the themes of the Prequel Trilogy: the idea that the Force is about balance. Anakin was not the son of important people - he was chosen by the Force to balance the light and dark sides. Likewise, Rey is likewise chosen to restore balance between light and dark, so her parentage doesn’t matter.
Still, given how many “Jim” moments there were in this movie, I wouldn’t be surprised if the next one brought a “big reveal” that Rey’s parents weren’t important, but a more distant ancestor was, solely because “it would be cool”.
Good call; spot on.
I would actually say that I liked the Last Jedi in SPITE of the Force Awakens. I thought Ep. 7 did a pretty poor job of establishing the characters and making them believable, and was quite disappointing overall. Ep. 8 might be my second favorite Star Wars movie.
I actually really liked the characterization when, after the battle in Snoke's throne room, Kylo Ren tries to get Rey to join him. The way he talks to her is reminiscent of some hallmarks of an emotionally abusive relationship, the "I'm the only one that loves you" Shpeel.
Can I just say how great it was to see Leia have a Force moment that wasn't just about her being sad about someone she loved in peril?
the hyperspace ramming showed how epic a creative cinematic moment can be. reminded me of the reveal of the storm in mad max fury road.
S1nwar I was literally just thinking the same thing. The hyperspace ramming and sandstorm are what all big budget spectacle films should strive for with their set pieces. These two scenes are moments of pure art. Plain and simple. I can’t agree with you more.
Awesome visuals and sound design. But if this type of thing was so destructive, why didn't they sacrifice the medical frigate in this way before it ran out of fuel? At least some handwaving about how it would only be effective with a large enough ship or something would have been nice.
plotholes arent as relevant when the rest is that good^^ otherwise i would be complaining why the fleet doesnt jump away and then back in in front of the rebels (in case they cant jump that short of a distance anyway)
Was an amazing thing to experience in theater. I watched this in an IMAX theater with a single digit number of empty seats, there were moments when the entire theater cheered, moments when they laughed, moments when they clapped; when that hyperspace ram hit, there was absolute dead silence.
I agree, but I think the film should have around ended there.
Every single interaction Rey had with Kylo, especially that weird Kylo shirtless scene, I prayed, "Please do not let them be cousins, please do not let them be cousins, please do not let them be cousins" not that I want them together, it would just be super weird
If the films would set us them being them together after all this is would be odd. Yet it's great material for what-if scenarios (like fanfics).
I wonder what ever happened to that ol' Disney Infinity slip, "Face me cousin!"
Star Wars has never had uncomfortable unforseen incest tension, am I right? Lol
I loved the interplay in that scene so much!
Rey: "I don't want to do this right now."
Kylo: "Well, I don't either"
Rey: "Ok, if we have to do this, could you at least put on a shirt?"
"Has he been Zukoed?"
The Last Jedi was not perfect. But that's what happens when a creative force takes risks. I loved this movie because it felt like one person's creative vision, instead of a committee think-tank product built on an assembly line. And there were so many scenes that I audibly gasped at in the theater- 1. The light-speed ramming scene. 2. Every scene with Rey/Kylo 3. Luke's last stand against Kylo and the first order, followed by his merging with the force in the sunset. Moments of masterful filmmaking within the context of the Star Wars universe.
It's ironic because it feels exactly like a committee think tank product
@@joshm5514 It doesn't. This is great ua-cam.com/video/T2cBTLsWiDg/v-deo.html
****SPOILERS FOR TLJ*****
I love the reveal of Rey's parentage because it sets up Crylo Ren as even more of an appropriate foil for her. Rey comes from nothing, with a family that evidently did not love or care about her. Ren had a family that loved him, and came a lineage of space royalty and super-powered force users; he was extremely privileged in that regard. Yet despite this, he still choose to be power hungry and insecure (and re-choose this, again and again, throughout TFA and TLJ). To me, having Rey's parent's be junk farmers further highlights that she is actively making the choice to fight on the side of light; she's not a pre-destined, fated saviour figure who comes from a prestige lineage. I think its a democratic turn for the SW films to state that the main heroes don't have to be connected to this One Very Important Space Family, and I like it.
Also, I gotta say that I find it extremely transparent that SWs fans single out Rey as a Mary Sue, when basically all of the main protagonists in each trilogy were Mary Sues (at least judging from the characterization from the first movie in each trilogy). I mean fuck guys, Anakin is basically Space Jesus. He was an expert speed racer at 11. He Was Literally Created By the Force. He Was The Chosen One (Who Was Suppose to Destroy the Sith, Not Join Them). It doesn't get more Mary Sue than that. Luke's arc in ANH is so cut and dry Hero's Journey too; he basically spends one road trip with an old religious dude and he can somehow utilize the force well enough to make an impossible shot despite having no training as a *fighter* pilot. He becomes one of the most powerful force users ever (able to defeat his father, at least), despite have about a week's worth of training himself (the timeline is fuzzy, but it couldn't have been more than about a month). It's shown in the prequels that it takes decades of training to gain the mastery Luke did in such a short amount of time. They're all extraordinary people in-universe, who are given unearned powers; yet Rey is the only one that comes from much more humble origins (no prophecies, no important parents). And I think that's pretty rad.
I do wish she said done more training with Luke so that some of the more emotional beats of her using the force had more impact. But honestly, every protagonist of these films has been over-powered in some way, so if you're going to fault her for it you may as well fault them all.
Alex Lloyd
Maybe you need to watch OT and pay attention. Luke is not good in the training, he fails in the cave, and he loses his hand. Han Solo gets thrown into unwanted adventure, then wants to get away, and ends up tortured and in carbonite. Rey was mostly successful, aside of being briefly captured, had to endure little, and there‘s no discernible character arc. That‘s what people mean. Luke starts as a naive hothead, sees droids as slaves and is more of a physical character, and transforms to a wise, strategical, celebral character with droids as friends. Nust an example. I am personally not troubled that Rey is good at everything, and like Ridley‘s performance. But I see the point. In my view, the problem lies deeper and was JJ Abrams soulless, scene-driven style, combined with cutting Star Wars down to a young adult TV drama.
Yeah, I *was* a bit annoyed that I couldn't really think of what Rey learned in her training. She was already good at everything. Maybe she ended up learning not to trust everyone, but I'm not sure that was an obvious flaw beforehand. Luke was impulsive and lost his hand because of it.
