Star Wars
Well first - Happy Hanukkah to those who celebrate!
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So - I went to the midnight screening of The Last Jedi (because, as with Mockingjay, the only way to watch both at the cinema as a 'double bill' was going to the midnight screening....)
Force Awakens is really a cinema viewing experience (I have the dvd, it doesn't have quite the same impact on a smaller screen...) - I spotted both Maisie Richardson-Sellers (aka Amaya) in a cameo and Hannah John-Kamen (Dutch) as a first order officer (which I missed before, as I had seen neither of them in anything ;)) - sadly watching it first it noticed who was replaced by other peeps so didn't reappear.
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Last Jedi.....it's not a terrible film. I didn't find it a brilliant one either though.
The plot is a little clunky - and you spend the last forty minutes wondering what exactly is left for another film, given it feels like an actual climax to the story. Only they fail out at the end.
I like Rose, the only major downside was the tagged on the end 'she's in love with Finn!' moment and bits which were awkward. That said so did oh look Poe, ain't Rey pretty. *sighs* The end really isn't the best.
The plot - it doesn't feel like it follows straight from Force Awakens - and it feels like suddenly the rebels are a tiny group very much on the edge of destruction, which it really didn't feel like in Force Awakens. We then get a whole film of Rebels in the run with no allies, and you don't in any way feel like that has changed at the end of the film, it doesn't feel like they have any chance against the first order....only the first order doesn't feel like a huge entity in this one either.
It generally lacks the feel of galactic threat and battle that existed in the other trilogys. It feels like a small battle between two small groups of people, while the rest of the galaxy just gets on with things while those weirdos are busy killing each other. Like their government hasn't apparently vanished or anything....
We had the three threads - Rey and Luke, Finn and Rose and the Rebellion running, just fast enough, from the first order till it wasn't. Finn and Rose got the semi-heist turned learning experience that was ultimately....not relevant to the plot/helpful. And they miraculously survive...for reasons...on at least two occasions. The rebellion run was sooooo stretched out, and based on poor Poe getting everyone killed/not being kept in the loop and basically bumbling around.
It feels like all they need to do is kill Ben and it'll be sorted. And they almost killed him, but didn't. So the next film will be....I have no idea? Rebuilding the rebellion and finally killing him? And Hux? I have no idea where they have to go, so good luck writing out of that corner next person!
They killed the supreme leader, who was all powerful!, much too soon and it just meant the whole ending was sooooo long and drawn out and it was soooo hard to see what could make up another film. They just needed to kill Hux and Ben and be done with it, but nope, dragging it out.
There's a lot of comedy elements - but it felt a bit, shoved in at times, like it might get too serious so it has to be funny. (I am amused that some of it was obviously the result of puffins being everywhere, and how do we sort this so we don't have to edit out all the damned flying puffins and nesting puffins, and yelling puffins, we'll create some weird little creatures like puffins but not. And then we'll sell them as stuffed toys and make some money out of the damn puffin edits.)
YODA. Even if he did look a little funny, there was still YODA and he was still a massive troll, trolling Luke cos it's fun.
Ultimately, it feels like this trilogy has not been planned out in one go (and I get the impression that is the case, with the way it's all played through with different writers and directors etc). Episodes 1-3 and 4-6 all flow well and it feels like one continuing story and the same characters - it doesn't feel that way between Force Awakens and Last Jedi.
Character wise - Poe is the most noticeable. I think it's covered and acted around a lot by Oscar, but Poe does not feel like the quite same character. In Last Jedi it's like he got hit with a dumb stick AND doesn't care about people. Oscar tried damned hard to act around that last bit, adding in facial expressions to show some emotion over losing so many people. There's a difference being being reckless and a bit gungho and not caring that you just lost a whole lot of people are in no position to fight anymore. That said, the plot wouldn't have worked if they'd had more fire power. So poor Poe is very much a victim of plot need.
Finn kinda carries through, but he's a little rougher and thrown into things. Rey, is mostly the same, she's just....angrier? She was passionate about helping people, and firm in her beliefs in Force Awakens but there's a harder edge of anger to her in Last Jedi, which is partly explained via her feelings about Han Solo's death. She's also apparently the daughter of nobodys....her whole abandonment issues get a slightly odd bent, through thankfully not ending in full Rey/Kylo, due to some kind of twisted attachment thing.
Leia continues to have random jedi-ness. (The whole blowing up of the bridge and her floating and all wasn't really....urgh).
There are a lot of interesting and actively involved in the plot women - and that was nice to see, but they didn't always get rounded out so well. Rose and Rey get the best treatment really, even if they don't seem entirely convinced of what they want to do with Rey (though she is now a Jedi, so yay). It's nice to get a central heroine with the same story as central hero's get in this type of thing, it's just a shame that they haven't played up on that merchandice wise (and we had to endure the amazon kid!Kylo ad....because that is totally the character we want kids to look up to).
