Roquefort Raider
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Dec 26, 2017 18:33:25 GMT -5
I went in with no expectation, and as someone who really didn’t like the prequels and really, really couldn’t care less about the TV cartoons or the extended universe, I was ready to accept a lot of heretical treatment of the subject. As long as the story was fun, I would be happy, as I was after the objectively underwhelming TFA.
But even so... wow, it sucked. There were several nice twists, several good character moments, plenty of very nice-looking scenes... but they were all bound in a directionless string of events that qualify as a story only because they’re told in order.
Why does everyone keep calling the Millenium Falcon a piece of junk? It can outfly, outshoot and outrun everything the Empire can throw at it. Why don’t rebel ship kamikaze their way at light speed into Imperial Destroyers whenever there is need? Apparently, that’s both easy and very efficient. How come the Republic is just... gone? I understand that its capital planet was blown up in TFA, but now there’s nothing left of its political structure and the First Order reigns supreme as if the Empire had never collapsed, and no explanation whatsoever is given. Or was “The Republic” just one small system, and the Empire never really collapsed after Return of the Jedi? (I would actually like that if it were true).
Anyway... The spectacle was good, in that it was visually arresting, and I enjoyed the humour... but the story struck me as remarkably light.
I think I’ll go watch Rogue One again, now!
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Dec 26, 2017 18:58:58 GMT -5
I went in with no expectation, and as someone who really didn’t like the prequels and really, really couldn’t care less about the TV cartoons or the extended universe, I was ready to accept a lot of heretical tratment of the subject. As long as the story was fun, I would be happy, as I was after the objectively underwhelming TFA. But even so... wow, it sucked. There were several nice twists, several good character moments, plenty of very nice-looking scenes... but they were all bound in a directionless string of events that qualify as a story only because they’re told in order. Why does everyone keep calling the Millenium Falcon a piece of junk? It can outfly, outshoot and the outrun everything the Empire can throw at it. Why don’t rebel ship kamikaze their way at light speed into Imperial Destroyers whenever there is need? Apparently, that’s both easy and very efficient. How come the Republic is just... gone? I understand that its capital planet was blown up in TFA, but now there’s nothing left of its political structure and the First Order reigns supreme as if the Empire had never collapsed, and no explanation whatsoever is given. Or was “The Republic” just one small system, and the Empire never really collapsed after Return of the Jedi? (I would actually like that if it were true). Anyway... The spectacle was good, in tha5 it was visually arresting, and I wnjoyed the humour... but the story struck me as remarkably light. I think I’ll go watch Rogue One again, now! I went and saw it with my boys. It was okay. I'm not the biggest Star Wars fan and have zero interest in the excreted universe so I had barely a dog in the fight. Mostly it was overly long. And Kylo Ren/Ben Solo is just awful. I actually did like the reveal about Rey's parentage. As to the bolded part...who knows. But to be fair the political system in Star Wars has never made a lick of sense. No reason to expect it to start now. |
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Roquefort Raider
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Dec 26, 2017 20:21:04 GMT -5
Well, it did make sense in the first trilogy... A republic had been taken over by its more imperialistic elements, the same way the Roman Republic had. Then we had a few systems rebelling against the new order, and eventually the empire had been toppled (or so we thought). Now? Who knows. There are bad guys and a dozen good guys fighting against them.
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Post by Randle-El on Dec 27, 2017 1:33:15 GMT -5
Just saw it tonight, and I have lots of mixed feelings on this one. First, my reflexive gut reactions:
1) Overall, it was entertaining. The movie looked good and had plenty of action.
2) It was a bit too long. I think they could have trimmed down some plotlines (Poe's mutiny, Finn and Rose's mission) and kept the focus on the Jedi side of things as well as the big picture First Order/Resistance conflict and it would have been fine.
3) After two years of build up and fan theories, I found the reveal of Rey's parentage to be a big letdown. Having said that, I am also prepared for this to be misdirection. We've seen how even though Force users can see things in their mind, they can still be wrong on their interpretation of the vision while being right about what they see (e.g., Kylo assuming that the vision of Rey fighting by his side meant that she would turn to the Dark Side).