@@Anerisian Rey has been captured and tortured twice, was rejected by her hero, abandoned by her parents, had her confidant ask her to murder her friends, she failed many times in her training, she was nearly killed multiple times in TFA. I agree that TFA played too much to her strengths and didn't give us a chance to really see her weakness, TJL started to correct this will her immediately being drawn to the darkness and handing herself over to Snoke, but didn't quite go far enough - I would have liked to have seen a mirroring of Kylo saving Rey and Rey saving Kylo during the throne room fight, and her and the Resistance needing to work together to get out of the cave rather than her Deus Ex Machina saving them - e.g. they to find a way to get the tracker thing up to the surface so she can find them.
Great take. That makes what they eventually did that much more tragic. Sad panda.
Thank you for using "Zukoed" as a verb.
I loved this film. There were some slow moments and some bits that made me go "eeehhhh," but the awesome bits overwhelmingly outweighed them. Rey and Kylo fighting side by side, the reveal about Luke, the scene in the dark cave, the Yoda scene (finally, a force ghost who does something!), the lightspeed ramming, the kid lifting the broom with the Force...I could keep going, honestly. It was beautiful, it was meaningful, it was complex, it was nostalgic.
I was okay with Force Awakens on the caveat that episode 8 had really better follow it up really well; unlike the original Star Wars movie, a lot of the characters felt half-finished, but seeing them in Episode 8 I feel like most of them were built up really well and it was awesome? My only issue with the movie I think was a little bit of subplot overload. Like, there needed to be one less subplot and maybe 10-15 minutes shorter overall, even though I'm not sure which one it should have been.
rickpgriffin The casino planet. Cutting out that entire 20 minutes or so would have made the entire movie better. Also, maybe give Holdo some reason she felt the need to pretend she was just going to keep flying until they were all dead, to the point of open mutiny, instead of just telling everyone what was up.
wmooring But I liked the casino planet. It was a refreshing break from the in-space stuff. If anything, the excised part should have been from somewhere in space.
Holdo not explaining what was going on was probably the weakest part? Tho I feel that could have been fixed if the whole "we have a plan, stop bitching" part was stronger, or there was a better reason to not tell Poe than a mere demotion, like it was spelled out "Every time we tell you the plan you go out of your way to ensure it's not followed" and also make it more explicit that they don't think Poe would do something QUITE so stupid as he did. But I have a feeling Fisher's death limited the amount of reshoots they could do to shore things up.
I feel like the Finn-Rose subplot should have been heavily restructured. If they have to go to the casino planet, then fine, but the only thing of consequence was recruiting the kids to be the next generation. Other than that it felt a bit pointless to the main plot. They come to find one guy to crack a security system and end up leaving with another they just happen to run into. Then they fail to even break the tracking system and get betrayed but the betrayal also backfires and in the end they wind up back where they started but with a few more dead redshirts.
Yeah, I don't like the casino planet either. I mean, the planet itself I like but don't think the arc is that great, because the supposedly pressing importance of getting a hacker was lost in all the other plot threads. Especially because it was so indirect...they weren't solving a problem, they were looking for some other guy who could do it. This could work if there weren't so many characters to follow, but it didn't have the same sense of urgency. Also the animal abuse/revenge act was totally overboard, IMO...I didn't need it to get that war profiteering is bad.
+wmooring
I've rewatched the Last Jedi yesterday and I have to say that Holdo not telling anything to Poe felt more natural. It was a mistake that she didn't. But she seemed incredibly pissed at him instead of sorta villainous. Not smart, but her "keep shut and do what you're told"-attitude made sense.
The big issue I have with it is that, as Poe still didn't agree with the plan when knowing what it was, if they had just given that info a bit earlier, like, a short while after Finn and Rose left, I think it would've benefited the movie.
Dan, it's a credit to your channel and your audience that I've been politely disagreeing with someone about this movie since last night without it ever devolving into name-calling and insults. Kudos.
definitely. I'm not big on films, I just watch Dan'a videos to help me expand my understanding writing and story telling. I've never even seen Star Wars, but it's kind of impressive seeing how respectful the comments have been. As an outsider peering in it looks like the movie is very polarizing at best and when he was talking about the light speed ram, I wasn't expecting praise.
I guess it just goes to show how subjective criticism can be.
I think you're emphasizing "Holdo's" (don't know if that's how you spell it) introduction too much. You said it's more of a laugh moment and that it contradicts the importance of her character later on. I'm pretty sure you're getting that impression from the reaction of the audience at the theater you watched the movie in. The audience I was apart of did not laugh AT ALL during that scene and I highly doubt it was meant to be laughed at by the way it's directed.
I thought it was introducing the beginning of a conflict between her and Poe. Poe wanted to be bigger than he was (also who among us hasn't heard 'and I just want to thank one important person....' and momentarily thought it might be us... egotistical wishful thinking).
Hux was my fave character in TFA specifically because he was a crappy Richard Spencer type trying to get people to take his Tarkin cosplay seriously. Having him be the beat on snivelling starscream in this was wonderful. Im seriously hoping him and Kylo have a full on power struggle in the next one.
And that ramming scene would have been worth the ticket alone. First big 'WOH' momemt I've had since the uncut character sweep in 'The Avengers'
Nah, both you and the guy who made this review are relishing in your personal ideology in that moment. it doesn't feel appropriate for a famous fantasy space opera.
@@Captain_MonsterFart
It's fine you feel it doesn't fit but don't pretend everybody else should feel that way.
@@Captain_MonsterFart My only problem with it is that the concept of hold & phones lines seemed out of place in the Star Wars universe. But the joke aspect was fantastic because even in TFA Hux was a loser, he was only ever scary in that "will do anything to prove he's better than you" way.
@Feli Aslan Except that the FO is undoubtably the superior military force. So we have a bunch of unstable fanboy wannabes running the biggest, baddest military and political organization in the Galaxy. Kylo might start randomly obliterating planets just on a rumour that Rey was there, and Hux could start sabotaging the FO just to make Kylo look bad. The next movie should be a wonderful study in how authoritarian regimes self-destruct (as they tend to do) while the good-guys try to mitigate the collateral damage.
I totally agree with your feelings about the lightspeed ramming. When it happened, the entire theater went dead silent. It was an amazing moment.