Three leads are non white! Yay (with a few side characters....fewer than force awakens oddly - apart from Rebellion pilots who seem to have less white peeps) - All three different POC, and one woman - which is nice. Though still not a half and half split. (Holdo, Leia, Rey, Luke, Ben, Hux...). There is an interesting continuation of the bad guys are white, good guys are a mix, star wars theme.
There is interesting language use (the belittling and such of Rey and Finn for their origins etc, using specific language and approach that echoes some current social opinions re: the poor / poc in some places) - though the whole rebel is full of the downtrodden rising up doesn't quite work when the leadership is still royalty and ex-politicians....
Ben is....still problematic. Like, there is Darth Vadar/Anakin, who we got a whole back story for and who recognised himself as an issue - and then there's Ben who just seems to be broken and angry. He doesn't have any redeeming qualities at all. You get the idea he loved his parents, but his mum more, but despite the flashbacks we don't ever get a sweet little Ben before the power overwhelmed him and he thoght his uncle tried to kill him. He's an odd character and doesn't really feel that much of a threat? It's all weird.
And now - I fully admit, from the beginning of the film I was hoping for Poe/Finn. I didn't go in feeling that way, but then we got 'naked' Finn, and yeahhhhh. Until Rey appears at the end, literally the only person that Poe looks at in anyway that might show interest is Finn (seriously, everything he gives the man a full go over with his eyes, every damn time, and they always get soooo close). The chemistry. Seriously.
I am not against Finn/Rose, but up until her kissing him, it was played as a growing friendship that helped Finn see the galaxy as it is - it was NICE when it was just a friendship between a man and a woman, the same as Finn and Rey in Force Awakens (though we are given awkward on that when they meet again and he's tending Rose at the end....so yeah. Force Awakens had men and women being friends, Last Jedi you can't just be close friends apparently. Episode 9 is either going to be a love square, or whoever writes it will just have the two couples. Which on one hand yay two mixed race couples, on the other damnit the people with actual chemistry were the two guys *sighs*).
Enforced het with a side of men and women can't just be close friends drives me nuts AND isn't actually a healthy thing. It adds to the social opinion that men are only friends with women if they are going to get some in the future. :/ (Upside we didn't actually get the icky problematic het pair though so yay)
So - that's my opinion, and I totally get people will have loved it. It just didn't work for me.
This entry was originally posted at https://weaselett.dreamwidth.org/203743.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
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So - I went to the midnight screening of The Last Jedi (because, as with Mockingjay, the only way to watch both at the cinema as a 'double bill' was going to the midnight screening....)
Force Awakens is really a cinema viewing experience (I have the dvd, it doesn't have quite the same impact on a smaller screen...) - I spotted both Maisie Richardson-Sellers (aka Amaya) in a cameo and Hannah John-Kamen (Dutch) as a first order officer (which I missed before, as I had seen neither of them in anything ;)) - sadly watching it first it noticed who was replaced by other peeps so didn't reappear.
-
Last Jedi.....it's not a terrible film. I didn't find it a brilliant one either though.
The plot is a little clunky - and you spend the last forty minutes wondering what exactly is left for another film, given it feels like an actual climax to the story. Only they fail out at the end.
I like Rose, the only major downside was the tagged on the end 'she's in love with Finn!' moment and bits which were awkward. That said so did oh look Poe, ain't Rey pretty. *sighs* The end really isn't the best.
The plot - it doesn't feel like it follows straight from Force Awakens - and it feels like suddenly the rebels are a tiny group very much on the edge of destruction, which it really didn't feel like in Force Awakens. We then get a whole film of Rebels in the run with no allies, and you don't in any way feel like that has changed at the end of the film, it doesn't feel like they have any chance against the first order....only the first order doesn't feel like a huge entity in this one either.
It generally lacks the feel of galactic threat and battle that existed in the other trilogys. It feels like a small battle between two small groups of people, while the rest of the galaxy just gets on with things while those weirdos are busy killing each other. Like their government hasn't apparently vanished or anything....
We had the three threads - Rey and Luke, Finn and Rose and the Rebellion running, just fast enough, from the first order till it wasn't. Finn and Rose got the semi-heist turned learning experience that was ultimately....not relevant to the plot/helpful. And they miraculously survive...for reasons...on at least two occasions. The rebellion run was sooooo stretched out, and based on poor Poe getting everyone killed/not being kept in the loop and basically bumbling around.
It feels like all they need to do is kill Ben and it'll be sorted. And they almost killed him, but didn't. So the next film will be....I have no idea? Rebuilding the rebellion and finally killing him? And Hux? I have no idea where they have to go, so good luck writing out of that corner next person!
They killed the supreme leader, who was all powerful!, much too soon and it just meant the whole ending was sooooo long and drawn out and it was soooo hard to see what could make up another film. They just needed to kill Hux and Ben and be done with it, but nope, dragging it out.
