Star Wars Episode VIII - The Last Jedi *spoilers from Post 2857*

conorhal wrote: »

Clearly, Disney's mandate to Johnson was 'burn it all down' so that we can start from scratch and pump out a couple of these a year, unencumbered by it's history or fan base until it runs out of steam.

I've long suspected that that was the plan from the beginning. Get rid of the old crew, jettison the EU and turn Star Wars into a Marvelised 'Guardians of the Galaxy' style comedy romp, until everyone is sick to death of it.

It's interesting reading this thread. Personally I have no issue with people who loved the movie or even those who think it's the best star wars movie ever.

I'll preface my post by saying that I was genuinely looking forward to this movie. So much so that I paid for a babysitter for the morning so that the Mrs and I could catch a 9:30am show at the local Imax on Saturday, since that was the only time with any decent seats left.

For me, it was a well made film but in the end another forgettable blockbuster. Perhaps because the review hype set my expectations too high, perhaps because I'm just another jaded moviegoer, or perhaps because I am not a die hard star wars fan and so whether or not this movie subverts star wars tropes has little bearing on my opinion of the movie. I am, however, an ardent Sci-fi and Fantasy fan.

On the positive side, this is a very accomplished blockbuster. The directing, acting(bar one terrible blemish), writing are all of a fairly high standard, by and large. The visual effects are polished and immaculate. The storyline is far from predictable, and that alone sets this film apart from the vast majority of blockbusters in recent years.

Yet despite all this, the movie lacked something. Call it heart, or soul or whatever, I don't know. Did the movie have something to say about the human condition that challenged my understanding or provoked thought? Sadly, no. Maybe the writer/director wanted to say something, if so, they failed to communicate that message to me.

Neither did it grip me with tension or emotion and make its mark upon me that way. Again, perhaps, because I don't have a strong preexisting emotional connection to the franchise or characters per se.

You might say, but it's just a blockbuster. It's meant to be entertaining. Etc. I find this line of argument utterly unconvincing. To accept this as a standard does a disservice to cinema, and more than that to all of the great blockbusters that have come before that have managed to be a rollicking, roller coaster ride that enthralled and still managed to move the audience. We cannot allow the recent trend of junk food blockbusters to allow the bar to be set so low that 'pretty good,' is defined as 'great' simply by comparison.

I contrast this with Coco, a film that had me in tears at the end, compared to The Last Jedi which left me with a feeling of, 'yeah, enjoyed that, nothing special.' Emotions nowhere near invested. What is this but a sign that the storytelling is simply not up to the mark?

Even setting the above aside and looking at it purely as a cinematic spectacle, I still find it lacking.

Yes there were some nice moments with perhaps one moment bordering on special that when:
But I could equally make a case for similar 'nice' moments in other recent blockbusters like Thor.

The visual effects were polished and of a high quality yet there was nothing that left me holding my breath, that was truly spectacular. That stood out as a beacon of greatness.

Nothing to match the balletic martial artistry of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, or the pure coolness of the Matrix's melding of anime style kung fu with western explosiveness, or the mind bending perspectives of Inception, or quite simply the 'holy **** that was fukin' cool' of several moments of The Dark Knight like when Batman kidnaps the mafia's money launderer from China.

Despite the wonderful canvas of the star wars universe, there was no real sense of child like glee or simple wonder that other films manage to evoke. Even watching The Force Awakens I had a couple of moments where I felt goosebumps rising on my arms and a shiver down my spine in the odd moment of visual grandeur. Something this film simply did not deliver for me.

The acting was mostly fine but the least unkind thing I can say of Mark Hamil's acting performance is that it seemed obviously forced. The script gave him something and he all but squandered it, rendering null any potential for poigniancy that lay within the character of Luke Skywalker.

Perhaps most damning of all for me was the complete impotency and ordinariness of the light saber battles, considering that this is one of the major USPs of the universe I found the battles themselves to be functional at best. No real danger, no real thrill and certainly no real coolness.

In the end, I came out of the cinema, with a decided 'Meh.' And I could not understand why. Writing this post has helped to clarify that.

Ultimately, I cannot think of a single category where this film meets any kind of criteria for greatness. It's perhaps close to being the best in a long series of mediocre blockbusters over the last couple of years, but there is nothing there to be proclaimed as special that will stand the test of time, in my humble opinion.

