darkSpyro

Vespithoughts: Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Honestly, I really enjoyed the Last Jedi. It wasn't my favorite Star Wars feature (Rogue One still takes that cake), but it is definitely up there, alongside Empire Strikes Back. I can see where people who grew up on the original trilogy may be mad about it, but in my opinion, it was one of the better Star Wars movie. My opinion probably doesn't count with most Star Wars elitists since I grew up on the prequels and loved Rebels to death, but I thought it was made very well.

I appreciate the fact that Finn and Rose's quest on Canto Bight didn't go anywhere. I know I'm way in the minority, but sometimes the Rebels/Resistance/Whatever needs to be taught lessons about failure. Not everything that a protagonist does in a film has to be successful. Just like real people, movie heroes should be allowed to slip up. They aren't infallible gods and we should see their mistakes more often. I also liked Luke's sacrifice. The prevailing argument I've heard is that Lucasfilm let everyone down by "wasting Luke" and hyping him up as a great Jedi for him to evaporate after projecting himself across the galaxy, but in my opinion, they didn't do that at all. Luke's sacrifice allowed multiple things:
-It allowed the Resistance to escape Crait
-It allowed Kylo Ren to further doubt his skills as a servant of the Dark Side
-It paved the way for the next generation of Star Wars heroes, like it or not
Other things I enjoyed that few did were the comedy and the Porgs. Between Last Jedi and Thor: Ragnarok, not every film has to be a bleak and depressing slugfest like Batman v Superman was. I really appreciate moments of comedic levity every now and then, especially if they're in character like Poe's smartass remarks to Hux, Rey's frustration with Kylo Ren, and Yoda whapping Luke. The Porgs were also too damn cute for me. I loved them, especially those tiny baby ones. I hope we get them in Episode IX.

I'd also like to take a moment to appreciate how gorgeous this movie is, even in the little details. The biggest piece of cinematography porn in this film I can think of was Holdo's sacrifice. Every time I watch that scene, I get chills. It's so gorgeous. Another tiny detail that makes me extremely happy takes place during the duel between Kylo Ren and the Force projected Luke. If you watch their movements very carefully, you can tell that's not the real Luke based on a few different points. The first of which is that Luke is using Rey's lightsaber, something we know she has possession of when she leaves Ahch-To. His hair is also browner, and unless Luke Skywalker magically found some hair dye, it would still be the grey he had at the start of the film. My favorite part though is their footwork. It was established before the battle that the ground on Crait is covered in a snow of salt, with red ground underneath. As Kylo Ren battles, you can see his feet kick up the salt, leaving the red ground underneath, but when you see Luke move, no salt gets kicked up. It's little pieces of attention to detail such as those that really make me appreciate a film.

I didn't have many issues with the film that aren't already widely spoken about. I think Luke is mishandled in the moment where he attempts to kill his own nephew but otherwise he's perfect. I also wish we got to know more about Snoke, since he seemed like he had so much potential only to go without any backstory at all before his death. Kylo Ren's betrayal of him was cool though, as was the ensuing fight with the guards.

Overall, The Last Jedi is still one of my favorites. If I had to place the Star Wars films from best to worst, I'd personally rank them like this:
RO>V=VIII>III>VII>IV>>>VII>II>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>I

If we're doing rating systems I guess I'd give this a 8.7 of 10.

Pros:
-Beautiful cinematography
-Great fight choreography
-Great sense of fun
-Porgs

Cons:
-Shirtless Kylo Ren
-Minor mischaracterization
-Snoke felt underdeveloped

Way too many MCU-isms for a movie that has nothing to with them(making me want to watch that instead), the theme of failure is poorly implemented that most of the mistakes feel randomly placed, everything to do with Snoke etc etc etc. It's not a bad movie, but it feels like a bad SW movie when I'm trying to wrap around certain plot points instead of having fun.
The lore about anyone being force-sensitive is cool though, but the ending is really disjointed and loses that impact on its own.