The Movies

[Pawn]

I enjoyed her character. I thought she was really funny.

Funny yeeeee or funny haha?

Its not really a comedy and in a world portrayed has hyper-violent with magical beings (shown has stronger and tougher than humans) common-place she was far too weak emotionally, physically and morally to be a police sergeant (or commander or whatever... "in charge").

In terms of the levels of violence... Will Smith's character beats a sentient being to death with a mop in the first 5 minutes. (it talks)

[Mugaaz]

When I left the theater after seeing The Last Jedi, I had mixed feelings. Some good, some not so good. The more I think about it, the worse it gets, and the more not-so-good I realized there was in there. I probably won't be seeing it again. The plot holes are too significant, and the middle finger given to the entire history of the universe that's been built till now is too big. I'd think with a massive budget, they could have come up with better, more creative ways to take things in a different direction than ignoring the in-universe character building, history, and rules that have existed till now. But they didn't. Even the Deus Ex Machina "alternate timeline" that JJ Abrams created to reboot Star Trek in 2009 was better than this, because it was just one big suspend your disbelief pill to swallow and then anything goes. This one - all the previous history and character development and in-universe rules should still apply, except they don't, because fuck them, they were holding us back and so are you if you care about them. So it seems, anyway.

That said, if all you wanted was a visually good popcorn flick, you have a better chance of liking it, though still not a sure bet because of length and the more obvious problems even to those who don't care about the SW history/universe stuff.

Agree with everything here. Ultimately, I think I don't like it. They just crap on everything from the past, there is no logic or consistency anywhere through the film, and even if you disregard that...there really wasn't any story or character growth for anyone. At the end of the film I disliked every character and what they did. As far as special effects and visual stuff the film was amazing.

[Alex Ptacek]

Had the pleasure of watching the Lord of the Rings again, extended edition Fellowship of the Ring. It's still my contention that this is the best film series of all time. All three films, even the 4 hour versions of each are absolutely incredible and still hold up 15 years later.

[Mark Rippetoe]

We have watched all the extended editions several times, and I'd agree with that. A landmark achievement in storytelling on film.

[Michael Wolf]

Had the pleasure of watching the Lord of the Rings again, extended edition Fellowship of the Ring. It's still my contention that this is the best film series of all time. All three films, even the 4 hour versions of each are absolutely incredible and still hold up 15 years later.

We have watched all the extended editions several times, and I'd agree with that. A landmark achievement in storytelling on film.

100% agree with this. Still my favorite movies of all time, even as a hardcore Tolkien/book fan who has read the series more than a dozen times, and the Silmarillion about four or five times. I don't know any of the elvish dialects, but short of that, I'm a huge book fan. And still think these movies are amazing, brilliant, excellent adaptations of one of the greatest, most epic modern stories. In one of the interviews with Peter Jackson on the extended edition special features, he talks about how even in the future, when the CGI is outdated and doesn't hold up to modern standards, he hopes people will still watch and enjoy the films because of the characters and storytelling. Well, the CGI is now outdated and people are still watching them because of the characters and storytelling.

Which makes Jackson's complete and utter flubbing of The Hobbit all the more disappointing.

[Nick Delgadillo]

Agree with everything here. Ultimately, I think I don't like it. They just crap on everything from the past, there is no logic or consistency anywhere through the film, and even if you disregard that...there really wasn't any story or character growth for anyone. At the end of the film I disliked every character and what they did. As far as special effects and visual stuff the film was amazing.

My kids will shit on Episode XV because they're at the age now that we all were when we saw the originals. They'll talk about how Episode XV is an abomination, completely disrespectful to the true hero of the Star Wars Universe: Kylo Ren/Rey/Finn.

I've come to terms with the fact that they're all not great movies. I was blown away as a ten year old, but they're really not very good. Just entertaining.

[Michael Wolf]

My kids will shit on Episode XV because they're at the age now that we all were when we saw the originals. They'll talk about how Episode XV is an abomination, completely disrespectful to the true hero of the Star Wars Universe: Kylo Ren/Rey/Finn.

I've come to terms with the fact that they're all not great movies. I was blown away as a ten year old, but they're really not very good. Just entertaining.

In what will be shocking news to everyone here, I am a big Star Wars fan. Nonetheless, I recognize the original movies had many flaws. Their enduring popularity, also long after their groundbreaking-at-the-time special effects became outdated, is because the ideas and universe are cool (who could watch those movies and not want to be able to summon a beer from their fridge instead of having to walk all the way over to get it, or not want to learn to use a lightsaber?!?), the story is fun and reasonably well told without pointless distractions, and the characters are likable and also undergo some believable development.

The reason the prequels weren't nearly as good and are almost universally shat upon is because they discarded those basic Good Things. Over-reliance on CGI wouldn't have been as big a deal if the other things were still in place. But the story is less fun (trade disputes?!), there are more pointless distractions (Jar Jar), and the characters aren't as likable (Jar Jar) and don't develop much or well. Obi-Wan is basically the only main character who is well acted, and who develops in a believable way that we want to root for.

And yet for all those flaws, the prequels still told a basic story that we kinda wanted to see, even if it didn't do so particularly well.

So far, the new trilogy has disregarded the in-universe rules, has discarded the character development that Han and Luke went through that made us like them so much, and then the second movie came and trolled everyone who still cared about Star Warsy stuff and wanted answers to the questions the first movie purposely left us with.

[Shawnlock]

Massive Spoilers ahead...




