I need to admit something to y'all. Something that's truly a part of me, but which some may not be able to accept. But I have to do it anyway, especially since today is Star Wars Day.
I loved The Last Jedi.
I realise this is a shameful thing to say about a movie that made $1.3 billion globally, but I've decided to be brave. Maybe I can set an example for other outsiders just like me.
Since it’s a legislative requirement or something, I of course need to start by saying that I’ve been a Star Wars fan since I was a kid – which is actually true, though. I was 4 when my Dad took me see Star Wars … I mean … "A New Hope" (my 3-year old brother couldn’t come because my parents thought he’d be scared of Chewbacca). By the time I was around 10 or 11 I’d seen it about 20 times. I was a nut. After Return of the Jedi came out, my friends and I bought the soundtrack album and worked out the lyrics to "Lapti-nek".
I loved The Last Jedi.
I realise this is a shameful thing to say about a movie that made $1.3 billion globally, but I've decided to be brave. Maybe I can set an example for other outsiders just like me.
Since it’s a legislative requirement or something, I of course need to start by saying that I’ve been a Star Wars fan since I was a kid – which is actually true, though. I was 4 when my Dad took me see Star Wars … I mean … "A New Hope" (my 3-year old brother couldn’t come because my parents thought he’d be scared of Chewbacca). By the time I was around 10 or 11 I’d seen it about 20 times. I was a nut. After Return of the Jedi came out, my friends and I bought the soundtrack album and worked out the lyrics to "Lapti-nek".
Since then, I’ve seen all of them at the
cinema. Hell, I even saw Caravan of Courage at the Waverley Gardens cinema!
So I love Star Wars. I love the fact there are new Star Wars movies. I recall even being OK with Phantom Menace when it first came out, simply because it was NEW Star Wars (I am not prepared to write an apology blog about that, just yet...)
So I love Star Wars. I love the fact there are new Star Wars movies. I recall even being OK with Phantom Menace when it first came out, simply because it was NEW Star Wars (I am not prepared to write an apology blog about that, just yet...)
Oddly enough, though, I didn't 'love' The Force Awakens. It was OK, and again, I was glad there was a new Star Wars movie. But it wasn't really new enough to get too excited about (even though I liked the new characters and, of course, the fact that Han and Chewie were back). And I really didn't like the fact that, despite the ending of Return of Jedi, it looked like the Rebellion ... I mean ... "the Resistance" ... was again on the defensive, fighting a guerrilla war against the Empire again again.
I mean, against the "First Order".
More like: The "Worst Order", AMIRITE?!?!
* Hand left hanging in mid-air, slowly lowers arm...*
This guy was really annoyed about the same-osity of it, and I thought this meme kinda nailed it:
My 11-year old (at the time) son was also quite annoyed about it, and I had to explain to him that The Force Awakens was probably just as much of a reboot as a sequel, and so was deliberately hitting a lot of the same plot and character beats as the original Star Wars, but for a new generation. I also told him to wait and see what Episode 8 was like – if it just repeated Empire, then we could have serious problems, but hopefully it would go in its own direction.
I mean, against the "First Order".
More like: The "Worst Order", AMIRITE?!?!
* Hand left hanging in mid-air, slowly lowers arm...*
This guy was really annoyed about the same-osity of it, and I thought this meme kinda nailed it:
My 11-year old (at the time) son was also quite annoyed about it, and I had to explain to him that The Force Awakens was probably just as much of a reboot as a sequel, and so was deliberately hitting a lot of the same plot and character beats as the original Star Wars, but for a new generation. I also told him to wait and see what Episode 8 was like – if it just repeated Empire, then we could have serious problems, but hopefully it would go in its own direction.
And that it did!
The Last Jedi is the first truly new Star Wars movie we've had since Revenge of the Sith. Even Rogue One (which I also loved) dealt with issues, and even featured characters, that we'd seen before (e.g., Tarkin, Leia, Vader, Death Star ... err ... spoiler alert ...).
But Last Jedi took us somewhere new. Sure, it also touched on some themes from Empire, such as a Jedi Master training a new student, but it had some genuine surprises, too. Kevin Smith on his Fatman on Batman review called some of them "F*ck you, JJ" moments (i.e., where Rian Johnson appeared to zig where everyone expected him to zag, post-Force Awakens)!
And so I thought it was REALLY great. A really nice surprise.
And I was then surprised even further when I found out that a lot of people hated it! A particularly irate fan even started a petition asking Disney to remove it from canon (although, admittedly, he now regrets it)!
Others claimed to be vindicated in their complaints by the Box Office drop from Force Awakens to Last Jedi, although Scott Mendelson at Forbes confirmed that the drop in ticket sales is actually in line with the drops with all previous second Star Wars instalments (and considering Force Awakens went so high, in a way it's a miracle that The Last Jedi didn't fall more).
