I went and saw The Last Jedi shortly after it came out and at first I didn't really feel like writing a thing about it. Why? Because the film just left me apathetic; I just didn't care. But I've been seeing arguments and counter-arguments fly back and forth, especially the aggregate professional critic (very high) versus the aggregate viewer (pretty low) scores. So, what the heck, here's my two cents' worth. And because I want to work myself up to a proper, full venting, there will be spoilers a-plenty.
We join the action shortly after the events of The Force Awakens. The Resistance (with no clear idea of what they're actually resisting) is fleeing from the relentless pursuit of The First Order (with no clear idea of what their order actually is). Death is closing in on our less-than-plucky heroes. Much running ensues.
And that's it, the entire plot in a nutshell. Yes, Rey (Daisy Ridley) goes off to receive training from Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). But it's more like she's pursuing him because he's become a grumpy cynical grump who wants nothing to do with training her. Yes, Finn (John Boyega) goes off on a mission for...something. But with Rose (Kelly Marie Tran), his new sidekick, he's constantly on the run. It all goes nowhere, of course, because by the end of the film nothing, not a thing, mattered.
This film has as its central theme "failure." Everyone fails at everything. Yoda (Frank Oz) returns with a vague bit of philosophy, that we all learn via our failures, but he fails at even putting that across. In any other context, Rian Johnson might have pulled this off. I love his films, but this one, as part of a middle film in a trilogy, it just, well, fails.
I wrote that TFA couldn't be properly evaluated until SW8 and, probably, SW9 come out. That is, whether TFA properly established the foundation for a trilogy wouldn't be known until the entire trilogy was in place. Now I know the answer, because every single thing that was even vaguely set up in TFA has been trashed by TLJ. This is what I mean when I say the film is an utter failure as part of a trilogy.
The characters fail in an assortment of ways. Since Luke failed as a teacher for Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), he's insistent that he'll fail as a teacher for Rey. Holdo (Laura Dern), the from out of the blue (purple?) new commander of the Resistance, utterly fails as a leader of any sort, provoking a mutiny while letting more and more of her troops get slaughtered. She is, by the way, presented as some sort of historical, near-legendary hero, but she's a galactically awful leader.
TFA set up a series of questions. Decent answers would have been nice. Why is Rey so powerful and uber capable? Who knows, who cares, she just is! Who is Snoke? Who knows, who cares, we killed him so never mind. How is The First Order so powerful? Who knows, who cares, they just are! What is The Resistance resisting? Who knows, who cares, we've destroyed them so let move on to The Rebellion!
(But didn't the Rebellion win? Didn't they establish the wussiest government ever, the New Republic? A government that couldn't be bothered to defend itself and thus left it's populous ripe for conquest? Just saying, but the Rebellion sucked.)
On and on. TLJ just couldn't give a good bubbly fart about having anything to do with TFA. By the end, the Resistance is gone, Luke is gone, Snoke is gone, and there is only the vaguest of notions as to where the series goes from here, and those hints all point at characters we haven't even met yet. The film feels as though it might have set up a trilogy or even ended one. Actually, how bold it would have been to let things "end" here? That might have been amazing. But no, it's in the middle and leaves precious little for SW9 to wrap up.
Even the events within the film are nonsensical. There's a sequence during which Finn and Rose have to travel to a gambling world in order to find a thing to stop a thing (really, I can't remember because this was all so pointless). The entire escapade is an excuse for on-the-nose social commentary on the super rich versus the super poor. At the end of this, Rose does/says the second stupidest thing she'll do/say in the film, that even though they have failed in their mission they've had a victory because they've set a scifi race horsie free. Never mind all those Resistors who are counting on you and who will now die. Freeing the horsie is the important thingie.
Rose will manage to top herself before film's end when she stops Finn from making a suicide run. Finn is willing to sacrifice himself to destroy a First Order weapon that's about to destroy the Resistance. Finn is, in order words, a true hero. Only Rose rams his ship, crashing them both, allowing the First Order to blast open the door that's the only thing protecting the Resistance. Why? "Because that's how we'll win, not by destroying what we hate but by saving what we love."