Harry Brickner I agree with cgi looking similar, the effect wad very jj Abrams star trek. The effect wad nice, but unfortunately, it opens a can of worms which makes the entire star wars universe break. Previously ftl in star wars can be effected by gravity from planets and stars, but not interact with physical objects. With this change, the existence of the deathstar looses all weight, when a rebel army can just ftl ram it with a few empty rebel battleships. It removes the battles of attrition in space which star wars is known for. It makes size and firepower no longer a mechanism for militarized threat
There are tons of explanations for it. I believe there is such thing as a device to drop ships from hyperspace, and I doubt this feet had it. It could be because they didn't expect the seemingly only remaining large resistance ship filled with civilians to ram them, or it could be because they were in a chase. Also, who is going to be the first one to try ramming a super expensive ship into another super expensive ship?
Steve Larry you know there was a war between clones and robots a few decades earlier, right? If it was weaponizable it definitely would have been used then
Leia should have been the one to sacrifice herself. Just as Luke passed the torch to Rey, it would have been a way for her to pass the torch to the Vice Admiral character who would then have taken Poe on as a second to groom him for eventual Leadership. Though we wouldnt have had that beautiful reunion in the third act.
If they had known Carrie would die I am sure they would have.
i was thinking just that. i was actively surprised (and not like all the good surprises that happen in the rest of the movie) that Leia didn't sacrifice herself.
I also loved it. Every single WTF moment of it! On the subject of wonderfully subtle details that showed how well Rian Johnson gets his subject. I noticed that the deliberately costumed and shot Mark Hamill in ways that emphasized his shortness, which plays off so many things, from being an analogue of Yoda, to the original "Aren't you a little short?" moment in his meeting with Leia.
“Rey’s parents are either part of the Space Family or they’re nothing” Surprise! It’s both!
A lot of people seem to hate this movie. I'm not sure where I stand yet. A lot of *fantastic* stuff, and I was never bored, but definitely some things I'm mixed on. First time I feel like I genuinely need a second viewing to fully digest a Star Wars film. But everyone whose opinion I trust when it comes to film has been loving it, which bodes well, and I've enjoyed all of Rian Johnson's other work more on repeated viewings. Plus, the film is incredibly imaginative with its story and its additions to the mythology. I'm really looking forward to Johnson's trilogy where he has a clean slate to work with, as it was clear that he was more interested in exploring some of the characters than other ones in this film.
^ that's pretty much how I feel. I'm frustrated by some of the politics, such as the obvious attempts to set up future trilogies and spin offs and other signs of Kathleen Kennedy meddling and pushing her own agenda, but the film itself... I feel like it was great, but then certain story aspects seem wrong. The Force is now a superhero power that requires little or no discipline? Didn't Luke struggle to lift an X-wing after several weeks of training? But Rey has no issues tossing dozens of boulders aside with 1 actual day of training?
I saw it twice. Went in line 3 hours early and accidentally got swept up with the previous screening so I just saw it twice. It wasn't worth seeing twice. I thought there would be more subtle nuances since people mentioned it, but really there wasn't much else I caught the second time around. Just left me shaking my head on how they could mess up something this badly.
I've seen people talk about political agendas and identity politics in this movie a lot, and I really don't see it. Can you explain where you see agendas being pushed? Cause "war profiteering is bad" or "animal abuse is bad" are about the only messages I got out of it.
Basically Lucasfilm is headed by a women, so voila! Star Wars is diverse and is therefore a VERY BAD THING. Nevermind that we live in a globalized world and economy, or that Lucas himself said back when making the prequels that they reflected current politics at the time, which was that Vader was Bush and Cheney was the Emperor. Nobody seemed to have a problem WITH THAT.
Some people consider diversity in movies a bad thing. Personally, I don't mind it at all. It reflects the world we live in more accurately, and even though these films don't necessarily *have* to reflect our world because they don't take place in our world at all, why shouldn't they? If it makes people feel as if their existence has finally been acknowledged in fiction, I'm happy with it. I think the people who complain about diversity in Star Wars and claim that it's pushing some kind of evil agenda have some serious internal (at the very least) prejudices that they need to contend with. A diverse cast is hurting absolutely no one.
I didn't find the Rey reveal disappointing at all, but I see what you mean. I just liked it, and it was exactly what I was hoping would happen. I especially liked how Kylo Ren said it, which really worked for me. "You have no place in this story. You're nothing. But not to me." I really liked that and the very end with the random Force sensitive kid and what it means to the saga.
The main thing I disliked was that it doesn't play well with the setup in the force awakens. I think it feels like the force awakens is setting her parents up to be something but then this movie dismisses that setup, I think they could still have had her parents be nothing but a better setup in the force awakens could have helped this feel less like an audience betrayal. If you think about alternate interpretations of the stuff in TFA then yeah I can definitely see how TFA leads to the last Jedi reveal, but a more straightforward and first impressions reading of TFA is that her parents are important and you should care... its this getting us to care and telling us we shouldn't have cared that undermines it. It doesn't undermine this movie, The last Jedi's framing of Reys parents is fine, its in the context of TFA and TLJ that it undermines it for me.
There's some rules to the force, yes. More like guidelines, actually. But the Force is basically Space Magic To Do Cool Shit, so I don't really get people who overanalyse it. People always use that gif of Han saying "That's not how the Force works!", but I don't think the force really works in any one particular way. It's the energy that flows through all the universe that you can connect to and do cool shit with. Brainwash people, sense things, telekinesis, force choke people, the electricity thing Palpatine did... there's probably loads of things you can do with it that people haven't discovered yet.
Exactly how I always thought of it. The idea that the Force is just some menu of special moves is way more video gamey than the mystical, mysterious thing Yoda and Obi Wan told Luke about in ANH.
I don’t know if I’m the only one who feels like you went kind of easy on this movie. It’s definitely worthy of praise, and I think you nailed all of those points really well, but there were some serious flaws in the script. For one (and this is where I was particularly disappointed in your analysis) the entire Fin/Rose storyline was a total waste of time that bogged down an already heavy movie. They contributed nothing to the overarching plot in the end and the casino planet was so tonally left of field. It was very clearly only written to keep Fin busy in a story he wasn’t required to participate in.
The editing was also a bit weird in places. Never wrong, like with the case of Suicide Squad, but with room for improvement. Snoke’s death, for example, would have been far more effective if we hadn’t been so explicitly shown the lightsaber moving. It robbed the moment of a solid dramatic punch, because the audience has already played the moment in their minds before it happens. The Yoda reveal was also mildly disappointing. Introducing him with a shot from behind did the same thing, robbing the audience of that single gut punch moment. Maybe this is just my personal taste for drama, but it felt like something universal.