4) At times the humor felt a little too much. The humor feels like something that's very "of the moment", similar to the tone in some of the Marvel films, which I feel does not serve Star Wars as well. I predict that the humor will ultimately make this film feel dated.
5) It was great seeing Luke and Leia finally reunited and share some screen time. The scene they shared was especially poignant in light of Carrie Fisher's passing last year.
Now these immediate observations aside, I think this is going to be one of those movies that I will need to see a few times, and will also be affected by how Episode 9 runs with the choices made in this movie. I've been digesting this movie over the last few hours, and even in that short time, I think I'm starting to appreciate why the writers and director made the choices they did. Disney wants to make Star Wars movies into eternity, and they realize they can't do that if they are limited to the Skywalker lineage and dependent on nostalgia. They also need to escape the criticism that they are just hitting the same notes every time. In that context, this movie makes perfect sense, and think how one receives that depends on how forward-thinking you think Star Wars should be.
I also appreciated some of the nuance they introduced to Star Wars, and some of the subversion of the things we have come to expect in these types of movies. While I'm not sure the idea of Luke murdering his evil nephew in his sleep sits well with me, I appreciate that they revisit the idea that the Jedi often play some role in creating their worst enemies, as Kylo's final descent to the Dark Side seems justified when it looks like his master is trying to kill him. In fact, I thought it highly satisfying when Luke pointed out the flaws in the old Jedi being unable to detect a Sith Lord taking over the galaxy right under their noses, when they were at the height of their powers. As heroic as the Jedi of the Old Republic were, they were not beyond hubris and so it was great to see this finally addressed in canon.
On Rey's parents -- as I said, I was initially disappointed. But I've been stewing on this all day and more and more, I see the logic behind this move. When Episode 4 came out, Luke was a nobody from a backwater planet. Sure, the film made a few vague references to his father being some kind of war hero, but for the most part Luke was unencumbered from having to live up to anything or anybody. Part of the appeal of that movie was seeing a nobody get caught up in a galactic war and become a hero. I think they are trying to do the same thing for Rey. This also opens up the franchise for new possibilities and lets us get invested in other Jedi characters who are not Skywalkers.
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Post by The Captain on Dec 28, 2017 9:15:25 GMT -5
Saw this with my daughters yesterday, and it was OK, nothing special or something I will ever watch again most likely. This is sad for me, as I was the biggest Star Wars geek (OK, not the biggest anywhere, but at least in my world and circle of friends) when I was my daughters' ages, but now, I feel nothing. Seeing The Force Awakens and this one is the equivalent of buying The Crossing issues of The Avengers, or Chuck Austen's run on Uncanny X-Men; I have all the other ones, so I might as well keep going to say I have them all.
For me, the biggest issue is that I don't like most of the new characters.
* Rey is the new Luke, but while he wanted to stand for something and go fight for the Rebellion, her motivation is that she feels she is special and destined for more than life on her backwater planet. It's hard to get behind that, particularly since you could replace Daisy Ridley with a cardboard cutout of Daisy Ridley and scarcely recognize the difference
* Poe is the new Han, but he has none of Solo's roguish charm, replacing it with petulance and hot-headedness.
* Phasma is the new Boba Fett, I guess, but she is underutilized and overhyped.
* Kylo Ren is the new Vader, except instead of being imposing and badass, he's a whiny emo douche with daddy issues, hardly the stuff of legendary villain status.
* Hux isn't a new anything, but he's pointless. How did a skinny little putz like him get put in charge of the First Order's forces? He's barely out of diapers, so why would Snoke put him in command of anything but a lemonade stand?
* Finn is the new...no, I actually like Finn, but he was criminally underused in this movie, being sent on a Dungeons & Dragons quest that ultimately failed, yet had no lasting ramifications (sure, some faceless Resistance members died on their transports, but at the end of the day, the rest escaped from the First Order to fight another day). I'm guessing he gets his big final showdown with Phasma in the third (ninth) movie to complete his arc (she probably didn't die here but will come back with upgrades and a burning desire to kill him), but since she has been such a letdown (and he got the upper-hand in their fight here), it is going to be anticlimactic. As the heel, Phasma needed to win here, and probably do some kind of lasting damage (maybe she could have killed Rose), so that when baby-face Finn finally defeats his arch-nemesis in the next movie, it will feel important.
