Thoughts on The Last Jedi
Dec. 17th, 2017 07:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jamesqI quite enjoyed it. Immediately after watching it, I rated it a solid four (to which my friend Allison commented "so it's only just better than the prequels?", which sounds like I'm damning it with faint praise. I'm not. For reference, here's my ranking of the Stars Wars movies:
Overall, I liked that this movie played with a lot of our expectations, especially with the way TFA slavishly copied from A New Hope. While watching this, I kept seeing call backs to TESB and ROTJ. And then they took those call-backs and spun them around where you weren't expecting. Which isn't to say it wasn't trope-erific - it was. But it was aware of those tropes while it played with them.
Here's an example. The throne room scene on Snoke's ship is supposed to be an obvious homage to the equivalent scene in ROTJ. Except it doesn't have the same beats or the same outcome. In fact, since everyone who is watching the movie is aware that this is the second movie of a trilogy, and Snoke is the Big Bad, he's not going to die. And then they killed him. And the scene doesn't end, instead it goes into a battle with two reluctant temporary allies against a room full of high-level minions. And once they mop those guys up, the Luke/Rey redeems Vader/Kylo sequence goes the opposite way. And there are lots of scenes like this.
The entire A-plot of the fleet being pursued by the First Order fleet ended in a way that was unexpected. I didn't think they'd lose their last ship. Though you did get enough beats before Vice Admiral Holdo's sacrifice to enjoy it. Still, at the beginning of this movie there are 400 rebel soldiers and by the end, they all fit on the Millennium Falcon without being so crowded as to step on any Porgs.
Both Poe and Finn get slapped around physically and emotionally. Mostly because they fuck up a lot. It's nice to see action heroes fuck up - it makes them more relatable.
Supreme Leader Snoke. As my friend Bruce says, it's hard to take a villain named Snoke seriously because that's the name you'd expect attached to the elf that wants to ruin Christmas, rather than a Sith badass. For my part, I'm happy he's dead because he was too much of a Palpatine homage. He worked better from a distance, as in TFA. Up close and personal, he looked like a giant CGI scrotum with eyes. Kylo Ren will make a much better villain.
Luke Skywalker. Bruce also mentioned that "old, crotchety, Luke is now my favourite Luke". I think you can draw a line from whiney Luke to crotchety Luke. I liked what they did with his story, especially when he got to play hero one last time. Who's have thought Mark Hamill could play a trickster so well? ;) Yoda bitch-slapping him one last time was also welcome.
None of the female characters were dolled up to take advantage of the Male Gaze. Everyone was dressed in a way that made sense for the character. Laura Dern was about the only one who looked like she was wearing makeup, and even so, that might have just been her species. Of course, they were all wearing makeup, man and women, but the point was that they didn't look like they were.
Another thing I liked was that Rey's parentage came up, and they were... nobodies. Her force-sensitivity is just a fluke, and not because she's Mara Jade's daughter or Obiwan's love-child or whatever. Of course, we learn that from Kylo Ren, the Sith Master of negging (making him an unreliable narrator), so I think Rey's parentage is still an open question. Still, I hope not - I rather like that she can write her own story rather than inheriting a pre-existing one.
Kylo Ren grew as a character. I like that his insecurity made him ditch the mask so as to not appear insecure. Adam Driver is a hell of an actor, and it was great seeing him chew some scenery (It's Star Wars, you're supposed to chew the scenery). And he remains a raging manchild with entitlement issues. He's every stalker-ex who thinks "this relationship isn't over until I say it's over". That his focus/foil is Rey just makes it better. And while we're mentioning Rey, Daisy Ridley's acting has improved. She's really grown into the character. She was pretty good in Murder on the Orient Express too, so I expect to see many good things from her over a hopefully long and rewarding career. While a lot of her character development is unspoken, it does go far into contradicting the idea that she's a Mary Sue. In short, you don't grow up alone on Jakku without learning to fight, and being tough as nails.
Between there being more female characters, and Kylo Ren being a super-powered characture of your typical MRA, I expect the usual Gamergater scum to bitch about this movie too. While it makes half a billion dollars. Heh.
We get to see more of Gwendolyn Christie's Captain Phasma. specifically, we get to see her right eye. Oh, and she had an off-camera "death", so I expect we'll see her again in Episode IX. Oh, and we had a great line from Finn.
Other money shots were Snoke's death and Kylo Ren realizing he'd been tricked by Luke Skywalker. Three good scenes, no bad scenes. I'd say The Last Jedi delivered on Billy Wilder's adage.
...And damn, those were some fine props.
- The Empire Strikes Back. Of course.
- A New Hope. Will always rate at least one point higher than it realistically should because it blew nine-year old me's mind.
- Rogue One. A tale of hope and sacrifice among broken, but redeemable people. Without so many space wizards.
- The Last Jedi.
- Return of the Jedi. A solid space opera.
- The Force Awakens. Would be higher if it wasn't quite so derivative of A New Hope.
- The version of Revenge of the Sith that ended up on the cutting room floor, with more Padme Amidala, Mon Mothma, and Bail Organa laying the foundation of the rebellion.
- Revenge of the Sith.
- The "good bits" version of The Phantom Menace, with just the light sabre duels and pod racing.
- Attack of the Clones. I can barely remember anything about this movie.
- The Phantom Menace. I can remember this movie, and wish I didn't.