There’s also the problem of wasted characters. We were told after Captain Phasma’s appearance in the last film that she was going to be more than set dressing in this one, a character as interesting as her description and actress hinted at her being. But no. She was introduced and killed in the same sequence, to little dramatic effect. I think this is an extension of the Fin problem, where he needed to do something both in the story and at the same time everybody else was fighting someone. And then there’s Snoke.
Snoke was always intriguing for his mystery, the promise of his potential. Yet in nearly every single instance he was on screen, I was underwhelmed, most of all by his death. Who the hell was he? There’s clearly a story to his deformations that was intended to be told. But instead of being an overarching antagonistic force, he became a tool to make Kylo Ren (an actual interesting character, to be fair) the main villain, without truly changing Kylo much in the process. Is he a different character at the start and end of the movie? He’s committed to the Dark Side, or his interpretation of it, but killing Snoke didn’t cement that. It was an impulsive, rash decision from an impulsive, rash character.
There’s also a few other small gripes I had with the film, like the continual comedy that never quite fits (although I thought your point on making fun of space Nazi’s was particularly insightful), the over-reliance on the new force-projection power that we’ve never seen before and a general unease about how I feel about Luke’s role in the story, especially his death.
Overall though, I did enjoy The Last Jedi. It had some great moments; the Kylo/Rey team up fight, the Luke/Kylo fight and flashbacks, the light speed kamikaze run. The moment where Luke steps back, horrified when Rey didn’t even shy away from the Dark Side might be my single favourite Star Wars moment ever. But I don’t think I’ll see it again in theatres like I did with Force Awakens though. It’s just a little bit too long, which I could forgive if it felt like all of the almost three-hour story was essential, but unfortunately that just wasn’t my experience.
Agreed regarding Phasma and Snoke. I do hope we'll get an explanation of who Snoke was and where he came from at some point in the films, and that it isn't just pushed aside into the novels.
Leaving the film, I kind of felt the same about the Finn/Rose story-line, along with Poe's. Ultimately they seemed to achieve nothing, and rather made things worse, getting people killed who might otherwise have survived had Poe/Finn/Rose done nothing. Having had time to think on it a bit though, I'm pretty sure that was the whole point of Poe and Finn's arcs. Learning that their responsibility isn't to inflict as much damage to the New Order as possible, but rather to survive as symbols of hope to the rest of the galaxy, as evidenced by Rose's final acts in the film.
Anyway, yeah, I liked it.
>>>Snoke’s death, for example, would have been far more effective if we hadn’t been so explicitly shown the lightsaber moving.
I would agree with you on that if it was common logic, but it was Jedi/Sith force trick, so explicitness was a must IMO. Still there are people on the internet who haven't even figured out who did that, Kylo or Rey. Imagine what would have happened if it was edited your way.
show everything except the lightsaber moving, ie. Kylo's hand twisting and I think people would have understood. Besides, in the context of the scene it's pretty obvious who did it (I'd even say it was a bit on the nose).
Tom Morgan snoke was going to be dissapointing no matter what. He is a sadistic, marvel type villain that had he lived would probably become a big baddie in the end. And this film has a motif with disappointments (every plan anyone makes fails, people die unexpectedly, quickly or in Luce's case, peacefully). The reality can never match our imaginations, and this movie plays a lot with that as well (Luce has become a legend, Fin a hero etc.)
As Dan mentions, disappointment is a fine line to walk, and it didn't feel thematically resonant when Snoke died. It just felt like a new writer/director not wanting to play with the old writer's toys.
I love the fact that Yoda was a puppet and not CG
I like how it starts all "Peace to the shacks! War on the palaces!". :-)
Its a bit disingenuous when that message comes from Disney, which is the byword for wantonly depraved corporate rapaciousness
@@nannite artists have to get paid but that doesnt mean they can't craft something that criticises the system paying them. you need money to eat. capitalism wouldn't be so awful in the first place without that fact.
Always nice to read a Georg Büchner quote on the internet.
The magic of Rey's nobody parents is the very heart of Star Wars. People always ask who she is, as you would with a nobody. Like the examples of the underclasses, especially the end, it tells us that a nobody is capable of great things, and that the weak and underprivileged can resist the powerful.
Amen.
I *ADORE* this movie. I liked Force Awakens and Rogue One a lot but I think Last Jedi blows them out of the water, no question.
The Ponderer I still think Rogue One is the best of the Star Wars movies as a stand-alone film - in that, you don’t need to see all the other movies for it to make sense and be good AS a film. The Last Jedi is so far the best of the “Saga” entries.
I had totally forgotten about Poe dunking on Hux. That was beautiful and am in total agreement with you on that.
hey linkara love you re stuff
I think this movie will win over some people who weren't fond of TFA.
I strongly disliked TFA (I missed the first minute or two in theaters and have never even bothered to remedy that), but Last Jedi is probably my favorite Star Wars.
@@BatmanAoD dear lord, you stumbled upon one of the comment I made during the less then a week I spent liking TLJ.
The only problem I had with Rey's parents being nobodies is her insane level of ability in The Force Awakens. It makes her a bit of a Mary Sue for her to just be super good at the force with no in-story reason. She's amazing at using the force because the plot says she should be, which isn't very satisfying to me. If in the third one there's some kind of explanation that the force itself was reacting against Kylo's powers and she was born with super awesome force powers to balance the scales, maybe, but...it just seems like, Luke needed tons of training to even lift his ship out of the swamp, she barely knows what the force is and can intentionally use jedi mind tricks, that seems like it should be explained.
All 10,000 jedi in the prequel jedi order are nobodies. Remember they aren't allowed to have relationships so no children.
Also is she really that powerful? Not really. She beat Kylo who was shot by an extremely powerful weapon, bleeding, mentally wounded from killing his father and he wasn't actually trying to kill her as he wanted to turn her.
Kylo himself isn't that powerful to begin with. He's weaker than Snoke who is afraid of Luke. Last time we saw Luke he was as strong as or stronger than Vader but still way weaker than Palpatine. Kylo also went to Darth Vader's helmet to see the power of the dark side even though Snoke could easily show his powers through his hologram. Both of these imply that Snoke is weaker than Vader and Kylo is even weaker.
