So I finally saw TLJ...
...and it’s pretty lopsided. I dunno. Maybe I’m a Grumpy Jane (to paraphrase the Rock Critic’s “grumpy Gus”) but...I dunno.
No trailers and audience experience this time; I’m cutting to the chase because that’s what I remember most.
What I liked:
-Supreme Leader Kylo Ren. Fuck. Yes.
-Hux getting tossed around. Because he deserves it, every bit.
-Some funny lines, like with Poe and BB-8 at the beginning.
-The Rey and Kylo part was not as bad as I feared. I didn’t come out of the theater shipping them, but I thought Rey’s reactions made sense - her freaking out to Luke made sense considering what she saw, plus, the guy hadn’t treated her well ever since she came to the island, so why should she have any loyalty to this disgusting pondscum, this oozing sore of depravity? (And he even tries to kick her off the island for her Force bond with Kylo which by the way, Snoke initiates, so yeah.) Granted, I think her “there is still light in him” was pretty quick considering what he did in the previous film, but still...it wasn’t as bad as I feared it would be.
-The action was pretty good. My favorite was with the Cantobight escape with Finn and Rose.
-Vice Admiral Holdo. Laura Dern is a great actress, and she did a great job at playing Holdo. Though honestly, I didn’t like her behavior towards Poe because there was no reason for her not to have told him the plan to get to Crait.
-Some really sweet stuff, like Poe’s reunion with BB-8.
What I didn’t:
-Luke. Fuck me until I feel like a daisy, where do I begin with Luke? His trying to kill his own nephew before he even did anything wrong when he was all gung-ho about saving his father? His shoddy treatment of Rey just because she was drawn to the Mirror Cave? (By that logic, Yoda should have kicked Luke off Dagobah for being drawn to the cave there...ah, who am I kidding, Rian Johnson doesn’t exactly operate on logic) Basically being too much of a coward to get off Ach-To and engage his nephew personally? Taunting Kylo about his father? It all just made his death not as powerful as it should have been because I didn’t care about the character. I hated him. I wanted to see some redemption for Luke after getting off the heels of the old EU where he was a complete jerk, but...asking for too much, I guess. It shouldn’t make me this angry, but I remember how TFA redeemed Han for me, and...well, compare Han’d beautiful characterization in TFA to Luke’s in TLJ, and weep.
-Finn and Rose...Kelly Marie Tran is a great actress, but she and Finn had no chemistry. Maybe I just don’t get it, but I saw more chemistry between Rey and Finn in TFA than Finn and Rose in TLJ. Rose tasing him was also over the top. I’m sorry, Finn and Rose fans, I really am, but I saw no chemistry between them, and so the romance didn’t really make sense.
-Rose’s character wasn’t very developed, and her tasing Finn for a bullshit reason didn’t help either. (Seriously, trying to save a friend is not desertion)
-Benicio Del Toro’s character. Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but I didn’t like his arc.
-Snoke went out pretty pathetically. I mean, people on TV Tropes were bragging about what a badass Kylo was in this movie, but...I dunno. It just felt like a waste of Andy Serkis, and that sucks, y’know. You can’t just get rid of Andy Serkis - it’s freaking Andy Serkis. Also, was that shot of him and Rey when it looks like he’s molesting her necessary when he was talking about how she would lead Luke to him? Snoke in general was kind of a mustache-twirling villain, which...sorry, Snoke. Palpatine totally pwns you in this regard.
+ Honestly, if I were to fix Snoke, I’d give him more of a backstory, and give him a better end than just basic telekinetic lightsaber bisection. Aside from it being a great name for a rock band, it doesn’t work.
-Leia. Seriously, slapping Poe? Tasing him when it was clear he’d already surrendered? Giving up on her son? (Even Han was pretty much clear in caressing Kylo’s face before he fell to his doom in a gesture of love and forgiveness , so what the fuck, Leia?) Leia was not likeable in this movie. I’m not saying she had to be a saint, but not treating two of my favorites like complete crap would be nice.
-Finn’s first appearance was weird. I mean, that particular laugh just felt really out of place and not particularly Star Wars.
-Hux slapping Finn kind of rubbed me the wrong way. I dunno. I could be wrong.
-The movie has a lot of pacing issues. Even my sibling, who liked the movie a lot, admitted that.
-Yoda was kind of OOC.
-Luke got the Jedi all wrong. No, you know-nothing know-it-all *idiot*, the Jedi did not cause Sidious’ rise, and your father chose to become Darth Vader. To badly paraphrase Pablo Hidalgo (the jackass), there’s a version where this isn’t the Jedi’s fault at all, and that’s called your father being accountable.
