I think most of the criticism Star Wars - The Last Jedi are pretty spurious. I’ll tell you why.
On the day I am going to see Star Wars - Rise of Skywalker I’m rewatching The Last Jedi. When I first saw TLJ on opening night, I really liked it. Over the next few days I was shocked with all the online hate it was getting. I felt from the start that most of the criticism was pretty bunk.
Anyone is allowed to not like a movie, just like anyone is allowed to like it. There are some movies that I really love, that are generally not well-received. For instance, I absolutely love the first Pacific Rim movie and I understand why a lot of people would probably think it’s a silly movie. Their opinions don’t deter me from liking it anyways. So of course people are allowed to not like The Last Jedi. That should go without saying, but I did anyways.
In TLJ they made story decisions that were controversial, and I get it. Some I agree with. One of the criticisms of The Force Awakens was that it was too derivative of A New Hope. I almost totally agree and still really like TFA. I think there is stuff about Starkiller Base that is pretty bad. It has to get super close to a star, and consume all of its matter. Somehow they do it without melting the icy surface, or affecting gravity. Also they call it a sun. That’s silly. When we refer to planets around other stars, we don’t say other suns. Why does Finn see the destruction of planets likely lightyears away from the surface of Maz’s planet? And what they did with R2D2 makes no sense.
But this isn’t a critique of TFA. The point is all Star Wars movies make story decisions that are controversial. It doesn’t make them terrible movies.
Now, I think Disney made a conscious decision when they had TFA mirror ANH. They wanted to ground their new trilogy in the classic trilogy. They wanted to nail the Star Wars aesthetic, and boy did they. That to me was almost the most important thing they needed to do with that movie. It’s a thing the Mandalorian has absolutely nailed.
So, after they made the ANH homage, they moved on to creating a more unique movie in TLJ. I give Disney a lot of credit for the bold decisions they made in the movie. TLJ was dreaded to be an Empire Strikes Back clone. And while it might mirror some of the tone, and broadest of themes (solo Jedi padawan training with with a hermit Jedi Master, a small band of rebels under siege from facist foes), the story cannot be said to be an ESB clone in any way.
One of the things I’ve enjoyed about the sequel trilogy is the telling of new Star Wars story. They made a decision to relegate the Expanded Universe to Legends, and move on fresh. They could have adapted those stories to the big screen. And while millions of books readers would have loved seeing Mara Jade, the Solo twins, and many other characters on the big screen, I like that we get to be surprised. And the EU is not gone. The books still exist, and I would not put it past Disney to some day adapt some of the works into cartoon movies, the way Marvel and DC adapt a lot of their comics.
I think the thing that Star Wars fans have grappled with (maybe without knowing it) is we had the Original Trilogy for almost four decades before TFA. We had the Prequel Trilogy completed for a decade. The OT was hallowed ground, memorized by fans. The PT, even before it was made, told a story that we knew the broad strokes of. The Clone War happened. Anakin Skywalker was trained by Obi Wan to be a powerful Jedi. He fell to the dark side, battled Obi Wan on a volcano, and became Darth Vader. The details remained to be filled in, but there were no major surprises.
The Sequel Trilogy is ALL surprises. I think that’s difficult for some fans, especially fans of the EU. Those feelings are valid, and maybe Disney didn’t prepare for it the way they should have. But I think fans should try to become less rigid, and appreciate that we’re getting Star Wars on the big screen, 5 movies in 5 years! Maybe my suck-it-up-buttercup attitude is more of the same polarized-fan-divide coming forth. Disney faces an impossible task of pleasing all fans, but I think they are giving it an honest attempt, and fans should cut them some slack.
And now finally onto answering some of the direct criticisms. First of all there absolutely was a targeted smear campaign run on the movie and it’s Rotten Tomatoes score. Whether is was from Russian or Right Wing trolls (is there a difference anymore?) almost doesn’t matter. It happened, and many clung to it like a gundark on the Millenium Falcon’s hull. Disney made the movie with critiques on the military industrial complex, the amoral ultra wealthy, and a jab at the patriarchy. If you’re a right-winger and don’t like those themes, then there’s nothing to be done for you. Move on and find a space opera set in a capitalist utopia if that’s what you’re looking for.
Having said that, the Canto Bight sequence seems like a pointless side quest. And while it might not be central to the story, they made the decision to include it for thematic reasons. The story is about accepting and overcoming failure and fighting injustice. And the entire sequence is just visually stunning.
