The Last Jedi was... pretty good?
Dec. 22nd, 2017 03:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sniffnoySo two years ago I said The Force Awakens was OK. In retrospect, that seems to have been overstating things. OK, I haven't actually rewatched it since then. But I remember it as a sloppily-put-together movie where lots of parts felt seriously compressed and other parts seemed just seriously confusing (and then there was the whole problem with the destruction of the Hosnian system was brushed over...).
But, my initial assessment is, The Last Jedi is pretty good. Definitely not great; there's still a fair bit that doesn't make sense. But it doesn't feel rushed and compressed like The Force Awakens (although part of that is due to it being 2 and a half hours long). OK, some parts really do feel fairly compressed, but not nearly to the same extent. (And it's been a while since I've seen it but I'm pretty sure the same is true in Return of the Jedi.) There were substantial holes, but nothing like in The Force Awakens where you were just confused as to what was even supposed to be going on (more or less). It retreaded ground that previous Star Wars movies have gone to, yes, but it didn't feel pointless and forced and boring like The Force Awakens.
So, this isn't something on the level of the original Star Wars or the rest of the original trilogy (you want retroactive plot holes, those certainly introduced some). But "The Force Awakens" left me really disappointed in a way this didn't.
My notes on what worked/what didn't:
1. OK, let's start with the obvious complaints. Obvious complaint #1: The hell was going on with the timing when Rey was training with Luke? She's training with him for like days and meanwhile a battle is going on that lasts a few hours?
2. The major plot hole, that retroactively creates plot-holes: The ramming attack. If a hyperdrive ramming attack is that effective, it should have been used way more often. Note that this isn't just something that retroactively creates plot holes, it's one in this very movie; imagine attacking that dreadnought with a single hyperdrive ram rather than that amazingly costly bombing run.
3. Rose, you freaking idiot, if someone wants to make a heroic sacrifice and it's going to actually work you freaking let them, you cost the Resistance a lot there
Those are my big obvious complaints.
4. That said I really like Rose.
5. Vice Admiral Holdo, is there some reason you can't freaking tell people your plan? Seriously.
6. Conversely, Poe, if you know Holdo doesn't like you and won't like you presenting your plan, maybe you could just get someone else to present it to her rather than going behind her back?
7. Honestly, that whole bit, which is basically saying "guess you should listen to your superior officers even though they won't tell you the plan and appear to be betraying you!" and "crazy longshot plans don't actually work!" doesn't really feel very Star Wars, does it? Really, a lot of the movie doesn't; it's more like something commenting on Star Wars than actual Star Wars. I guess that was true of Episode 7 as well. That's not necessarily a problem, but it's worth pointing out.
8. Another good thing: Episode 7 had this big problem where Rey is just preternaturally good at everything and everyone else has to be just horribly ineffective all the time. This one didn't really have that problem.
9. You know everyone treats Rey like this big mystery but nobody ever explains where the hell the much more powerful Snoke came from. Seriously, are we ever getting an explanation there?
10. There's more that I could say but I'm tired so I'll end it here.
But, my initial assessment is, The Last Jedi is pretty good. Definitely not great; there's still a fair bit that doesn't make sense. But it doesn't feel rushed and compressed like The Force Awakens (although part of that is due to it being 2 and a half hours long). OK, some parts really do feel fairly compressed, but not nearly to the same extent. (And it's been a while since I've seen it but I'm pretty sure the same is true in Return of the Jedi.) There were substantial holes, but nothing like in The Force Awakens where you were just confused as to what was even supposed to be going on (more or less). It retreaded ground that previous Star Wars movies have gone to, yes, but it didn't feel pointless and forced and boring like The Force Awakens.
So, this isn't something on the level of the original Star Wars or the rest of the original trilogy (you want retroactive plot holes, those certainly introduced some). But "The Force Awakens" left me really disappointed in a way this didn't.
My notes on what worked/what didn't:
1. OK, let's start with the obvious complaints. Obvious complaint #1: The hell was going on with the timing when Rey was training with Luke? She's training with him for like days and meanwhile a battle is going on that lasts a few hours?
2. The major plot hole, that retroactively creates plot-holes: The ramming attack. If a hyperdrive ramming attack is that effective, it should have been used way more often. Note that this isn't just something that retroactively creates plot holes, it's one in this very movie; imagine attacking that dreadnought with a single hyperdrive ram rather than that amazingly costly bombing run.
3. Rose, you freaking idiot, if someone wants to make a heroic sacrifice and it's going to actually work you freaking let them, you cost the Resistance a lot there
Those are my big obvious complaints.
4. That said I really like Rose.
5. Vice Admiral Holdo, is there some reason you can't freaking tell people your plan? Seriously.
6. Conversely, Poe, if you know Holdo doesn't like you and won't like you presenting your plan, maybe you could just get someone else to present it to her rather than going behind her back?
7. Honestly, that whole bit, which is basically saying "guess you should listen to your superior officers even though they won't tell you the plan and appear to be betraying you!" and "crazy longshot plans don't actually work!" doesn't really feel very Star Wars, does it? Really, a lot of the movie doesn't; it's more like something commenting on Star Wars than actual Star Wars. I guess that was true of Episode 7 as well. That's not necessarily a problem, but it's worth pointing out.
8. Another good thing: Episode 7 had this big problem where Rey is just preternaturally good at everything and everyone else has to be just horribly ineffective all the time. This one didn't really have that problem.
9. You know everyone treats Rey like this big mystery but nobody ever explains where the hell the much more powerful Snoke came from. Seriously, are we ever getting an explanation there?
10. There's more that I could say but I'm tired so I'll end it here.
