Review of Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) by Bc_Guy — 22 Jan 2018

It's been said many times, but I still can not fathom how disappointing The Last Jedi was. My expectations for the new SW films are very low after this mess of a film.

I will start with what I liked; the visuals were nice and the fight scene in Snoke's throne room was pretty cool. Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, and Mark Hamill (especially Driver) did a great job acting in their respective roles. Now for what I hated, where do I begin...

Humor is really bad and is placed during the worst moments. At one point in the film a Resistance hangar is blown up by Kylo Ren, killing everyone inside. A second later, BB-8 comedically rolls out of said hangar as if the deaths of many Resistance members was supposed to be some sort of joke. There is also a bit at the start of the film where Poe calls General Hux to crack a your mom joke to him (really?). My theater was dead silent during these types of "jokes.".

Marry Poppins Leia. The Star Wars equivalent of jumping the shark and probably the dumbest scene in the entire franchise. Also how on earth did Poe and the others open the door Leia was trying to get through without being sucked into space?

The Canto Bight subplot was pointless and the animals they ride to escape were something out of Narnia.

Holdo not explaining her plan to Poe makes absolutely no sense. It's clear from the way other characters looked at her suspiciously that the film wanted viewers to think that she was the villain. The problem is there was no reason for her to hide the location of Crait from the other Resistance members. This means the entire subplot with Poe and Holdo is a complete waste of time. Also if lightspeeding into other ships is so powerful, why didn't they just use that against the various Star Destroyers/Death Stars in the past?

Tons of characters are either wasted or ruined. General Hux has been reduced to nothing more than comedic fodder. Captain Phasma gets beat down and has less screen time than in TFA. Admiral Ackbar (known for his famous "it's a trap" line in episode VI) gets killed off-screen (I am aware his actor died IRL but he still deserved better). Supreme leader Snoke - who has had so much buildup to his power/origins since TFA - gets killed off quickly and we learn nothing about him. In episode VI, Luke is convinced Darth Vader still has good in him and tries to bring him back to the light side (even with all the atrocities his father has committed). In episode VIII, Luke attempts to murder Ben Solo IN HIS SLEEP despite the latter doing nothing wrong at the time. Luke's writing in TLJ was so out of character that even Hamill himself did not like the direction his character was going.

Rose crashing her ship into Finn's to "protect the ones you love" makes no sense at all. For starters she would have killed Finn by plowing into him, and if Luke didn't show up then Rose just doomed the entire Resistance since the First Order was about to destroy the giant wall. Also gotta love how none of the AT-ATs fire at Finn and Rose when their ships crash and Finn is somehow able to drag Rose's body all the way across Crait. Easily the worst scene in the film after Mary Poppins Leia.

There are also a ton of inconsistencies. For example, Finn and Rose are about to be executed in a First Order hangar in front of Phasma and hundreds of storm troopers. When the lightspeed crash happens, Finn and Rose are the only ones alive and now Phasma is entering the hangar from a completely different location. Uh, what? I'm honestly convinced they just filmed two completely separate scenes and just mashed them together. I know this sounds like I'm nitpicking, but inconsistencies like these were so blatantly obvious even on my first (and only) viewing it left me scratching my head.

Overall, this film was a giant let down. Unless episode IX is on par with the OT, I am done with the series as it is now Disney's cash cow.