Next, is Broken Luke. He’s the opposite in many ways to his EU character. But I like his theory that the Jedi need to end. They totally blew it in the prequels, and in this story Luke himself blew it, trying to restart it. Their dogma is rigid. And finally the prophecy of the one to bring balance to the Force was there. Clearly it wasn’t Anakin. And if balance means both sides of the scale are equal, how can it have been Luke? He overthrew the Sith with the light side. I think this trilogy needs to use a grey force user, someone wielding both the light side of the Force, and the dark. Maybe a new group to replace the Jedi, say a Skywalker?
Yoda said to Luke in ESB “Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will.” I think that has to be proven wrong in this trilogy. The complaint about Luke is that after defeating the Emperor, he regressed and it destroyed his character arc. Now, while this is not George Lucas’ Sequel Trilogy, he had planned one, and this is the one we’ve gotten. If there is to be a Sequel Trilogy, the story can’t have ended in RotJ. It didn’t because the one to bring balance to the Force hasn’t done it yet. Whether that’s Rey, or Luke, who as a Force ghost can still do it in my opinion, remains to be seen.
So this is the path they chose for Luke, and I support it. It wasn’t what I envisioned, but I think it’s fine.
Now unto what I think are minutiae nit-picks.
The Bombers’ Bombs falling in the vacuum of space. They were under artificial gravity on the ship and would fall when released. But also, can’t the rails they were stacked in have pushed them out the bottom of the ship? Jeez, come on, this critique is petty.
The Slow Chase - I honestly don’t see the problem. They can’t go to hyperspace, because they’ll only end up back where they are, hounded by the First Order, now with less fuel. While it might appear slow on screen, in space they’re moving incredibly fast, and accelerating! All the ships are at full throttle on their sub-light engines. When a ship runs out of fuel, it’s quickly overtaken by the First Order. That is why they show it by having the ships list. Maybe the filmmakers could have shown this in a better way, but watching it for the first time it made absolute sense to me.
Leia’s Marry Poppins moment - She’s floating in the vacuum of space. There is literally no resistance other than her outward momentum keeping her from moving through space. Also, SHE’S A FORCE USER! It’s literally magic! I think using the Force to pull herself back into the ship through a vacuum is among the lesser Force tasks someone could accomplish!
Finally on these last few points, criticizing this series for science choices is just silly. There are laser swords, space wizards, and made up elements with magical properties in the story. Some of these criticisms just don’t stand up when you look at the entirety of the story.
Poe’s Mutiny and Holdo’s decision not to tell him the plan - He was just demoted for disobeying a direct order, and getting dozens of people killed. He should have been jailed! And why in the galaxy would the Admiral share her plans with such an officer. He just showed he’s not trustworthy. And she’s the commander. She is under no obligation to share her plans with anyone! There have been spies all over in Star Wars. She was absolutely right not to share them with him.
So Poe follows up his earlier insubordination with a mutiny? When Leia woke up and ended it, she realistically should have executed him, not stunned him. The decision not to is the only one that doesn’t make any sense to me.
Finally, the jokieness. I laughed a lot when I saw this movie. I think the decision to make Hux into a punching bag the whole movie removed a lot of the fear factor from his character. Going into TRoS, I would consider him a major potential possible for turning on Kylo Ren. The “your mother” joke didn’t bother me. Luke throwing the lightsaber over his shoulder was shocking. I envisioned for 2 years what happened in that moment, and never once did I imagine anything close to that. I like being surprised. The sea cow milking scene was one of the few scenes in the movie I thought I could have done without.
If these scenes and jokes bothered other people, I get it. I like a Star Wars movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously. The prequels were sorely lacking in genuine humor. The humor in the OT is one of its strengths. Humor in these movies is a fine line. Sometimes they’re going to fall short one way or another. I’m willing to give them a pass when they narrowly miss it. I don’t want a humorless drama. Nor do I want a Star Wars comedy. Give me another Space Balls if you want to do that.
This isn’t a comprehensive list of all the critiques. But I feel I’ve covered most of the big ones.
Ultimately I think it comes down to are you really a Star Wars fan? The OT has its die-hards, but it’s not perfect. Some of the acting and dialogue in ANH is not great. The ewoks in Jedi were loathed by many fans. Empire is perfect and I will not debate that. Many hated the changes in the Special Editions, Han shot first!. The prequels are rough! Both Anakin actors did the best with what they had, but George Lucas should have brought on script writers and directors the way he did with Empire and Jedi.
I think to say that The Last Jedi is the movie that destroyed the franchise after The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones is absolutely disingenuous.