A decent 7.5/10

david75 wrote: »

We that’s a clear cut I’m done with this I’m out response. Which is brilliant.

Can you take all these folks rampantly arguing those who liked it with you? That be great thanks.

Dunkirk eh? Mad film.

I wouldn't waste my time. Sure there were plenty of defenders of the prequels that had to spend years in therapy, just to admit to themselves that Jar Jar was a bad idea. I doubt this movie will age even as well as the prequels, once time and distance erodes the deep denial that anybody who thinks TLJ was an objectively good film is suffering I suspect most will realize this was a franchise killer.

conorhal wrote: »

I wouldn't waste my time. Sure there were plenty of defenders of the prequels that had to spend years in therapy, just to admit to themselves that Jar Jar was a bad idea. I doubt this movie will age even as well as the prequels, once time and distance erodes the deep denial that anybody who thinks TLJ was an objectively good film is suffering I suspect most will realize this was a franchise killer.

This is so incredibly pretentious and condescending, is it that hard to accept that other people like different movies to you?

Tony EH wrote: »

Who cares though?

If that's all Finn is worth, it just speaks even more to the redunancy of the character.

We'd likely have the same people complaining that no one gave a ****e about Rey being gone for so long.

Who cares, they might as well have killed off Lando at the end of Empire too while they were at it, sure his main story was done at cloud city?

I've agreed that he could have died at the end of TFA but there's reason why he didn't. Just because he isn't the main event it doesn't mean he doesn't have his place.

Watched it last night. Unprejudiced, I'm a big star wars fan.... But. Did ye think it was sh1te, too?

I don't know where to start. There is so much non-sense in this film.

Star Wars was always fantasy, space-opera like science fiction, never had any 'hard scifi' elements. Thats fine I liked that. But this movie....

So we have a slow car chase where the Resistance is running out of fuel? Seriously? And they are like in naked eye watching distance but nobody has any weapon that can bridge the short distance? (Which of course makes no fkn sense in space/vacuum whatsoever but lets just go with Star Wars space physics for the moment). And 5 star destroyers and some new super star destroyer, ships that could single handedly wreck a world, have all but 5 tie fighters on board and no torpedoes or anything? And the energy weapons they do have fly through space in a ballistic arc? Thats the main theme for a star wars movie now? Like Max Max in space?

Then your man's stupid flying antics. Leia flying through space/vacuum after the bridge getting a full hit not harming her one iota. Through her force I suppose? Come on. Of course a few more cuddly toys thrown in just in time for christmas business. And then the entire rebellion reduced to 20 odd folks who all fit into the falcon just to set up a back from the brink scenario in time for the last episode.

Also I'm not surprised Mark Hamill never made it as an actor outside SW. He's terrible. And poor Carrie Fisher aged about 15 years since the last movie. She clearly wasnt well. Donal Gleeson. Terrible. For the casino plot they obviously got Lucky Besson in since it looked like a mix between the 5th Element and that whacky Budapest hotel film with Ralph Fiennes in it. Then the whole Snoke's throne room scene looked so plasticy and poor its not even funny anymore.

I'm thinking they butchered it. Ruined. Completely. Worst star war movie to date. Straight after a really good one (admittedly not constrained by the overall plot). Nearly puts me off star wars for the future.

Really disappointed. It actually had potential after the force awakens but they butchered it. This is what happens when you make a movie by corporate committee. You want to make it extra best and what comes out is a watery nothing. Really sad.

ixoy wrote: »

A franchise killer? Yeah, just like the mauled "Phantom Menace" killed off the franchise back in the late '90s after which we never saw a Star Wars film again. This must be one of the greatest exaggerations yet on this thread.

Is it really? Did the prequels enhance the brand or kill it for a decade untill it was sold off to a franchisee in Disney?

Do you think people's interest will be maintained and the brand enhanced by another dud of a trilogy, particularly one that was not merely inept but actually an insult?

Can someone explain why this movie is getting such positive reviews?

Outside the RT audience score it's rated really high, even Mark Kermode loved it.

What am I missing?! The overall feedback on this thread alone seems to be most people did not like it and found it very poor.

I could understand the opposite - fans loving the movie and critics hating it but not the other way round

People need to stop watching Star Wars. Most just seem to like 2 1/2 movies. From the originals. And hate everything else.

If you only like 2 and a half out of 9 movies, its time to stop watching.