I think I threw up in my mouth a little at that moment because she's not saving anything or anyone except her stud muffin, and in the process dooms everyone else. Rose is simply the worst, and that's saying something given that the film's other new character, Holdo, is just about as bad, someone who has a plan and refuses to share it with her commanders. Whoever thought that was an accurate portrayal has never, ever been in a leadership position, let alone anywhere near any military (or even para-military) experience.
TLJ is just the latest film to illustrate that modern films don't care to take the time to weave interesting stories, to give us characters with depth and emotion, to pull us in and take us on a journey. Rey is automatically competent so there's never any danger, thus never any suspense, thus I just don't like her. Finn tries, oh how he tries, but he's surrounded by Roses. And Leia (the late, luminous Carrie Fisher), oh my God, Leia, what have they done to you? They turned Leia inert, barely reactive, never proactive.
In the original SW trilogy, Luke has a complete character arc, from farmboy to Jedi knight. Rey just...is. There's no arc, no change, no improvement, or even loss. And it's not just her. Snoke simply is (was) the villain; where he came from and how he became so powerful isn't even hinted at. Finn, probably my favorite of the new cast, somehow manages to clobber Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie) despite her being, by reputation at least, some powerful warrior and he was little more than a grunt. Of course, Phasma is nothing more than comic relief; she might as well be Jar Jar.
It needn't have been. Just for a moment, imagine if Rey had accepted Kylo's offer. The big villain was Snoke. Now he's gone and maybe this is an opportunity to improve galactic politics. Imagine how awesome a setup that might have been for the next film.
But no, that would have required work. That would have required actually showing what the Resistance is (was) resisting, why the rebellion is needed. That would have required actually showing why The First Order is evil. That would have required showing some history, establishing some context. You know, do the work required of good filmmaking.
The film is lazy storytelling filled with spectacle involving forgettable characters. "It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." All sorts of theories are popping up to justify this mess but they're nothing more than fantasies being woven by those who want the film to succeed. And I used to be one of them because I dislike JJ Abrams' films while loving Rian Johnson's films. I went to see this film while happily wearing rose colored glasses.
Well, the glasses are off.
We join the action shortly after the events of The Force Awakens. The Resistance (with no clear idea of what they're actually resisting) is fleeing from the relentless pursuit of The First Order (with no clear idea of what their order actually is). Death is closing in on our less-than-plucky heroes. Much running ensues.
And that's it, the entire plot in a nutshell. Yes, Rey (Daisy Ridley) goes off to receive training from Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). But it's more like she's pursuing him because he's become a grumpy cynical grump who wants nothing to do with training her. Yes, Finn (John Boyega) goes off on a mission for...something. But with Rose (Kelly Marie Tran), his new sidekick, he's constantly on the run. It all goes nowhere, of course, because by the end of the film nothing, not a thing, mattered.
This film has as its central theme "failure." Everyone fails at everything. Yoda (Frank Oz) returns with a vague bit of philosophy, that we all learn via our failures, but he fails at even putting that across. In any other context, Rian Johnson might have pulled this off. I love his films, but this one, as part of a middle film in a trilogy, it just, well, fails.
I wrote that TFA couldn't be properly evaluated until SW8 and, probably, SW9 come out. That is, whether TFA properly established the foundation for a trilogy wouldn't be known until the entire trilogy was in place. Now I know the answer, because every single thing that was even vaguely set up in TFA has been trashed by TLJ. This is what I mean when I say the film is an utter failure as part of a trilogy.
The characters fail in an assortment of ways. Since Luke failed as a teacher for Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), he's insistent that he'll fail as a teacher for Rey. Holdo (Laura Dern), the from out of the blue (purple?) new commander of the Resistance, utterly fails as a leader of any sort, provoking a mutiny while letting more and more of her troops get slaughtered. She is, by the way, presented as some sort of historical, near-legendary hero, but she's a galactically awful leader.
