Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi

[JOE SOAP]

I think all the new Force trickery is one of the movie's greatest strengths.

Definitely and the the force-skyping – touching at a distance – was something I wished for the Prequels back-in-the-day.

[radiator]

I wasn't keen on the astral projection stuff with Luke at the end - felt weirdly unsatisfying as an ending for some reason - and I found the Leia scene weird, but I did like how the Force was presented as more mystical/magical in this one.

One of the great disappointments of the prequels for me was that after so many years of wondering what the Jedi could do, the answer was: 'basically, not much beyond what we see Luke, Vader and the Emperor do in the originals'.

The RLM review really nailed this point - I always read it that the Emperor zapped Luke with lightning on a whim - we're just seeing a fraction of what he's capable of. But as far as the prequels would have us believe, the lightning thing is pretty much the limit of what he can do, oh, and and all dark jedis can do it.

There's a similar point made about robes - ie that Obi Wan wears robes because he's an old hermit who lives in the desert - and this somehow ended up being the de facto jedi 'uniform' in subsequent films.

[Mardroid]

While part of me would have liked to see what Luke was now capable of in a real battle, I loved the projection twist, especially as I was expecting him to do an Obi-wan with his previous comment to Kylo.

When he appeared to be stabbed I thought "here we go!" then it turned out he wasn't really even there, and I thought, "yes, he's safe! He'll be back, for the Sequel!" (Actually, there's a good chance he still will be, in a limited way, but I was hoping they wouldn't kill off all the old school, even if they're making way for the new, which I do respect.)

Then his cloak collapsed. My feelings were very mixed by that stage. I guess it's kind of poetic, and it's yet another twist, but I can't help being a bit disappointed. It left food for thought, though. Did the strain of the projection cause his heart to give out? Was damage from the fight actually transferred to his body (I. E. We saw Rey leave water on Kylo's hand after they touched, so there is precedent for that.) Did he actually die at all, or just will himself to become one with The Force as he figured he would serve better that way? (Precedence suggests death is still required as a doorway where this is concerned although I'm sure will power is involved, even if it's just letting go. His grimace of pain obviously suggests he has a been hurt and so that's a major factor. 

Anyway, I really enjoyed that film. It had its faults, but I think the good stuff far outweighed the bad. A bit sad most here seem to dislike it, or are they just the most vocal?

Curious thing, is how a film with such a grim outcome in turns of losses turned out to be so light-hearted. I found it probably the funniest of the films. I loved the 'reaching out to the force' gag.

"Ooh, yes! I can feel it!" SLAP!

And the running gag with Rey and the amphibian nurses was very amusing.

The ironing gag with the deliberately misleading incidental music made me laugh. It was perhaps a bit too meta, possibly better suited to a parody, but I admire the fact they had the audacity to stick it in there.


Oh, and Chewie and the Porgs. Heh, Heh. (That's actually, kinda dark, eh?)

My verdict: possibly the best of the new films, although it might be equal to Rogue One, which was a different kind of film, anyway. I even didn't mind that seemingly redundant subplot with the casino too much since it served as a nice bit of misdirection and that not all plans will succeed. I think it also set up things for the sequel with the introduction of an interesting character.

[TordelBack]

The gorgeous @DeeGoots brought this joyous tweeted gif to my attention:

https://twitter.com/RoqooDepot/status/943990300325814272?s=09

[Professor Bear]

Say what

One of the great disappointments of the prequels for me was that after so many years of wondering what the Jedi could do, the answer was: 'basically, not much beyond what we see Luke, Vader and the Emperor do in the originals'.

Wasn't the point of the Jedi in the PT that they'd stagnated and reached the limits of their knowledge?  The Jedi had become dogmatic to the point they viewed the Force as nothing more than the result of atomic tapeworms and had established a grand temple in the political capitol of the Republic dedicated to teaching a brand of martial arts - even TLJ establishes that the order's failure to evolve had left it vulnerable to corruption from within as well as its external enemies.
On the opposite side of the fence, I don't see Sidious imparting all of his secrets to someone whose only purpose is to kill him and take all his stuff - dangling his knowledge of the prolonging/creation of life was how he turned Anakin, much as the promise of new knowledge allowed Snoke to turn Ben Solo.

[shaolin_monkey]

I like the space battles, which were exciting with things exploding and stuff. 

I liked the laswer sword fighting, like with the woman and the man, and the people in red clothes. 

I liked the big walking things attacking the fast cars in the red snow stuff. 

The best funny bit was when the giant walking dog didn't eat the tiny chicken because the other chickens were sad. 

The best sad bit was when the general died in space, but it turned out she didn't die and had powers to float back into the ship, which was happy. 

I liked the robots too.

[James Stacey]

saw it last night and thought it was great. Not every joke landed but thats fine, thats not its main thrust. Fantastic subversion of expectations.

[Jim_Campbell]

I like the space battles, which were exciting with things exploding and stuff. 

I don't think you're taking this seriously enough.

[Steven Denton]

The gorgeous @DeeGoots brought this joyous tweeted gif to my attention:

https://twitter.com/RoqooDepot/status/943990300325814272?s=09

Is it just me or was there something weirdly sexual about the milking scene?

[James Stacey]

it was the boobs wasnt it.

[TordelBack]

Jedi should be able to be breastfed in public without your male gaze sexualising the pure love between a farmboy and his Aunt Beru substitute.

If there was one moment in this film that I loved above all others, it was milking the Quadboobseal.

[Mattofthespurs]

Pervert! Although Luke could have hung his hat on those nipples.

[Steven Denton]

I want to start a band called milking the quadboobseal now!

[Steve Green]

Does there seem to be less in the way of tie-ins this time around?

Usually it's happy meals or burger king stuff, but not noticed anything this time around - except bizarrely themed niche graphics cards.

Kentucky Fried Porgs with green milkshakes maybe?

I would have loved to have seen a vacformed one of those quadboobseals on the dispensing machine.

Old Luke looks a bit like Colonel Sanders if you squint a lot.

[The Legendary Shark]

I feel like porging tonight...