I really liked the sort of Man Who Shot Liberty Valance take to it. He is not the real hero of his story, but he is the only person who seems to understand that. The whole galaxy views him as a hero who has saved the galaxy once before and who they are looking to again. However, he knows not only is the task beyond him now, but that he was never the hero the galaxy viewed him as, even back then. He did not beat the Emperor because he was a powerful Jedi, but because he was the son of an actually powerful Jedi. Luke was the vehicle through which Anakin could redeem himself, and without Vadar/Anakin, Luke was and continues to be insufficient. To make matters worse, his hubris in thinking he could live up to that unearned status, the thought he could train the next generation, has directly contributed to the state we're now in. Given all of that, I think it makes perfect sense that he would be a bitter, broken man hiding away on the edge of the galaxy just waiting to die and wanting nothing to do with the battle. I get some people would not like that, having the hero they grew up with be diminished, but probably the one thing Lucas has got most right about his own films is that Luke was not the real hero, Vadar was. This new story line for Luke is just an extension of that idea.

What I hated was how inconsistent they were with the tone of it. This is not a character or a part of the plot that should be played for jokes, yet they couldn't help themselves. Each time they used him for comic effect they took away from the story about him they were allegedly supposed to be telling.

You're absolutely right - Anakin is the true hero in Lucas's universe. What the sequels are doing now is to move on from that universe of Skywalkers, but they have to be careful not to alienate the original Star Wars fan base, while appealing to younger new fans. TFA is like a hook, achieving both of these goals and setting up a high expectation for the rest of the sequel trilogy. Then Rian Johnson yelled through Kylo Ren "LET THE PAST DIE" in TLJ, and made it a story about failures. Everybody fails! Everybody sucks! It doesn't give the audience the satisfaction that a big action blockbuster is supposed to. The strong hint/reminder that Force can randomly exist in anyone is manifested in the truth about Rey's parents and the kid with the broomstick in the end of the movie, moving the story further away from the Skywalker family. I still remain conflicted about TLJ, but not as mad as I was when I first walked out of the theater.

As for the jokes and comic effect, I blame memes. It is just too easy to make Star Wars memes and they have comically ruined my experience of rewatching ANY episode of the saga. But come on, we all know free from plot holes is not the main reason why we love the saga.

[Michael Wolf]

I agree that the six-episode story is ultimately "The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of Anakin Skywalker." It's not *really* about Luke, though he is the vehicle through which Anakin is redeemed. But, Luke is still the lens through which we see it, and he goes through the classic Hero's Journey. He also displays some very strong characteristics; I can buy that 60 year old Luke wouldn't be as optimistic as 20-25 year old Luke, and would be more jaded, but his essential character was discarded. This was a guy who was willing to sacrifice everything to try to redeem his father, the face of evil in the galaxy, a man who had personally killed thousands of people and ordered and supervised the deaths of millions or billions more, all because he still sensed some good and conflict within him. But then we're supposed to believe he would contemplate and then almost try to kill his nephew - the son of his best friend and his sister - because he sensed he might become evil, even though he hadn't done any of that suff yet?!? This is the main issue I have with LimieJosh's post - it has a grain of truth, and an older jaded Luke who knows he isn't strong enough to defeat Snoke/Kylo alone could have been an interesting story, and a good place to bring Rey in. Completely disregarding his essential character and Hero's Journey? That was dumb, and what many rightfully find unforgivable.

The strong hint/reminder that Force can randomly exist in anyone is manifested in the truth about Rey's parents and the kid with the broomstick in the end of the movie, moving the story further away from the Skywalker family

This was already well established in the prequels. Jedi couldn't get married and didn't have kids. Literally every Jedi was the son of a non-Jedi, by definition. The Force was not familialy dynastic, and couldn't be. Anakin was the son of a female slave on an irrelevant desert planet and had no father. It doesn't get any less prestigious than that. He betrayed his oaths to the Jedi code to have a kid, but that kid ultimately is what saved him from all the other aspects of the code he broke after turning evil. The point was never "only the Skywalkers have the force." The original story was compelling because we cared about the characters and then found out they were all related, but this whole "Look! Anyone can have the force, even the nobody slave kid!" is not some new profound political statement. It's always been there, in plain view. Anakin was a slave kid, a nobody. Most of the Jedi were nobodies, and certainly their parents weren't Jedi.

[Shawnlock]

Anakin was a slave kid, a nobody. Most of the Jedi were nobodies, and certainly their parents weren't Jedi.

Impressive, every word of that sentence was correct - and TLJ is reemphasizing the nature of the Force to move away from the Jedi narrative and the Star Wars paradigm. The impression we got from the prequel was that Anakin was conceived by the Force, with an extremely high midichlorians level (It's geeky I know...). He was the "chosen one", so even though he was a nobody, he was a special nobody. When Rey comes along, applying the Star Wars mythology paradigm, I expect her to have an intriguing back story, to be connected with someone we already know in the universe. TLJ, on the other hand, is saying none of it matters anymore because we are delivering a new story with someone strong in Force but has nothing to do with the Skywalkers. To remind us anyone can have the Force and to potentially end the Jedi vs. Sith plot is its way to say goodbye and to expand the universe into a spin-off territory. I can accept that there is new Han Solo, new Luke or Anakin (and, never, new Padme ), but I do want an explanation why Rey is so intuitive and powerful with the Force. Welp, in that sense I guess I'm still holding on. I can't let go.