Physical training has never been nessassary to use the force. It's entirely mental if you believe you can do it then you can actually do it. Yoda outright states that lifting rocks and lifting X-wings in no different so long as you believe it is possible: m.ua-cam.com/video/E3-CpzZJl8w/v-deo.html
Most low-key meta movie I've ever seen
mrbigstuffication yeah kylo's kill the old so the new can thrive schtick was right on his huge freaking nose
I loved most of the movie. I wish the Finn/Rose story had more meat to it. I wish the main threat is a "chase" that makes no sense had been removed and replaced with something better...anything. I wish Laura Dern's character was just slightly more likeable; I wish she has a moment like Leia did to say to Poe, "Dude...you're great. And, I get it you wanted to help, but you are not in charge, so you don't get to know what they plan is all the time - trust more, think more." Then she could have died, that would have worked better for me.
What I loved most was the Luke/Rey dynamic of a recusant teacher and overeager student was both funny and serious. I liked the ongoing connection of Rey and Kylo throughout teh movie, and I like how they fight and come apart at the end. And, Luke goes out like a Jedi master...her talks, fights, and ends as I ALWAYS imagined an true Jedi would. This film redeems the idea of Jedi not by saying they are great but by having the master and student say, "Yeah...they Jedi Order was sorta dumb." Yet they still have Luke do the most Jedi thing ever, and have the most clever fight ever.
I'm ok with her character being harsh, but her plan was bad. Everyone acted like it would work, but it was just bad.
Lincoln Thurber my issue is tactics. Why in a space with ftl of sorts would the first order not just send a ship or two ahead ftl, and come back in front/the side of the rebel ship, surrounding it,they had multiple ships. Just to be menacing? Even evil idiots don't have that kind of time
They could have written in some BS excuse but it doesn't matter there are no logical rules to the FTL in Star Wars so it can/can't do whatever makes the story work - same goes for shields and gravity (basically anything when they are on ships in space).
Agilemind except in starwars it has been consistent. hyperspace is a separate dimension between two points in space folded to be closer and It is effected by real universe large mass objects ie gravity. This is normal star wars, not extended stuff.
Bad writers can only write fan fiction
In which movie did they say any of that?
Jumping to hyperspace or "light speed" has been done (despite supposedly being impossible) from within the atmosphere of a planet (Rogue One) and from within a hanger bay on a ship (Ep 7).
Dropping out of hyperspace/"light speed" sometimes returns a ship to rest (Star destroyers in NuTrilogy) and sometimes causes the ship to have huge forward momentum (Falcon crashing into StarKiller base).
Ep 8 Holdo can crash a ship that is entering hyperspace, but in Ep 7 Han can travel through shields by being in hyperspace.
In the OT traveling through hyperspace required pre-computing navigational data, but not in the new trilogy (again Han jumping out of the hangerbay with a Rathtar stuck to the windshield.)
BTW, there was already a slow-motion chase scene in the opening shot of Episode 4 the original original SW. So evidently there is some BS reason you can't use "jumps" to win a slow-mo chase.
Yoda's statement on the value of failure deserves more attention, in terms of how the characters will continue to learn from their mistakes. I mean, Poe blabs about the Rebel plan within earshot of DJ, and it lead to the death of almost the entire Rebellion. I hope the characters revisit that and find some lessons in it. 'Cause right now, Poe is the worst.
Is that some extra credits swag in the back?
Yup.
I loved this review. I'm very excited to hear his feelings about Rise of Skywalker. When they reconned Rey's parentage I couldn't get Kathy Bates' Misery rant out of my head, "he didn't get out of the cockadoodie car!"
I enjoyed it immensely. The writing was a step up from the traditional pitfalls Star Wars falls into. It was space opera with meaning. This is what I want from Star Wars.
I realized I love space operas because of this movie! The og trilogy feels a bit space western, and the prequels are like space politcs, but this trilogy feels very Space opera to me. It’s dramatic, beautiful, rich in heavy themes etc
Oh, no. You must have been so disappointed at the reveal in Rise of Skywalker. It makes TLJ worse in retrospect.
Out of curiosity, what was your opinion on Rose? I really liked her as the microcosm of the "little people" we never see in these movies - the metaphorical ant being crushed under the boot of the First Order - and I thought Tran really sold it.
It's doubly effective when contrasted with the film subverting the 'noble rogue' trope it had strived off for so long through DJ.
I know, especially when the walkers went off and you were like "did DJ come back?" like Lando and no, it was BB-8 bc DJ was trash
The Rey's parents are nobodies is like the polar opposite of Luke learning his father was Darth Vader - it's an existential crisis. Rey feels the emptiness that she didn't come from special people vs Luke dealing with the fact that he (and Leia) are the offspring of one of the greatest evils in the Galaxy... I liked that, it was a good contrast and important character development
as someone who has been a huge Star Wars fan pretty much since I could talk this film really devastated me emotionally ngl (I mean that in a good way)
Thank God. I thought I was going crazy with all these people bashing it as worse than the Phantom Menace which I think is fucking insane.
It absolutely is. People say shit like that when the new thing comes out from a place of contrarianism. When TFA came out it was all complaints there, now that this one is out people are talking about how TFA was actually pretty good and this was the let down. In 15 years when the hype is separated from how people view it, no level headed person will put this alongside the prequels.
It was great. Fanboys are just pissed that Luke Skywalker didn't lightsaber a dozen AT-ATs into a doomfist gauntlet and punch a star destroyer to death.
I thought it was a terrible Star Wars movie. But Phanton Menace was terrible both within the saga and also just as a standalone work. At least Last Jedi was a decent film if you ignore how much it fails to fit with the previous film in the trilogy or the saga overall. For Phantom Menace, it took serious work making Clone Wars a little better and then finally Revenge of the Sith actually pretty damn good to redeme the problems of Phantom Menace. J.J. Abrams similarly has a lot of work to do to redeem Last Jedi.
@@QwertyCaesar I take offense to that. I didn't get mad because Luke sacrificed himself without blowing up a star destroyer with his fists. I got upset that we got a matrix moment, it was laughable. I wasn't upset when Luke didn't destroy all the AT-ATs, I was frustrated when all the work that had been done to evolve Kylo's character arc were undone by multiple flippant tantrums. Overall the movie was okay. We got spoiled with the original trilogy. Every Star Wars movie has massive shoes to fill, and it's almost virtually impossible.
It is worse though.