The other major issue I have with these movies is that I don't actually know what the point is, other than to sell Porg stuffed animals. What is the underlying message? What are the themes that I am supposed to focus on? I'm guessing that one is Rey never knew her parents' love, yet she follows the light, while Ben/Kylo had loving family (parents and uncle), yet turned on them and follows the darkness. If that's it, it's pretty weak sauce.
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Roquefort Raider
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Dec 28, 2017 9:52:55 GMT -5
2) It was a bit too long. I think they could have trimmed down some plotlines (Poe's mutiny, Finn and Rose's mission) and kept the focus on the Jedi side of things as well as the big picture First Order/Resistance conflict and it would have been fine. This is doubly true because neither sub plot makes any dramatic sense. Why did Laura Dern hide her plan from Poe in the first place? It’s not as if it required secrecy or anything. And even if she was just subborn at first to put him in his place, why still keep the plan a secret when faced with a mutiny? Someone could have died, and all for the sake of nothing at all. Getting aboard Snoke’s ship to mess with its tech was a typical Star Wars move, but dramatically it would have been more parsimonious (while preserving a certain sense of urgency) to have some computer-savvy rebel technobabble up an explanation to get someone on board rather than send two characters several worlds away to have some side adventures. I wouldn’t hold my breath regarding misdirection, as Ren tells Rey to search her feelings... I think he’s pretty sure of his facts. I was disappoiinted too, since like many fans I had assumed Rey was somehow Luke’s daughter, a daughter he never knew he had or thought dead (thus replaying his own relati9nship with Anakin, only in reverse). Rey not being anybody “special” also works for me, though. Dramatically speaking, however, her being an ordinary person with great affinity for the Force should have been played up; does it mean that there are many such natural Force users around? Why did she react so violently to touching Luke’s lightsaber? How come she knew, in TFA, that she could influence the stromtrooper’s mind just by talking to him? How come she remembered things she’s supposed never to have seen? But no, here the director just dropped the bomb: “oh, by the way, forget the fans’ speculations; you’re nobody special. Let’s move on to the next fight”. Disappointing! Good point. I didn’t mind most of the humour, but it’s true that it may not age well in the long run. I didn’t mind it half as much as the plot holes, though. Well said. One of the rare moments where I felt emotionally involved in this movie. True, and that’s a worthy goal. I appreciate both the need and the difficulty to do something new and not get shackled down by fan service. That being said, while it is quite laudable to move away from a Skywalker-dominated story and from repeating the same structures, one must also have a plot that’s not so full of holes that it’s leaking more than Finn out of the infirmary. It must also build dramatic arcs in which we, as viewers, are emotionally involved, and it must deliver on this build up. In that regard, the movie failed far more often than it succeeded. Well, the movie tried on several occasions... The rebels buying arms from the same dealers as the First Order, Poe’s rash decisions turning out to be very dumb, Luke being afraid of his nephew... but there was never a pay off for these little nuggets. The ambiguity of the rebels’ position is never mentioned again, Poe is pardoned with a purely symbolic slap on the wrist, and Luke’s murderous impulse is explained away as a brief moment’s folly that was misinterpreted by the emotionally imbalanced Ben Solo. In the end, the nuance is all show and no substance. But really, it’s the plot holes that killed the film for me. Things like that insane, slow-speed chase for most of the movie... Are we really to believe that the rebel ship was beyond the effective range of the destroyer’s guns? They were right there behind it, for heaven’s sake. And even so, why don’t some of the destroyers jump in hyperspace ahead of the rebels before coming back to catch them in a pincer? Even more damning: since it was established earlier in the same movie that the TIE fighters can catch up to the rebels and inflict serious damage to their transport (even killing admiral Akbar), why don’t they do it again? Also, where has the Republic gone? How has the First Order grown to control the whole galaxy in fifteen minutes despite the loss of their starkiller base? |
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Post by Randle-El on Dec 28, 2017 11:28:11 GMT -5