Apparently, it was the Nerdist who summed these reactions up thusly:
The Last Jedi is the first truly new Star Wars movie we've had since Revenge of the Sith. Even Rogue One (which I also loved) dealt with issues, and even featured characters, that we'd seen before (e.g., Tarkin, Leia, Vader, Death Star ... err ... spoiler alert ...).
But Last Jedi took us somewhere new. Sure, it also touched on some themes from Empire, such as a Jedi Master training a new student, but it had some genuine surprises, too. Kevin Smith on his Fatman on Batman review called some of them "F*ck you, JJ" moments (i.e., where Rian Johnson appeared to zig where everyone expected him to zag, post-Force Awakens)!
And so I thought it was REALLY great. A really nice surprise.
And I was then surprised even further when I found out that a lot of people hated it! A particularly irate fan even started a petition asking Disney to remove it from canon (although, admittedly, he now regrets it)!
Others claimed to be vindicated in their complaints by the Box Office drop from Force Awakens to Last Jedi, although Scott Mendelson at Forbes confirmed that the drop in ticket sales is actually in line with the drops with all previous second Star Wars instalments (and considering Force Awakens went so high, in a way it's a miracle that The Last Jedi didn't fall more).
Apparently, it was the Nerdist who summed these reactions up thusly:
"To help JJ plan the next film here's the perfect formula:
Make it the same as the original trilogy, but also make it different. But don't change anything. Make sure to include surprises, but not surprises we don't want. In fact avoid surprises.
But don't rehash anything. Also don't try something new, because we won't like it.
Make sure to do justice to the cast, but we won't say how. Just make sure to get it right.
I want it to be exactly the way I want it. Just a bit different. And also the same.
Make sure we know the back story to all the characters even the incidental ones (because we are all speculating and you better be reading my mind) but leave it mysterious at the same time.
No CGI! Keep it practical. But make sure to expand the universe like the prequels did, you know, using CGI.
Also don't do anything the prequels did. Or Force Awakens. Or the original trilogy. But make it like those films too.
Give it some humour too. But don't make it too funny. Show us some new force powers! But not ones we havent seen before because new powers are ridiculous.
Dont kill anyone! It betrays my childhood. But also make it unpredictable by killing off a few characters."
Den of Geek also had a good, less tongue-in-cheek synopsis of the main complaints, along with very good rebuttals for all of them.
Without getting too spoiler-y, I'm also fine with such things as the Snoke development, Leia's under-pressure use of the Force, the whole Luke arc, the Rey's parents-reveal, the innovative use of a hyperdrive, Porgs...all of it!
So I'd like to finish on that positive note. The State of the Star Wars is Strong. All o' you nerds should chill out (that's right - I'm taking on the Hard Targets: NERDS!)
The fact we've got new Star Wars is amazing - be happy like an uncooked Porg!
And may the 4th be with you!
Without getting too spoiler-y, I'm also fine with such things as the Snoke development, Leia's under-pressure use of the Force, the whole Luke arc, the Rey's parents-reveal, the innovative use of a hyperdrive, Porgs...all of it!
So I'd like to finish on that positive note. The State of the Star Wars is Strong. All o' you nerds should chill out (that's right - I'm taking on the Hard Targets: NERDS!)
The fact we've got new Star Wars is amazing - be happy like an uncooked Porg!
And may the 4th be with you!
And a further thing:
ReplyDeleteKevin Smith also noted in his Fatman on Batman podcast that he thought Luke should have gone to Crait in person, to fight the First Order (and Kylo Ren) directly (though Kev later admitted that he'd maybe changed his position on that). Apparently this is another common complaint.
However, I think there were two very important reasons for him to Force-project himself there, rather than fly in on a risen X-Wing:
1. It showed that he could use the Force defensively (almost passively), to save his friends and family, rather than offensively. It's arguable that the reason the Jedi originally fell was because they were a bunch of war-mongers during the Clone Wars, not much different to the Sith. Using the Force in this way was much more of a Jedi way to do things.
2. If he was going to die anyway, then sending him to Crait in person would almost certainly mean that Kylo would kill him. Even if Luke went out in a similar way to when Vader killed Obi-Wan, this would mean that Kylo Ren would have killed BOTH Han AND Luke! He would become the most hated character in history! Worse than Hitler. OR EVEN THAT GUY FROM NICKELBACK!
But this way, Luke virtually took himself out, and Kylo gets trolled. In fact, by going out in this way, Luke becomes the legend!
Love it.
Looking forward to his Force ghost in Episode 9.