I'm not a Star Wars guy (or LOTR or Star Trek). I didn't watch the films until my early 20s maybe 7 years ago. Though Ep 7 was fine, i only watched them for my wife. But i absolutely loved Ep 8.
When I first watched this movie, I was in the theatre with my parents and my two younger sisters, and we all have different media tastes. But we all let out a collective gasp when Holdo rammed the ship at lightspeed.
So glad you enjoyed it, I thought it had small problems but was ultimately wonderful and its nice to have so many other people liking it too.
Spoilers ahead, obviously.
I love how they killed off two big theories (Rey's lineage and who Snoke is) by killing off Snoke and having Kylo Ren tell that Rey's parents are a bunch of nobodies, all in one scene. We also don't get an Emperor-type character with Snoke because... well, he's dead, Jim.
I did not really like the Canto Bight scenes. It dragged on for so long, it got a little preachy without it needing to be, and it led to basically nothing.
I initially didn't like Vice Admiral Holdo. Perhaps it's how she was presented... it's like she was stiff, and contrasting with how Poe was itching to do something (reckless) with the situation, I thought she sucked. But once the plan began to unfold, and when she sacrificed herself to hit Snoke's ship, it was perfect. Tbh good character development for Poe too.
I feel that it would've been better if either Finn or Rose have sacrificed themselves to ram the battering ram cannon. It would've been perfect for Finn because at VII we see him running away from the First Order, but now we see him charging them head-on, very willing to sacrifice himself for the Resistance. It would've been perfect for Rose because it would save Finn and cement her crush/love/whatever for him, and it would mirror Paige's sacrifice in the beginning. But nooo. She had to save him, putting the Resistance at risk.
Stoned Yoda setting Jedi tree on fire best Yoda.
Seriously though, the whole scene basically says that Luke's journey has come to an end and it's time to pass the torch. It was beautiful.
I am lukewarm with how Luke died, but I understand that he had to. However, his projection fight against Kylo Ren was fucking amazing. We see how Kylo Ren can get so consumed with his obsessions (with directing the TIE fighters to attack the Falcon, then ordering all AT-ATs to attack 'Luke'), and you gotta admit that Luke floating in trance was really cool. I wish he could've stayed alive a bit for IX, but I'm fine with it. He'll definitely be a force ghost, guiding Rey and haunting Kylo Ren.
Superman Leia floating in space best Leia.
Seriously though, it would've been a perfect opportunity for them to write off her character (Carrie Fisher, RIP). The scene where Kylo Ren hesitated would've been a lot stronger, because that will lead to more anguish in him for failing to kill his mother and fully embracing his dark side. But noooo, they chose not to kill her, have her in a coma for most of the movie and show up last minute alive and well.
And I know Phasma's still alive. I just know it.
Overall, it's a mixed bag for me. I didn't feel ecstatic leaving the theater, I felt uneasy. There were amazing moments, there were painfully bad ones. There's a lot more to process, and I'm afraid of how this movie will fit itself into the whole saga. I hope it grows on me. Who knows.
However, one comment in reddit that I read has put it to a better light. Basically, it goes like this: This movie is of failure, as all second films of the trilogies were. We see all the characters fail, mostly because of hubris, then learns from those mistakes and grows from them.
They filmed the entire movie before Carrie Fisher's death. It makes sense that they left her alive in this movie because working a character death into a movie that didn't originally have one would be messier than crafting a new movie with that character death in mind. If they had had her die in space, they would have had to drastically rework the rest of the film.
If they just let Leia die there then we wouldn't have gotten the Luke and Leia reunion. And that was a scene I really, really needed. Especially after not getting a Luke and Han scene because of how Force Awakens played out.
I think that's the point with Holdo. She's initially presented as an uptight coward, but then she schools Poe, who's made out to be the big-headed hero she called him. Then, as Poe's plan comes more together and Holdo's plan gets a spanner in the works, the perspective reverses. And so on. It's a great, high-tension arc because of this internal conflict and you don't know who to believe, which eventually resolves itself in a way that gives both of them their due credit. I love when a story doesn't just give you a character and say "this is the baddie, we want them to fail" and then just do nothing besides that.
That's why Snoke's death is so good too. His infatuation with victory left him... not complacent, but blind to danger in his power-drunkenness, which lead to his blunt death. It gets rid of the problem the first 6 movies have with the Emperor, this indestructible master who just gets chucked down a whole lol
Now do "Rise of Skywalker"!
I'm late to this party, but dang, you're 100% spot on about *everything* here. I'm so relieved to see someone expressing thoughts like this, considering how bad the discourse got about this film after the alt-right watched it.
"I don't care if you hated this movie, I really don't--it made me happy." BIG MOOD FOR ALL OF TIME
i like how kylo killing snoke kinda fulfills the rule of two n stuff. apprentice kills the master just like its always been. thats cool.
Plus, it mirrors Rey interestingly. Both lost their families. Both lost their mentors. Both are free to choose their own way without destiny or duty or anyone else's expectations guiding them. This movie is a transition, and it's *about* transition - that it's painful to let go of the past and scary to face an uncertain future. That so many people are upset about a lot of things indicates that the film succeeded in its task.
And he tried to get Rey to join him not as a pupil but as an equal. Destroying the wheel indeed.
Good point.
Star Wars Episode 9: A Jim Rises
I don’t think the movie was the most coherent of the three but it was the most compelling. Rian wants to say things with his films which adds an appreciative layer of depth and nuance
I liked how they did the "salt" moment, basically having the troopers assume they are on a snow planet, then see the red foot steps and go "wtf?" and taste the ground and then basically turn to the "it's just a remake of Empire" people and say "Uh, salt".
I agree that Rey's parents being nobodies makes for more interesting storytelling, but can we trust Kylo is being honest with her, and not attempting to manipulate her in the moment to come to his side? I took it as if he's saying, "you come from nothing but with me you could be something". While watching it for the first time, I thought he was lying. I'm hoping it's true, because like you said it breaks from the Star Wars handbook, but I don't think it is. Maybe.
Michael Thomas rian johnson confirmed that kylo was telling (what he believed to be) the truth, but left it open enough purposefully so that jj could alter it later if he wanted. Here’s to hoping it stays that way.
The scene you're talking about - ramming the ship at lightspeed...everyone in the audience was blown away, myself included. People were gasping and saying "wow" I mean...it was liking watching the total solar eclipse all over again for me. I would go see this film again just for that scene alone (if I could afford to do it, lol). I completely agree, absolutely breathtakingly beautiful.