* Rey is the new Luke, but while he wanted to stand for something and go fight for the Rebellion, her motivation is that she feels she is special and destined for more than life on her backwater planet. It's hard to get behind that, particularly since you could replace Daisy Ridley with a cardboard cutout of Daisy Ridley and scarcely recognize the difference I would respectfully disagree with your take on these characters and their motivations. I never understood Luke's motivations as being all that noble, at least not at the beginning. I think he was in it more for the adventure. In Episode 4, he talks to to his aunt and uncle about leaving the farm to join "the academy". It's not clear in the film, but he's referring to the *Imperial Academy*. I don't think he was a sympathizer for the Empire (the movie later establishes that he hates the Empire), but as I understood it he just wanted a ticket off the farm and didn't care who gave it to him. In ESB, Yoda mentions how Luke is never paying attention to his present circumstances, always dreaming of adventure and looking off to the future, and says that the adventure and excitement that Luke craved was not the way of the Jedi. In contrast, Rey is a classic example of someone struggling with identity and abandonment issues. She was left to fend for herself by her parents, so what kid in that situation wouldn't grow up wanting to know who she is and where she belongs? The only thing that kept her on Jakku was the notion that her parents would come back for her, and she gave that up because, as Maz Kanata says in TFA, she realized the belonging she was looking for lay ahead of her, not behind. Were we watching the same film? I thought that this was something they were totally not subtle about at all. The overarching theme I heard was "Let the past die so you can move on." It's both an in-story theme (the characters letting go of their attachments to the past so they can evolve into something better) and a meta-theme (let's move past the original trilogy so we can make new movies about new characters and new conflicts). This is doubly true because neither sub plot makes any dramatic sense. Why did Laura Dern hide her plan from Poe in the first place? It’s not as if it required secrecy or anything. And even if she was just subborn at first to put him in his place, why still keep the plan a secre when faced with a mutiny? Someone could have died, and all for the sake of nothing at all. Getting aboard Snoke’s ship to mess with its tech was a typical Star Wars move, but dramatically it would have been more parsimonious (while preserving a certain sense of urgency) to have some computer-savvy rebel technobabble up an explanation to get someone on board rather than send two characters several worlds away to have some side adventures. My guess is that the purpose of those side stories was for character-building purposes rather than plot-advancing purposes. Poe is clearly being set-up as the future leader of the Resistance, but he can't do that if he's merely a hotshot flyboy. I think the point of the mutiny plot was to subvert our expectations that the heroic maverick is always right and show that he needs to be more responsible if he's going to lead the Resistance (which he shows at the end when he realizes it's time to retreat rather than fight an impossible battle). As for Finn and Rose, my guess is that it provided needed screen time to establish the basis for their romantic pairing -- although honestly, I still thought it came out of nowhere. A more convincing reason to me is that it was necessary to establish that the Resistance as winning hearts and minds, setting up future characters who will join up in later films. That's all fine and dandy, I just think that these side stories could have been a little more compact. If the film had been a bit under two hours, that would have been a good length. By the way, the whole deactivating the tracker on Snoke's ship thing -- I totally saw that as a Star Trek thing! Get an away party to beam aboard the enemy ship, mess up their tech, and beam them out. If only they had transporters... I'm also fine with Rey being nobody, and I think it fits thematically with both Luke and Anakin being nobodies who rose to greatness. And it was always my understanding, even before this film, that *anyone* could be Force-sensitive. Sure, Anakin was a freak of nature, and consequently his descendants would be especially attuned to the Force, but it's not like all those Jedi in the past movies came from Force-sensitive dynasties -- that's kinda impossible given the Jedi code of that era, and the only reason why there's a Skywalker dynasty is because Anakin broke the rules. I think what makes the Rey reveal disappointing is that it appeared as if the first movie was taking great pains to *conceal* her backstory. There's no reason to conceal trivial information unless you're just being manipulative. That's not playing fair with the audience. I think the humor works fine in the Marvel movies because Marvel movies are set in our world, in our time. Star Wars is not, and so the use of it in those movies is jarring. For me, it takes me out of being a long time ago, in a galaxy far away. I have the same issue with the Saga comic from Image. It's an insanely popular book now, but I just couldn't get into it because all of the dialogue was written to sound like people from our place and time, and it took me out of the story. Those are valid criticisms, and those were also plot points that didn't resonate as well for me. What spoke to me more was Luke's revised take on the Jedi, and even Yoda's seemingly coming around to the notion that the old way of doing things had to go. Also certain things going against audience expectations. Teasing