Overall, I liked that this movie played with a lot of our expectations, especially with the way TFA slavishly copied from A New Hope. While watching this, I kept seeing call backs to TESB and ROTJ. And then they took those call-backs and spun them around where you weren't expecting. Which isn't to say it wasn't trope-erific - it was. But it was aware of those tropes while it played with them.
Here's an example. The throne room scene on Snoke's ship is supposed to be an obvious homage to the equivalent scene in ROTJ. Except it doesn't have the same beats or the same outcome. In fact, since everyone who is watching the movie is aware that this is the second movie of a trilogy, and Snoke is the Big Bad, he's not going to die. And then they killed him. And the scene doesn't end, instead it goes into a battle with two reluctant temporary allies against a room full of high-level minions. And once they mop those guys up, the Luke/Rey redeems Vader/Kylo sequence goes the opposite way. And there are lots of scenes like this.
The entire A-plot of the fleet being pursued by the First Order fleet ended in a way that was unexpected. I didn't think they'd lose their last ship. Though you did get enough beats before Vice Admiral Holdo's sacrifice to enjoy it. Still, at the beginning of this movie there are 400 rebel soldiers and by the end, they all fit on the Millennium Falcon without being so crowded as to step on any Porgs.
Both Poe and Finn get slapped around physically and emotionally. Mostly because they fuck up a lot. It's nice to see action heroes fuck up - it makes them more relatable.
Supreme Leader Snoke. As my friend Bruce says, it's hard to take a villain named Snoke seriously because that's the name you'd expect attached to the elf that wants to ruin Christmas, rather than a Sith badass. For my part, I'm happy he's dead because he was too much of a Palpatine homage. He worked better from a distance, as in TFA. Up close and personal, he looked like a giant CGI scrotum with eyes. Kylo Ren will make a much better villain.
Luke Skywalker. Bruce also mentioned that "old, crotchety, Luke is now my favourite Luke". I think you can draw a line from whiney Luke to crotchety Luke. I liked what they did with his story, especially when he got to play hero one last time. Who's have thought Mark Hamill could play a trickster so well? ;) Yoda bitch-slapping him one last time was also welcome.
"Dumbass, you are." *knocks Luke in the forehead with his cane*I think they could have called this movie Star Wars Now With More Girls. They've been making up for lost time with more major female characters. Rey got lots of screen time. Leia got to show off some Force powers while showing why she was in charge. Rose was a great addition to the core cast. I like that her first scene is basically using her wand and casting Expelliarmus on Finn. And she ends up being super useful throughout, while being the sort of character we haven't seen before in a Star Wars movie.
"Ow! How can you even do that, you're a Force Ghost?"
"In your own head, the bitch-slap is." *hits him again*
None of the female characters were dolled up to take advantage of the Male Gaze. Everyone was dressed in a way that made sense for the character. Laura Dern was about the only one who looked like she was wearing makeup, and even so, that might have just been her species. Of course, they were all wearing makeup, man and women, but the point was that they didn't look like they were.
Another thing I liked was that Rey's parentage came up, and they were... nobodies. Her force-sensitivity is just a fluke, and not because she's Mara Jade's daughter or Obiwan's love-child or whatever. Of course, we learn that from Kylo Ren, the Sith Master of negging (making him an unreliable narrator), so I think Rey's parentage is still an open question. Still, I hope not - I rather like that she can write her own story rather than inheriting a pre-existing one.
Kylo Ren grew as a character. I like that his insecurity made him ditch the mask so as to not appear insecure. Adam Driver is a hell of an actor, and it was great seeing him chew some scenery (It's Star Wars, you're supposed to chew the scenery). And he remains a raging manchild with entitlement issues. He's every stalker-ex who thinks "this relationship isn't over until I say it's over". That his focus/foil is Rey just makes it better. And while we're mentioning Rey, Daisy Ridley's acting has improved. She's really grown into the character. She was pretty good in Murder on the Orient Express too, so I expect to see many good things from her over a hopefully long and rewarding career. While a lot of her character development is unspoken, it does go far into contradicting the idea that she's a Mary Sue. In short, you don't grow up alone on Jakku without learning to fight, and being tough as nails.
Between there being more female characters, and Kylo Ren being a super-powered characture of your typical MRA, I expect the usual Gamergater scum to bitch about this movie too. While it makes half a billion dollars. Heh.
We get to see more of Gwendolyn Christie's Captain Phasma. specifically, we get to see her right eye. Oh, and she had an off-camera "death", so I expect we'll see her again in Episode IX. Oh, and we had a great line from Finn.
"You're scum."Holdo's money shot, ramming Snoke's flagship at lightspeed was beautifully done, though it does raise questions as to why this is not a normal tactic. Strap a hyperdrive onto an asteroid and start punch holes in whatever you don't like. I could fanwank this away though - just assume that it only works in a certain set of masses/ranges. Too close, you don't have enough force to penetrate their shields, too far and you've entered hyperspace. But wasn't it a great sequence? It's nice to see mass destruction in a Star Wars movie without a space station blowing up with an expanding ring. Cutting the sound was a great decision too.
"Rebel scum."
Other money shots were Snoke's death and Kylo Ren realizing he'd been tricked by Luke Skywalker. Three good scenes, no bad scenes. I'd say The Last Jedi delivered on Billy Wilder's adage.
...And damn, those were some fine props.