I loved the film. For all the reasons you said as well as some others (expanding the capabilities of the force for example). I do have to agree, I also felt this looming cloud of "what will they do with Fisher's character?" I thought when she was blasted into space that was going to be the end of it and I was gearing up for a lot of feels when she was floating out there. Ultimately, I'm grateful they didn't write her off there because of the scene with Luke near the end.
I *still* haven't seen any of the SW feature films past Rogue One - just burned out on the universe, the discourse, and the whole... everything of them. Re-watching this vlog has reminded me I do really want to go back and check out TLJ one of these days when I'm feeling a little less "ugh, stars wars" though.
Dan's mention of the planet's-eye view used in many of the recent movies was something that hit home - when Lucas went back and remastered the original trilogy, one thing I always wished he would have thought to add was a view from the surface of Alderaan as the Death Star enters orbit -- to actually see this strange new artificial moon suddenly looming overhead, as an entire city full of people stops what they're doing to look up and wonder, utterly unaware of what's about to happen to them... It's always struck me as weird and unfortunate that the destruction of Alderaan - the sudden annihilation of over a billion sentient beings, along with the biology and culture of an entire planet - comes across as basically weightless in the film, reduced to a cool asplosion and Sir Alec Guinness suffering a forehead twinge and suddenly needing a nap. This is one thing Rogue One absolutely did right - for all its flaws, it brings home the power and significance of such a horrific weapon in a way that none of the other films really managed.
RE: ramming the ship at light speed.
I find it interesting that you found that to be so original. something about the imagery seemed very familiar to me from various anime, it certainly has a strong Akira vibe.. but also it seemed to me that this, along with a few other scenes (in particular the montage while describing the force), were very out of keeping with the cinematic style of star wars.
Anyway, thanks for the upload, and keep it comin' thick and fast :)
I think Hux being dunked on is a bad thing though, like ya he's supposed to be a nazi and nazis are bad, but if the character is treated as a joke how do we interpret them as being a threat. Episode IV would be an inferior movie if Grand Moff Tarkin was treated as a joke Hux was good as he was in VII because he was a competitor to Kylo Ren, he was an obstacle for Ren to overcome and they just scrapped that idea.
In the case of the OG Empire, they were Space Nazis in movies made in the 70s, with hindsight of the atrocities of WWII. The First Order are Space-NeoNazis, who are modern day wannabe, Nazi cosplay nerds, and are currently mostly a threat on a small scale, personal level, not as a cultural, or an organized force.
So... I’m cool with that difference.
I really didn't like this movie when I first saw it, and still dislike parts that took me out of the movie, but from this video I can definitely see it more from the point of view of someone who really liked the movie and I'm really glad it made people feel something.
I actually _relieved_ they didn't pull off the Chosen Family™ bullshit again. Heh, people are going to be pissed that their "grand theory"/fanfiction got torpedo'ed by canon.
Oh, boy…
Another thing about Hux is that he is MEANT to be taken down several pegs to use naval parlance. He's overblown, overconfident, blustery, while hiding behind big guns and subordinates. I think I could take him if given a blunt instrument. So watching a man so consumed with his own sense of historicity and bigness, and then watching him be mocked is classic.
The Last Jedi takes long-time star wars fans out of their safe spaces, and I like that.
Slam Stock i had the same
my god admiral holdo's scene was so incredible! i have never been more in awe seeing anything on screen before and that includes the final scene in moana
You need to watch more movies ;)
Diego got any recommendations
I hope I didn't sound condescending. I' m really curious about what you found great or inspiring about that scene...let me know what did you like about it and I'll do my best to recommend other movies you may like ;)
I haven't got around to watch Moana yet though
Diego i feel pretty much the same way he does about that scene in that it's directed really well, the sound design of that scene was really good and it did a really good job at creating a unique and awe-inspiring moment that had impact because of the characters involved and the decisions they make in the movie. while i personally thought her ramming the ship at lightspeed was a little predictable (i could tell she was gonna do it the moment the movie cut to her alone on the ship knowing she was gonna die and save everyone else) the direction made it so jaw-droppingly incredible for me
as for moana, i think it's worth a watch for everyone! it definitely follows the disney formula very closely and it doesn't do a whole lot that's new, but it's still one of the most well directed and performed disney princess movies i have seen with arguably one of the most beautiful soundtracks and visuals of any disney movie
My deepest condolences past Dan. I loved this movie too. Such a shame they just ruined everything in the next one.
My question is where do they even go from here? Everything since has been prequels. It's like they created a hard stop for star wars canon. When you've had fleets of planet destroying starships and force users that can destroy said fleets on their own it's a tough act to follow.
One of the criticisms ( honestly I didn't have too many) of the "Force Awakens" was how structurally similar it was to "A New Hope" plotwise. I was worried that Disney was just gonna remake the first movies all over again, just with a more racially diverse cast.
But lo and behold I sit down to this movie and not only does "The Last Jedi" go in it's own direction... but for the span of the movie I had no idea what direction it was going! The movie had so many twists and every time I thought I knew where it was going, the story does a face turn and ups the stakes again! And that is a GOOD thing! Movies shouldn't be predictable. They should be able to defy my expectations and that's what the Last Jedi did.
I am now honestly curious to see what's going to happen in the next movie.
i saw Force Awakrn and i liked the ship moving and shooting and thats that i didnt feel anything for the movie.
I am 1000% expecting Leia to appear in the next film a la Young Jeff Bridges in Tron: Legacy. Her story was left too open for anything else.
Had no idea this movie was hated by fans, I'm not super in touch with Star Wars beyond catching the main films and the occasional video game. Personally, I loved this one. It might be my favorite of any of the Star Wars films - I was consistently engaged the entire time and the pacing worked really well for me, which is something I often dislike about these children/YA-oriented genre films.
Great vlog as usual!
Cash Nelson
They already announced she would not be CGI'd into the next film, out of respect. I can see her passing away between films and we get a funeral scene in IX
It's not hated by fans.
It's just that, like with the Force Awakens, the haters are very vocal.
This movie does actually seem rather divisive though.
PauLtus B It is very much hated by fans. TFA did not get this much hate, because it wasn't nearly of poor of a movie. TFA established a lot, a tone, dynamics, plot points, and TLJ absolutely shit over all of it. There wouldn't be so much backlash if it was just a "meh" movie.