So overall? I feel bad saying all this stuff about the movie because I was so excited to see it, but...rent this one, guys. Rent it. Maybe I’ll change my mind on a second viewing, but...rent it.
No trailers and audience experience this time; I’m cutting to the chase because that’s what I remember most.
What I liked:
-Supreme Leader Kylo Ren. Fuck. Yes.
-Hux getting tossed around. Because he deserves it, every bit.
-Some funny lines, like with Poe and BB-8 at the beginning.
-The Rey and Kylo part was not as bad as I feared. I didn’t come out of the theater shipping them, but I thought Rey’s reactions made sense - her freaking out to Luke made sense considering what she saw, plus, the guy hadn’t treated her well ever since she came to the island, so why should she have any loyalty to this disgusting pondscum, this oozing sore of depravity? (And he even tries to kick her off the island for her Force bond with Kylo which by the way, Snoke initiates, so yeah.) Granted, I think her “there is still light in him” was pretty quick considering what he did in the previous film, but still...it wasn’t as bad as I feared it would be.
-The action was pretty good. My favorite was with the Cantobight escape with Finn and Rose.
-Vice Admiral Holdo. Laura Dern is a great actress, and she did a great job at playing Holdo. Though honestly, I didn’t like her behavior towards Poe because there was no reason for her not to have told him the plan to get to Crait.
-Some really sweet stuff, like Poe’s reunion with BB-8.
What I didn’t:
-Luke. Fuck me until I feel like a daisy, where do I begin with Luke? His trying to kill his own nephew before he even did anything wrong when he was all gung-ho about saving his father? His shoddy treatment of Rey just because she was drawn to the Mirror Cave? (By that logic, Yoda should have kicked Luke off Dagobah for being drawn to the cave there...ah, who am I kidding, Rian Johnson doesn’t exactly operate on logic) Basically being too much of a coward to get off Ach-To and engage his nephew personally? Taunting Kylo about his father? It all just made his death not as powerful as it should have been because I didn’t care about the character. I hated him. I wanted to see some redemption for Luke after getting off the heels of the old EU where he was a complete jerk, but...asking for too much, I guess. It shouldn’t make me this angry, but I remember how TFA redeemed Han for me, and...well, compare Han’d beautiful characterization in TFA to Luke’s in TLJ, and weep.
-Finn and Rose...Kelly Marie Tran is a great actress, but she and Finn had no chemistry. Maybe I just don’t get it, but I saw more chemistry between Rey and Finn in TFA than Finn and Rose in TLJ. Rose tasing him was also over the top. I’m sorry, Finn and Rose fans, I really am, but I saw no chemistry between them, and so the romance didn’t really make sense.
-Rose’s character wasn’t very developed, and her tasing Finn for a bullshit reason didn’t help either. (Seriously, trying to save a friend is not desertion)
-Benicio Del Toro’s character. Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but I didn’t like his arc.
-Snoke went out pretty pathetically. I mean, people on TV Tropes were bragging about what a badass Kylo was in this movie, but...I dunno. It just felt like a waste of Andy Serkis, and that sucks, y’know. You can’t just get rid of Andy Serkis - it’s freaking Andy Serkis. Also, was that shot of him and Rey when it looks like he’s molesting her necessary when he was talking about how she would lead Luke to him? Snoke in general was kind of a mustache-twirling villain, which...sorry, Snoke. Palpatine totally pwns you in this regard.
+ Honestly, if I were to fix Snoke, I’d give him more of a backstory, and give him a better end than just basic telekinetic lightsaber bisection. Aside from it being a great name for a rock band, it doesn’t work.
-Leia. Seriously, slapping Poe? Tasing him when it was clear he’d already surrendered? Giving up on her son? (Even Han was pretty much clear in caressing Kylo’s face before he fell to his doom in a gesture of love and forgiveness , so what the fuck, Leia?) Leia was not likeable in this movie. I’m not saying she had to be a saint, but not treating two of my favorites like complete crap would be nice.
-Finn’s first appearance was weird. I mean, that particular laugh just felt really out of place and not particularly Star Wars.
-Hux slapping Finn kind of rubbed me the wrong way. I dunno. I could be wrong.
-The movie has a lot of pacing issues. Even my sibling, who liked the movie a lot, admitted that.
-Yoda was kind of OOC.
-Luke got the Jedi all wrong. No, you know-nothing know-it-all *idiot*, the Jedi did not cause Sidious’ rise, and your father chose to become Darth Vader. To badly paraphrase Pablo Hidalgo (the jackass), there’s a version where this isn’t the Jedi’s fault at all, and that’s called your father being accountable.
So overall? I feel bad saying all this stuff about the movie because I was so excited to see it, but...rent this one, guys. Rent it. Maybe I’ll change my mind on a second viewing, but...rent it.