I liked it more than The Force Awakens. Wrote a little piece on my blog after I rewatched it.
I watched The Last Jedi for the second time a week ago. I like it more than The Force Awakens for going against expectations while handling the theme of letting old things die and not letting ourselves be too sentimental, symbolized early in the film by Ren smashing the helmet that made him feel like Vader. It’s the opposite of what J.J. Abrams did with TFA, where he was too focused on nostalgia and keeping things the same, implying that little changed in a span of thirty years.
I like that Ren unshackled himself from Snoke and finally took charge. People complain that Rian Johnson wasted what Abrams was building with Snoke, but that would have just ended too much like Return of the Jedi, the bad guy playing a pawn again, and Snoke still served as a useful plot device in connecting the two main characters, Ren and Rey, before he was satisfyingly killed. I didn’t want Rey to be related to anybody. I’m grateful that she’s a nobody. I would have been pissed if she was a Skywalker, like everyone in the galaxy has to be related.
I liked Mark Hamill’s performance. Yeah, yeah, trying to kill his pupil in his sleep is unlike Luke, but it was a fleeting, momentary impulse. It was cool seeing him in battle one last time, fighting defensively, as is fitting for his character.
I also think it’s a better looking movie than The Force Awakens.
It doesn’t have as much of the dumb, misplaced humor, but it’s still there, unfortunately.
I know this is a short post. It’s not really a review, just some random thoughts I wanted to write down while still fresh, which is what this blog is about. The internet, especially YouTube, has already come to the consensus that the film is a disaster that ruined the new trilogy, but I think it has more going for it than The Force Awakens. Most of the problems I have with this movie can be blamed on the way Abrams and Disney set up the new trilogy. I really wish Abrams wasn’t directing Episode IX.
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