There's a lot of comedy elements - but it felt a bit, shoved in at times, like it might get too serious so it has to be funny. (I am amused that some of it was obviously the result of puffins being everywhere, and how do we sort this so we don't have to edit out all the damned flying puffins and nesting puffins, and yelling puffins, we'll create some weird little creatures like puffins but not. And then we'll sell them as stuffed toys and make some money out of the damn puffin edits.)
YODA. Even if he did look a little funny, there was still YODA and he was still a massive troll, trolling Luke cos it's fun.
Ultimately, it feels like this trilogy has not been planned out in one go (and I get the impression that is the case, with the way it's all played through with different writers and directors etc). Episodes 1-3 and 4-6 all flow well and it feels like one continuing story and the same characters - it doesn't feel that way between Force Awakens and Last Jedi.
Character wise - Poe is the most noticeable. I think it's covered and acted around a lot by Oscar, but Poe does not feel like the quite same character. In Last Jedi it's like he got hit with a dumb stick AND doesn't care about people. Oscar tried damned hard to act around that last bit, adding in facial expressions to show some emotion over losing so many people. There's a difference being being reckless and a bit gungho and not caring that you just lost a whole lot of people are in no position to fight anymore. That said, the plot wouldn't have worked if they'd had more fire power. So poor Poe is very much a victim of plot need.
Finn kinda carries through, but he's a little rougher and thrown into things. Rey, is mostly the same, she's just....angrier? She was passionate about helping people, and firm in her beliefs in Force Awakens but there's a harder edge of anger to her in Last Jedi, which is partly explained via her feelings about Han Solo's death. She's also apparently the daughter of nobodys....her whole abandonment issues get a slightly odd bent, through thankfully not ending in full Rey/Kylo, due to some kind of twisted attachment thing.
Leia continues to have random jedi-ness. (The whole blowing up of the bridge and her floating and all wasn't really....urgh).
There are a lot of interesting and actively involved in the plot women - and that was nice to see, but they didn't always get rounded out so well. Rose and Rey get the best treatment really, even if they don't seem entirely convinced of what they want to do with Rey (though she is now a Jedi, so yay). It's nice to get a central heroine with the same story as central hero's get in this type of thing, it's just a shame that they haven't played up on that merchandice wise (and we had to endure the amazon kid!Kylo ad....because that is totally the character we want kids to look up to).
Three leads are non white! Yay (with a few side characters....fewer than force awakens oddly - apart from Rebellion pilots who seem to have less white peeps) - All three different POC, and one woman - which is nice. Though still not a half and half split. (Holdo, Leia, Rey, Luke, Ben, Hux...). There is an interesting continuation of the bad guys are white, good guys are a mix, star wars theme.
There is interesting language use (the belittling and such of Rey and Finn for their origins etc, using specific language and approach that echoes some current social opinions re: the poor / poc in some places) - though the whole rebel is full of the downtrodden rising up doesn't quite work when the leadership is still royalty and ex-politicians....
Ben is....still problematic. Like, there is Darth Vadar/Anakin, who we got a whole back story for and who recognised himself as an issue - and then there's Ben who just seems to be broken and angry. He doesn't have any redeeming qualities at all. You get the idea he loved his parents, but his mum more, but despite the flashbacks we don't ever get a sweet little Ben before the power overwhelmed him and he thoght his uncle tried to kill him. He's an odd character and doesn't really feel that much of a threat? It's all weird.
And now - I fully admit, from the beginning of the film I was hoping for Poe/Finn. I didn't go in feeling that way, but then we got 'naked' Finn, and yeahhhhh. Until Rey appears at the end, literally the only person that Poe looks at in anyway that might show interest is Finn (seriously, everything he gives the man a full go over with his eyes, every damn time, and they always get soooo close). The chemistry. Seriously.
I am not against Finn/Rose, but up until her kissing him, it was played as a growing friendship that helped Finn see the galaxy as it is - it was NICE when it was just a friendship between a man and a woman, the same as Finn and Rey in Force Awakens (though we are given awkward on that when they meet again and he's tending Rose at the end....so yeah. Force Awakens had men and women being friends, Last Jedi you can't just be close friends apparently. Episode 9 is either going to be a love square, or whoever writes it will just have the two couples. Which on one hand yay two mixed race couples, on the other damnit the people with actual chemistry were the two guys *sighs*).
Enforced het with a side of men and women can't just be close friends drives me nuts AND isn't actually a healthy thing. It adds to the social opinion that men are only friends with women if they are going to get some in the future. :/ (Upside we didn't actually get the icky problematic het pair though so yay)
So - that's my opinion, and I totally get people will have loved it. It just didn't work for me.
This entry was originally posted at https://weaselett.dreamwidth.org/203743.html. Please comment there using OpenID.