+MrRaziza
I'm a fan and I don't hate it. I know plenty of fans that don't hate it. Something can be a great film and still get a ton of backlash, something can be a terrible film and still have a die-hard fan-following.
Are you really not aware of that or are you just trying to convince yourself.
Heck, over new years I was hanging out with about a dozen mid 20's to mid 30's geeks, all star wars fans, all of whom had seen the movie, and NONE of whom are personally inclined to "hold back" with opinions.
We were more divided on Jar-Jar Binks than we were on TLJ, we all loved it.
how u get cat 2 du dat?
I loved Poe-Holdo arc. Poe simply became one of the villains of TLJ by his urge to be hero (which caused massive loss of lives for Resistance). This was really fresh approach - suddenly we had hero responsible for terrible things simply because of his ego (and I hope Ep. IX make him accountable).
Fionor emotionally yes, but logically how could any commander not include Poe in her escape plan in the first place? It's just so they can give Finn enough screen time, and what's worse is they could've teamed up Poe and Finn to do their little adventure and further his arc there but instead we're forced to watch a character with no back story that no one cares about.
Because Poe was demoted (at the time) low-rank pilot which was obsolete for that plan. His only job was to follow orders and wait.
If he ever shared his (Rose's) findings to dismiss fear of spy on board, he migh have been told. But he disobeyed direct orders and that nearly caused lives of all members of Resistance.
Holdo has backstory - she is part of the canon - but in movie it was established just as footnote. She was clearly hero in command of at least one big battle and she was close friend with Leia. That was all we needed to know to accept her. If she was a man.
But since she was a woman, there is great degree of disrespect among men viewers. Her only sin is not having genitals outside her body.
I agree! My only problem with the scene is that Holdo refused to explain her plan to him and the rest. It kinda makes her look like a bad leader and an asshole. The whole situation could have been avoided if she just did. It kinda lessens the point that the scene is trying to teach Poe.
Actually, if she had told Poe what her plan was from the start, maybe he wouldn't have rebelled. The plothole is not a dealbreaker, but it's still a noticeable dent in an otherwise great movie.
They don't know how they're being tracked. (Poe, Finn, and Rose know, but they don't share that information.) Holdo has every reason to suspect a traitor, and keep the number of people in on the plan as small as possible. A fighter squadron that no longer exists is no longer part of any plan, so there's no reason to keep its commander in the loop.
I have gotten so used to discussions of The Last Jedi being either incessant criticism or direct responses to that criticism (or at least seeming obligated to address it) that coming back to this feels honestly refreshing.
I particularly loved that scene where the admiral cut through the fleet *(but 3D made the film blurry, & it didn't help that a VAST majority of the movie was dark)* I loved the visuals and I can't wait to see it again *in 2D*
Saw it in 2D, it was absolutely stunning.
Nkanyiso Innocent Khwane It was gorgeous in 2D
People still watch movies in 3D?
I thought that was the worst part. If that was an option, why the hell didn't they use it to destroy the death stars?
So too expensive to use to destroy the death stars, but sacrificing lives is ok? Got it.
The thing I love about it that it is FULL of misdirections and reversals of expecation. That alone makes me love it and want to see it again.
This is true. I think that's what people mean when they complain about it "not being Star Wars". It doesn't have the big, seemingly indestructible bad guy, it doesn't have the rambunctious heroics, it doesn't have fully black & white conflict, etc. It makes it less easy to digest I guess, but much more involved.
"Has he been Zukod" That was my exact thought when I saw that scene, I'm so glad I'm not the only one that thought this.
what i loved about the revelation of rey's parents is the deviation from the fantasy trope of bloodlines. the fantasy genre is fanatically obsessed with blood and fate, seeing as it derives from old tales of kings and knights, in which heritage/blood is paramount to ones arc. rey wanted to know her place in the world, and by extent her significance, and she naturally looked for answers in the past.
the message being 'your background does not determine your worth, or the part you play in the world'. and that's a healthy message.
Looks to me like she's just another Chosen One. Chosen by the Force just like Anakin. Could anyone prove that she's not caused by a virgin birth?
The subversion of bloodline and fate with a nobody doesn't work if the nobody is clearly someone special.
Fascinating to watch this in 2021, post "Return of Skywalker." I'm in the camp that felt that RJ asked some great questions, but they didn't bother to answer any of them in RoS, which retroactively runs TLJ.
I mean, Rian Johnson didn’t MAKE Return of Skywalker. J J Abrams did.
And you can tell, because it’s god-fucking-awful, especially at having satisfying answers at questions.
@@The5lacker Correct, Rian Johnson asked some great questions in TLJ, which Abrams refused to answer or even acknowledge in RoS, which is the problem. Why let him ask the questions then? Because (dumb) people said they "didn't like TLJ," so they scrapped the whole setup and we got "Palpatine returned, SOMEHOW" because Abrams is a hack fraud!
surprised you didn't even mention Yoda's appearance. That scene is my favourite scene in the entire saga. It makes me cry like a baby every time I watch it.
On a VERY nitpicking note: Admiral Amylin Holdo IS introduced in the books that came out before The Last Jedi was in theaters - she is one of Leia’s friends from childhood on Alderaan.
HOWEVER - that’s kinda a level of detail or nerd-shit that if you’re only watching the movies, you wouldn’t know. So, the practical effect of the “remember Jim, who’s totally been here all along?” Yeah, that does stand. (But if you like how this movie worked, you would enjoy “Leia: Princess of Alderaan”. It’s very good.)
This vlog made me happy. :)
I was still digesting the movie, and this helped settle my feelings on it. I hadn't even realized how tricky revealing Rey's parents would be - making it a disappointment for the character without leaving the audience unhappy (tho I'm sure many still were ;p). It made me appreciate the movie's strengths a lot more. Another thing I liked a lot was another thing I didn't notice until I saw someone on tumblr mention it - the theme of failure throughout the movie. The good characters fail, they make bad choices that have bad outcomes, but it's coming from a place of wanting to do good. When Poe pushes for the first assault, when Finn takes Rey's beacon and tries to leave, when they and Rose make their plan etc., it's all coming from trying to help. It was very nice.
Really, my main criticism is that I love Rey, Finn, and Poe, and I wanted them to interact way more than they did. They were all off on their own plots for most of TLJ :p