that Kylo Ren might turn to the light, only for him to double down on the dark side. Snoke being a decoy for the real villain. Building up Luke's return to defeat the enemy, only for it to turn out to be a distraction so that the people who will really win the day (in a later film) can escape. Agreed about the chase. Regarding the Republic -- my understanding was the Starkiller base destroyed the key planets which hosted the Republic government. There are likely member systems of the Republic that are still remaining, but they may not have the means to effectively aid the Resistance -- at least in an immediate, military sense. Also, I might be completely wrong on this, but I remember reading somewhere that Lucasfilm was being intentional in establishing the Resistance and the Republic as being separate entities. My understanding was that the Resistance was a separate organization that had some backing from the Republic, but was not officially sanctioned. Anyway, the jury is still out for me. I will say that this movie has given me a lot more to think about than any other Star Wars movie, and so I give it some credit for that. I think ultimately I will need to see it a few more times before my opinion on it has solidified. I also think that this is one of those films that people may view differently after the trilogy has been completed and we have a number of years to give us some perspective on it. It's not like people universally loved ESB the way they do now when it first came out, and even the prequels seems to be getting a second look from some quarters of the fan community. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Dec 28, 2017 11:32:48 GMT -5
Rey being just another person, actually someone who came up from very humble circumstances, was one of the strongest points of the movie for me. I'd much rather The Force be egalitarian than confined to a particular bloodline.
Let me add that I didn't find the humor jarring in any way. To the point that I actually have had to sit back and think about what the "humorous moments" were that everyone else is having problems with. Maybe I wasn't paying that good of attention.
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Post by Warmonger on Dec 28, 2017 11:44:38 GMT -5
Main thing I took away is that I’m not at all excited for the next movie.
Where do they even go from here?
It felt like there was a lot of finality and basically zero buildup for anything to push the series forward.
The way it’s setting up, we’ll probably get yet another Death Star and some kind of Rey/Kylo Ren lightsaber rematch.
Yay...
This movie more than anything just reinforced my view of how limited the Star Wars universe is, at least cinematically.
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Post by Randle-El on Dec 28, 2017 11:46:06 GMT -5
Rey being just another person, actually someone who came up from very humble circumstances, was one of the strongest points of the movie for me. I'd much rather The Force be egalitarian than confined to a particular bloodline. Let me add that I didn't find the humor jarring in any way. To the point that I actually have had to sit back and think about what the "humorous moments" were that everyone else is having problems with. Maybe I wasn't paying that good of attention. I think the Hux/Poe exchange at the beginning was one. It felt too much like a clever nod to the "Can you hear me now?" cell phone commercials. Rey's comment to semi-naked Kylo about "putting on a cowl or something". Luke casually tossing the lightsaber over his shoulder after the reverent build-up to the moment... they might as well have added a swelling orchestral background score followed by an abrupt record-scratching sound effect. |
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Post by The Captain on Dec 28, 2017 13:23:36 GMT -5
The other major issue I have with these movies is that I don't actually know what the point is, other than to sell Porg stuffed animals. What is the underlying message? What are the themes that I am supposed to focus on? I'm guessing that one is Rey never knew her parents' love, yet she follows the light, while Ben/Kylo had loving family (parents and uncle), yet turned on them and follows the darkness. If that's it, it's pretty weak sauce. Were we watching the same film? I thought that this was something they were totally not subtle about at all. The overarching theme I heard was "Let the past die so you can move on." It's both an in-story theme (the characters letting go of their attachments to the past so they can evolve into something better) and a meta-theme (let's move past the original trilogy so we can make new movies about new characters and new conflicts). But are we really moving on, per the meta-theme? If so, why was C3PO in the movie, because he did jack squat, or R2-D2, who served no purpose other than to remind Luke (and the viewers) of a moment from the past? How about Chewie, who spent virtually zero screen time with Luke and none at all with Leia, the only characters he has any emotional attachment to, instead having more interactions with the adorbz little Porgs? Those characters were only in the movie so that Disney can appeal to the nostalgia of folks like me, as they want to give the illusion of moving on with a new