Saturday, December 16, 2017

Star Wars: The Last Jedi


ACK! *screams and runs in circles* You guuuuuuyyys!!!! I just got back from the theater from watching "The Last Jedi."

Pretty much what I've been doing for the past half hour.
IT WAS SO GOOD!!! I can't even quite put my finger on WHY it was so good, but, wow...well done. Basically, it starts right where "The Force Awakens" left off and continues everything from there. I'm not going to do a plot synopsis, because that would be boring, but I am going to talk about the characters and the content.

First, Luke Skywalker (!!!). So, Luke is pretty much still as Luke-ish as ever. He's obviously older and grimmer, but he still has that crookedly messed-up nose. He did get pretty 'forcey' with all that balderdash about dark and light and balance, but you know, other than that, it was great to have Luke back. There were some great moments with him and Rey on the island. AND THE DUEL SCENE WITH KYLO! Spoilers! even though Luke was only there in ghost form and not actually physically dueling...I'm still not sure how that worked, but oh well. I would have liked a showdown with Snoke and Luke, but it was not to be. BUT THEN HE DISINTEGRATED! WHY? End spoilers.


Leia: she is still the same ol' Leia. She was a lot stronger with the force than in the previous episodes and somehow survived being in space with no protection or anything (?) It was a little sad for everyone, I think, after Carrie Fischer died and now we see Leia again. She's a serious, kind of a sad character--especially now that Han is...no longer with us (sniff sniff). She and Luke are finally reunited and the first thing she says: "I know what you're going to say. I did something different with my hair." (or something like that). :) 


Rey: The same 'spunky,' strong girl from "The Force Awakens" who is only now learning her full potential and about the 'true meaning of the force,' and all that jazz. I liked Rey because even though she is strong and somewhat independent, she cares about the others, even seeing the hope left in Kylo Ren, and trying to bring it out. She's not the sort of person who gives up easily. 


Finn: He is still a little cowardly and ignorant at times, almost running away from the Resistance and giving up hope, but in the end he's willing to do whatever it takes to beat the bad guys. I mean, there's not a whole lot to say about Finn. He does meet Rose, the Resistance pilot (who is a new character) and they find they have a lot in common (oooooOOOOOhhhhhh) and learn things from working with each other. He does have an amazing duel with Captain Phasma (who apparently was not put in a trash compactor as we thought). So I'm going to put the character of Rose in here as well; she's a pilot who helps immensely in blowing stuff up, etc. She is so excited to meet Finn, the hero, and then is devastated to learn he is deserting from the Resistance. So she zaps him with some sort of taser thingy. She has a sad backstory of her home being taken over by people who sell weapons to whoever pays the highest and loves animals, and I think she's summed up by one of her lines: "You don't destroy what you hate. You protect what you love." Obviously, she and Finn are destined for each other. :P


Poe. YOU GUYS!!!!! Poe was even better in this than the first one (although he should watch his language sometimes...)!!!! I was a little surprised that a white male character would have a strong, positive leading role, and was glad of it. Poe is still a levelheaded, skilled fighter and pilot with a very strong belief in his Resistance, always planning some way to blow up the bad guys. Leia and a couple other upper officers in the Resistance get mad at him, because he's always trying to blow stuff up and not counting the losses (actually Leia demotes him, which is pretty funny). He can be very headstrong and reckless, almost taking over the trigger-happy, smart-alec attitude of Han. Y'all, Poe is the best. He just seems like a Good Guy and is probably the most "real" character, because he makes mistakes and such. He is still best of friends with Finn (and BB-8), and finally meets Rey (hahahahahaha, maniacal laugh!) and GUYS I think I might have been right about them after all! ("I'm Poe."--"I'm Rey."--"I know." BWA-HA-HA!) Anyway, Poe is great, even if his plans aren't always thought out that well...

Kylo Ren: *cries* 

Spoiler paragraph!! Seriously, though. Kylo makes me sad. The POOR GUY!!! He and Rey are constantly force-telepathy-ing and she knows there's good in him still. Then Rey comes to meet Snoke and Kylo is supposed to kill Rey, and and and and AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH that was such a good scene!!!! We're still unsure about his true feelings, but he's a very mixed-up person. So much conflict! It's like he can't decide whether he's good or bad! He says that he wants to be neither and end the Jedi, the Sith, the Resistance, the First Order, just be none of those, but...I don't know. He knows he can never escape from what he's done to his father. End spoilers. We finally get some insight on HOW he turned bad, how it came to be when Luke was training him. That was helpful information. 



So that's about all I have. Of course Chewbacca, the droids, the other bad guys, and such are all there. They're pretty much unchanged. 

