The Last Jedi: The Oppo mini-review

by "DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish!" (daft-ryosuke)
Published 12/18/2017 at 13:31

Tags: Movies ; Star Wars ; Filmlopnik
STARS: 0

The other night I said I’d give a small review of my thoughts about The Last Jedi after my premiere showing. I guess you could say I forgot, but in reality I wanted to give some time for my thoughts to mull and time for a second viewing.

All in all, The Last Jedi is pretty good.

There’s a lot of good substance here, it’s got a great story for the most part and some great performances by the cast. Setpieces are great, the cinematography is beautiful, and it all looks and sounds like a Star Wars film to me.

It’s got a bit of problems though, including a muddy B plot and some cheesy as hell lines and scenes, but those aren’t really things this franchise is new to. I just thought that maybe we could have learned since the prequels and Return of the Jedi. But I liked the prequels and I like ROTJ, so therefore I don’t hate this film.

8/10.

My full thoughts are on my review blog, here.

Replies (12)

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
12/18/2017 at 13:50, STARS: 1

As I watched it, I found myself thinking that I think it’s kind of crap. Not prequel bad, but kinda bad. I’m collecting my thoughts for a snarky review to be posted soon-ish.

"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
12/18/2017 at 13:58, STARS: 1

Part of the magic of Star Wars was the time and environment into which it was born. It’s virtually impossible to bottle such cultural lightning. I’ll appreciate it if it is just a good story and doesn’t have obviously stupid stuff.

"MykosNoNos" (theveep)
12/18/2017 at 14:50, STARS: 2

Pretty much the same exact feelings, I have. There is a very vocal minority on social media who are making it seem like it’s worse than the prequels.
I love that the director took risks with the movie and most of it paid off really well. I would go as much to say I liked this more than the Force Awakens(I still love it) which I felt was too much by the numbers.

"Jayhawk Jake" (jayhawkjake)
12/18/2017 at 15:26, STARS: 0

It had issues, but I don’t think it was overall bad. I think the Finn/Rose storyline was bad. Take that out, get rid of that ridiculous “Leia Poppins” moment, and it’s a pretty good movie.

The Prequels are great, I don’t know why people are so hard on them. They also have issues, but Revenge of the Sith is one of my favorite Star Wars movies. And podracing is still one of the best things in the entire Star Wars universe. Maybe I have slightly rose colored glasses given my age and memory of the prequels.

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
12/18/2017 at 15:47, STARS: 1

Why The Prequels Are Bad, abridged version:

Phantom Menace - All of the events in it could’ve been a quick prologue to the story that started in Ep 2. Midichlorians. Jar Jar Binks. The CGI characters look like garbage.

Attack of the Clones - Hayden Christensen sucks. Quite possibly the worst dialogue of any movie ever. So bad. My brother and I saw it toward the end of its theatrical run, we were alone in the theater except for one other person. We were literally howling at the screen for how bad the dialogue was. The following summer I took a flyer on renting it thinking maybe on repeat viewing it wouldn’t be so terrible. I was wrong.

Revenge of the Sith - The only somewhat-functional movie of the prequels. Hayden Christensen is still terrible. The dialogue is only a slight improvement on Ep 2. ONLY A SITH DEALS IN ABSOLUTES!

Like I said, my snark-tastic Last Jedi review will be posted later, when I get a chance to flesh it out.

"Highlander-Datsuns are Forever" (jamesbowland)
12/18/2017 at 17:01, STARS: 0

I enjoyed it, 7/10. I like rouge squadron much better. I think TLJ is better than the force awakens. TFA was such a “new hope” copy it was painful to watch at times.

I guess I liken the last jedi to the empire strikes back, only not an ice planet, a planet made of crystals and salt.

"davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
12/18/2017 at 17:32, STARS: 0

I really enjoyed it. Saw it with my wife, my oldest son, and some of his friends.

The “silent” scene, and the battle scenes on Crait - wow.

"dsigned001 - O.R.C. hunter" (dsigned001)
12/18/2017 at 17:53, STARS: 2

I’m not sure it would be possible to make something worse than the prequels without intentionally setting out to do so. They were that bad.

"Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap" (ddadragon)
12/19/2017 at 11:44, STARS: 0

I had some issues. It had the same feel as V and II where it was sort of a bridge. I completely agree on the Finn/Rose segments. Those could be lost. And the whole Leia thing. Yeah that part wasn’t great.

"DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish!" (daft-ryosuke)
12/19/2017 at 12:01, STARS: 0

You cannot blame Hayden for Hayden. Hayden has chops. The movie Shattered Glass, which he made during his tenure as Anakin, shows that perfectly.

It was Lucas’s fault. I’ve heard many stories where Lucas would ask for more reserved performances from the actors in the prequels. In fact, I even stumbled upon a behind the scenes video on YouTube where Lucas asked Hayden to dial back his performance in a supposedly emotional scene.

I’ve also heard speculation that these young actors were trying to impress such a big name director by doing his every whim and command . Why do you think Ian McDiarmid and Christopher Lee gave the best performances in the prequels? Because they carried weight as established actors that weren’t about to sit back as Lucas bossed them around.

I still enjoy Revenge of the Sith, it’s got a lot of great setpieces and really rounds out the story well. I still tear up during Obi-Wan’s speech on Mustafar and when Owen and Beru look to the binary sun with Luke in their hands. It’s probably #4 on my list, behind Empire, ANH, and Rogue One.

"DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish!" (daft-ryosuke)
12/19/2017 at 12:03, STARS: 0

I’ve heard some people argue that the Leia scene was okay because it’s logical that Luke may have taught her some force tactics. I can look past it the same way I can look past some of the rougher scenes in the OT.

"Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap" (ddadragon)
12/19/2017 at 13:03, STARS: 0

Her ability to use the force is not my problem with that scene