set of characters while still unashamedly cashing in on the emotional attachment my generation has to the originals. On another topic, we've now seen three generations of folks with Skywalker blood (Anakin, Luke, and Ben) be seduced by the Dark Side (although Luke, it appears, to be just for a moment in the flashbacks in The Last Jedi). Why are they so Force-adept, yet so prone to weakness and the ability to be swayed? Both Anakin and Ben turned completely to the Dark Side, through Palpatine's and Snoke's influence respectively, so was Luke completely in the wrong to consider killing his nephew and keep the cycle from repeating itself? Since he knew how his own father turned out, and he knew how he had wrestled with the balance himself, maybe offing Ben before the little putz went completely evil may not have been the worst idea. |
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Post by impulse on Dec 28, 2017 17:06:18 GMT -5
On another topic, we've now seen three generations of folks with Skywalker blood (Anakin, Luke, and Ben) be seduced by the Dark Side (although Luke, it appears, to be just for a moment in the flashbacks in The Last Jedi). Why are they so Force-adept, yet so prone to weakness and the ability to be swayed? Both Anakin and Ben turned completely to the Dark Side, through Palpatine's and Snoke's influence respectively, so was Luke completely in the wrong to consider killing his nephew and keep the cycle from repeating itself? Since he knew how his own father turned out, and he knew how he had wrestled with the balance himself, maybe offing Ben before the little putz went completely evil may not have been the worst idea. I thought it was pretty clear Luke considering to kill Ben for a flash was not remotely purely wrong. The only other thing close to a main theme in this movie besides "let go of the past" is "everything is shades of grey", and his split-second reaction was very much understandable and morally ambiguous. From a purely detached point of view, killing Ben then might have saved dozens/hundreds/thousands of lives. |
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Post by Randle-El on Dec 29, 2017 0:45:05 GMT -5
But are we really moving on, per the meta-theme? If so, why was C3PO in the movie, because he did jack squat, or R2-D2, who served no purpose other than to remind Luke (and the viewers) of a moment from the past? How about Chewie, who spent virtually zero screen time with Luke and none at all with Leia, the only characters he has any emotional attachment to, instead having more interactions with the adorbz little Porgs? Those characters were only in the movie so that Disney can appeal to the nostalgia of folks like me, as they want to give the illusion of moving on with a new set of characters while still unashamedly cashing in on the emotional attachment my generation has to the originals. Agreed that most of the OT characters that showed up didn't have much to do. That being said... Disney is a corporation, and while they work in a creative industry, their main goal is not to make daring works of art but to (surprise, surprise) MAKE MONEY. As much as they gave Rian Johnson a lot of leeway to do some unconventional things with Star Wars, all of it is with an eye to make money. They want to ensure that Star Wars is profitable for years to come, so how do you do that? You grow the franchise past its roots and give this generation of kids their own adventures and their own heroes. How do you make even more money? Make sure that while you're building a foundation for future films, you give enough lip service to the past installments to appeal to the old-timers, thus doubling your ticket sales! Hollywood is out to make money, not art. I don't care whether they make money or not, so long as they give me a product that will entertain me. Had Luke previously been shown to be a more cynical character, then that motivation would make some sense. The problem with Luke's temptation to kill Ben was that Luke was so steadfast in his belief that his father (who was arguably deeper into the Dark Side than Ben) was redeemable. Practically every conversation Luke has with or about Vader in ROTJ he's going on about how he feels the good in him, how he can turn back to the light, etc. It seems contrary to that conviction for him to want to kill Ben, even as a moment of weakness. |
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Post by Dizzy D on Dec 31, 2017 12:16:10 GMT -5
I think I'm in the minority here, because I watched this movie last Friday and I loved it. I also liked the Force Awakens a lot, so perhaps that is a requirement to like this one.
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Post by rom on Dec 31, 2017 16:27:52 GMT -5
I saw TLJ recently, and was extremely impressed by the film. I'm glad we only had to wait two years to see this, instead of three (like in the OT & the PT days). I liked The Force Awakens, but TLJ really pulled me into the world of the Sequels in a way that TFA did not. TLJ had an excellent story, acting, effects - all with some unexpected "twists". The film was also extremely sad & poignant as well - it was definitely the end of an era. There are SPOILERS below, so please stop reading if you haven't seen the film yet & want to be surprised.