TFA set up a series of questions. Decent answers would have been nice. Why is Rey so powerful and uber capable? Who knows, who cares, she just is! Who is Snoke? Who knows, who cares, we killed him so never mind. How is The First Order so powerful? Who knows, who cares, they just are! What is The Resistance resisting? Who knows, who cares, we've destroyed them so let move on to The Rebellion!
(But didn't the Rebellion win? Didn't they establish the wussiest government ever, the New Republic? A government that couldn't be bothered to defend itself and thus left it's populous ripe for conquest? Just saying, but the Rebellion sucked.)
On and on. TLJ just couldn't give a good bubbly fart about having anything to do with TFA. By the end, the Resistance is gone, Luke is gone, Snoke is gone, and there is only the vaguest of notions as to where the series goes from here, and those hints all point at characters we haven't even met yet. The film feels as though it might have set up a trilogy or even ended one. Actually, how bold it would have been to let things "end" here? That might have been amazing. But no, it's in the middle and leaves precious little for SW9 to wrap up.
Even the events within the film are nonsensical. There's a sequence during which Finn and Rose have to travel to a gambling world in order to find a thing to stop a thing (really, I can't remember because this was all so pointless). The entire escapade is an excuse for on-the-nose social commentary on the super rich versus the super poor. At the end of this, Rose does/says the second stupidest thing she'll do/say in the film, that even though they have failed in their mission they've had a victory because they've set a scifi race horsie free. Never mind all those Resistors who are counting on you and who will now die. Freeing the horsie is the important thingie.
Rose will manage to top herself before film's end when she stops Finn from making a suicide run. Finn is willing to sacrifice himself to destroy a First Order weapon that's about to destroy the Resistance. Finn is, in order words, a true hero. Only Rose rams his ship, crashing them both, allowing the First Order to blast open the door that's the only thing protecting the Resistance. Why? "Because that's how we'll win, not by destroying what we hate but by saving what we love."
I think I threw up in my mouth a little at that moment because she's not saving anything or anyone except her stud muffin, and in the process dooms everyone else. Rose is simply the worst, and that's saying something given that the film's other new character, Holdo, is just about as bad, someone who has a plan and refuses to share it with her commanders. Whoever thought that was an accurate portrayal has never, ever been in a leadership position, let alone anywhere near any military (or even para-military) experience.
TLJ is just the latest film to illustrate that modern films don't care to take the time to weave interesting stories, to give us characters with depth and emotion, to pull us in and take us on a journey. Rey is automatically competent so there's never any danger, thus never any suspense, thus I just don't like her. Finn tries, oh how he tries, but he's surrounded by Roses. And Leia (the late, luminous Carrie Fisher), oh my God, Leia, what have they done to you? They turned Leia inert, barely reactive, never proactive.
In the original SW trilogy, Luke has a complete character arc, from farmboy to Jedi knight. Rey just...is. There's no arc, no change, no improvement, or even loss. And it's not just her. Snoke simply is (was) the villain; where he came from and how he became so powerful isn't even hinted at. Finn, probably my favorite of the new cast, somehow manages to clobber Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie) despite her being, by reputation at least, some powerful warrior and he was little more than a grunt. Of course, Phasma is nothing more than comic relief; she might as well be Jar Jar.
It needn't have been. Just for a moment, imagine if Rey had accepted Kylo's offer. The big villain was Snoke. Now he's gone and maybe this is an opportunity to improve galactic politics. Imagine how awesome a setup that might have been for the next film.
But no, that would have required work. That would have required actually showing what the Resistance is (was) resisting, why the rebellion is needed. That would have required actually showing why The First Order is evil. That would have required showing some history, establishing some context. You know, do the work required of good filmmaking.
The film is lazy storytelling filled with spectacle involving forgettable characters. "It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." All sorts of theories are popping up to justify this mess but they're nothing more than fantasies being woven by those who want the film to succeed. And I used to be one of them because I dislike JJ Abrams' films while loving Rian Johnson's films. I went to see this film while happily wearing rose colored glasses.
Well, the glasses are off.
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