CONTENT: There were a few not-so-nice words thrown in, mostly courtesy of Poe. I think he had about three or so, and there may have been a couple I missed. The Plugged In Review gives more detail, but they go into more depth about things than I would have noticed by watching it. Of course there's violence, it's Star Wars. I'll let you read the Plugged In thing for a more full content guide, but I do think they tend to over-analyze things. There is the whole issue with "the religion of the Force," but I just treat that as "all pretend," and even though I wish it wasn't such a prevalent issue, I can still enjoy the movie. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this film. It was well worth seeing and I'll probably be willing to see it in theaters again! The characters are memorable, the plot is interesting, the action is good, and the movie itself is visually pleasing. GO WATCH IT NOW!!! 

Even though we all miss Han...
And here's a poem for you guys. ;)
Have you seen "The Last Jedi" yet? 
Like it or no? 
Planning to see it? 
Comment below! 

  

10 comments:

  1. I'm surprised someone I know actually liked the movie. I've never seen Star Wars, so I have no input, but my brother saw it and was disappointed in it. I also had a friend who said she was now a Star Trek fan because of how bad the movie was. I'm glad you liked it though!

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    1. Really? That's surprising; almost everyone I know who has seen it has liked it!

      I mean, it will never be the original trilogy, but I thought it was a very good film in regards to staying true to the spirit of the original movies and actual film quality. I could see how someone would be disappointed, but I really liked it! I still think "The Force Awakens" is a little better, but I enjoyed this one immensely.

      Thanks for commenting, Hannah! :)

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  2. I have such mixed feelings on it right now. It was nice to read a positive review though because I've mostly seen negative ones before yours.

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    1. I know what you mean! This review was just a gushing 'first impressions' on seeing it once. Probably once I see it again, I'll pick all the flaws out (such as the fact that bombs won't always fall down in space, ahem) and maybe be less blown away.

      I really enjoyed it as a movie and part of the Star Wars canon, but I think it's almost like I have to think of The Hobbit movies: it's just another person's retelling of a story that might have been invented long ago. I don't know how to explain it! Just the fact that we were finally able to watch it after 2 years of waiting is probably why it felt so good to finally see it!

      Anyway, thanks for your comment! I'm glad you enjoyed reading! :)

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  3. Well being that we talked about this and saw it together I don't have anything "new" to say...

    I really enjoyed reading your thoughts, though!!! I agree with a lot of what you said--Poe is awesome, Kylo is so sad....but wait: "I mean, there's not a whole lot to say about Finn."

    ANNA.

    I guess I'll have to say a lot about him in my own SW post. ;) (If/when I get around to it...)

    We'll just stick to talking about how awesome Poe is. :D

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    1. True! We'll be talking about this one till the next one comes out, most likely...

      *grins* Nope! Sure, Finn was great and all, but I didn't feel like his character went under any huge improvements or dis-improvements that are worth talking about. He just felt exactly the same as in the first one, pretty much, I guess. (If any of that makes sense!) :)

      Good idea! We'll stick with that. :D

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  4. Star Wars the last Jedi was interesting, though the really cute bird creatures should have had more screen time.
    *sighs* I do wish though that Kylo (Ben Solo) had *spoiler to those reading the comments don't read unless you want the movie spoiled* Joined the light side with Rey, they would make an awesome jedi team, but I am not sure I would fully trust him because of what happened with Han... also I was really worried that Rey would join the dark side *end of spoiler*
    -Quinley

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    1. Ha ha, yes! The birds were pretty adorable. Apparently they were put in the movie because there were these birds (penguins? I think that's what they were) that kept getting in the shot, and the movie makers just decided to make characters of them! :)

      I know, Kylo was getting so great! When he and Rey teamed up and fought Snoke's bodyguards or whatever...well, that was just about the best scene in the movie. When he says that he wants to be free from bad or good, I was so disappointed...:( I didn't think Rey would turn bad, but when Luke said "You went straight to the dark!" I got a little nervous. I'm glad she stayed good, though!

      Thanks for commenting, Quinley! :)

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  5. I LOVED THE LAST JEDI!!! XD
    I loved the character development, the battle scenes, AND THAT LAST SCENE!!! XD <3 Poe was seriously awesome in that movie. :-D

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    1. I'm glad that someone agrees with me!!! I've heard so many people complaining about all the things WRONG with the movie (and there are things wrong, I will admit...and things I would have changed...), but I still loved it, even if it could have been better.

      Yeah, I'm glad they gave the new(er) characters some good development, even if Finn and Rose's side quest was almost completely pointless...it's all Vice Admiral Holdo's (is that how you spell that?) fault for NOT TELLING POE THE PLAN! If she had told him, he wouldn't have disobeyed orders and wrecked the system and sent Finn and Rose on a crazy mission.

      Poe was awesome. Lots of people don't realize it, but he is. :D
      Thanks for the comment! :)

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