Comments:
-TLJ started off immediately with a lot of action, and rarely let up throghout the movie. Excellent battle scenes, both in space & on land.
-It was interesting that this is the first SW film to take place chronologically immediately after the end of the previous film in the series, i.e. TFA. At the very end of TFA, you saw Ren going to the planet where Luke had secluded himself, and handing him the lightsaber. In TLJ, you saw this same event from a different angle, and the subsequent outcome. In all of the other SW films there were gaps between films; typically the movies chronoloically took place 1-more years apart. However, in the case of TFA & TLJ - you could almost say that both films - when combined - were one long movie.
-Nice to see Bille Lourd (Carrie Fisher's daugther) in the film, and I liked the small "Princess Leia" hair buns - nice homage
-I think the film did a good job of making it clear that Luke wasn't really at fault re: Kylo Ren's complete submission to the dark side, though it was interesting to see the flashback event (when Luke was standing over Kylo with the lit lightsaber) from two different perspectives - Kylo's & Luke's. Luke stated that he felt Kylo was already well on his way to the dark side & that he needed to be destroyed. However, Kylo felt Luke was attacking him unjustly. That being said, I think it's clear that Kylo would have turned to the dark side irregardless of what Luke did/didn't do.
-Interesting that Supreme Leader Snoke didn't appear to be that much of a threat in either TFA or TLJ. He didn't do much, and, seemed to be killed fairly easily by Kylo Ren in TLJ - though, in all fairness, he didn't see the betrayal by Ren coming, until it was too late.
-Cool to see the Red Elite Praetorian Guards in action - great outfit/concept/design, and they're very formidable opponents with unusual weapons. They're obviously based on the Emperor's Royal Guards from ROTJ (1983) - even though you never saw the Emperor's Royal Guards in action (in the films), based on the EU (if it's considered "canon") they were deadly assassins.
-Even though Kylo Ren betrayed Snoke, I was glad to see Disney/Lflm. didn't do something unrealistic/stupid like make him turn to the good side. That would have been a cop-out, especially given that he killed his father in TFA - which to me makes the character beyond redemption. It made perfect sense to have him kill Snoke & help Rey (temporarily) kill the EPG's so he could - in turn - become the Supreme Leader. It also fit in with the character re: being a back-stabbing P.O.S. (as was seen when he betrayed the Jedi, joined the dark side, killed his father, etc.)
-Very nice to see all of the new tech. - especially those vehicles/ships that were based on OT tech., but somewhat modified. The Advanced AT-ST & the newer, bulkier AT-AT's looked great. And, the new AT-ST especially looked more sinister than the original version from ESB/ROTJ.
-Nice to see the ghost of Yoda again - not seen (in the films) since the end of ROTJ.
The junky-looking Resistance Ski Speeders (seen in the end battle) were great ships, and fit right into the "used" SW universe - as established in the OT. They looked like intentional rough "prototypes" for the B-wings in ROTJ.
I also noticed the Rebel Blockade Runner-like ships - the RBR's were one of my favorite ships from the OT.
-I was slightly surprised to see "mainstream" Hollywood actors/actresses like Laura Dern, Benicio Del Toro, and Justin Theroux in a new SW film.
-The casino setting & aliens was interesting, and was an obvious homage to the cantina in ANH. Very nice.
-I was somewhat surprised & sad to see Luke die, but ultimately this made sense in the context of the story. After all, these films are about the "passing of the torch" of the older generation of heroes to the newer generation, i.e. Rey, Finn, Poe. That being said, his death hit much harder than Han's in TFA. Obviously, we may see his "Force ghost" in a future film.
-I was also slightly surprised that Rey was not the long-lost daughter of Han & Leia - or the daughter of Luke and an unknown woman. Nice that Disney/Lflm. didn't go the "obvious" route & make her the child of known Jedi. However, this fits in with her humble background/beginnings - so it is in character.
-I did find it interesting that as of the end of TLJ, Han Solo & Luke Skywalker have both passed - while Princess Leia is still alive. This is despite the fact that Carrie Fisher passed away in actuality last year. I guess they can also CGI her into the next ST film - if they decide to go that route.
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