Thoughts on Star Wars: The Last Jedi - as told by concerned fans

"This is not going the way you think." - Luke Skywalker

After watching Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi twice in the theater, I couldn't help but feel disappointed. Prior to the release of the movie, I was fearing that Porgs and a rehash of The Empire Strikes Back would be the biggest problems I was going to face. But oh boy I was wrong. The movie broke my inner fanboy to the point that I got a newfound feeling of respect to the things the Prequel Trilogy got right. The movie definitely was not the worst of 2017 and was solid on the technical aspects at least, but I wanted to give out my thoughts on the movie as to why it was a let down. However, there have been thousands of reviews by fans that have been released in the past few days, and some of them have written down the same thoughts I have, only better. So I decided to compile and showcase some interesting quotes from these like minded fans who felt that The Last Jedi, at the very least, didn't live up to expectations. I won't claim any of these were written by myself originally, but they were too good to be left alone. This post isn't intended to be a scene-by-scene dissection of what the movie got wrong; I'll let the more passionate fans or someone like Mr. Plinkett to have that honor.

WARNING: POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD

In Star Wars: The Last Jedi, we first see Luke Skywalker just moments after right the end of The Force Awakens. What happens next felt like, in retrospect, a forshadowing of things to come. He takes Anakin's lightsaber from Rey and casually throws it away like a piece of junk. His father's lightsaber, the lightsaber he first used, the lightsaber he lost his hand with in his first lightsaber duel against his father, the first lightsaber ever seen on screen is tossed aside with little thought. For me, this scene feels like a metaphor for Disney throwing away the saga's rich heritage in favor of elements they can completely control and tailor to a focus group driven checklist. This one scene should set your expectations for this movie.

At best, The Last Jedi is a missed opportunity or a forced effort to clean the slate. To long time Star Wars fans, however, it may feel more like a cruel prank.

The Last Jedi indulges in some of the worst traits of the Star Wars saga (awkward sub plots, undeveloped characters, unearned dramatic queues), at the same time it conscientiously - almost spitefully - labors to discredit some of the best (epic deeds of heroism, the hard-earned nobility of Luke, the mythos of the Jedi). 

One user on the internet tried to rationalize the main theme of the movie. He said,

The Last Jedi was all about the heroes failing. There’s no more magic plot armor. Poe gets a lot of good people killed by his heroic plan in Act 1. Finn, Rose and Poe get a lot of good people killed by their heroic plan in Act 2. Luke gets a lot of good people killed 10 years ago by failing his failing pupil.

As a response to sacrifice the movie in the name of themes, subverting expectations, taking the Saga to a new direction, I feel that, in the words of other fans...

I found myself asking time after time, "did Rian Johnson (the writer and director of Episode VIII) even watch The Force Awakens?" Because it looks like that he went out of his way to burn every bridge JJ Abrams built in The Force Awakens, without leaving any new ones behind. Mysteries are left unanswered or given lousy, underwhelming resolutions. Relationships and character quirks are completely ignored or ruined. The characters and their respective characterizations are just awful. They might as well have just renamed them all and made them new characters entirely. 

JJ Abrams had set up so many interesting story threads in The Force Awakens, then Rian Johnson decided to go nowhere with most of them. Apologists claim this is "bold risk taking."

The problem is that little was accomplished by anyone in this movie, and what did happen had absolutely little meaning or purpose. It was like JJ Abrams set up the chess board and had everyone prepared to watch a well thought out game, then Rian Johnson sits down across from him, knocks over all of JJ's pieces and just says "I win..." Was it surprising? Sure. Was it unexpected? Of course. Does that make it a bold, fresh, or risky take on the game of chess? Nope. Does that make it good? Nope. It makes Rian Johnson a dickhead with no respect for the setting, or the people watching. And yet there are people who are saying it was a brilliant move, and defending that its good because it was something one never thought of it before.

This outing is so preoccupied with subverting expectations and disavowing its predecessors that it never actually gets around to creating a convincing or compelling narrative of its own. 

What some critics seem to like are the subverting of expectations. The problem for a movie goer such as myself is that those subverting of expectations completely destroys my willing suspension of disbelief that is required for me to buy into a fantasy/sci fi movie. I had an understanding of the powers of the force that were contradicted in order to surprise the audience. Characters go on quests for MacGuffin characters that aren't found and this call into question the narrative choice of creating that MacGuffin. Objects and character histories are set up as being important and then tossed off for a cheap shock. If they aren't important, they shouldn't be including in the storytelling or else I start to question the nature of the storytelling itself - destroying my suspension of disbelief.

This movie gets high review scores from critics because it tries to present itself as something clever and deep, a subversion of Star Wars conventions. It strokes the critics' hypothetical dicks because it makes them think themselves smart by "getting it". But the thing about genre subversion is that your supposed to give the audience not what they were expecting but something just as good or better, not give you absolutely nothing or lackluster - as was the case in The Last Jedi.

And no, making a jumbled, disjointed, unrecognizable mess that stupidly kills off important characters is not "taking risks". It's bad film making. Almost nothing of consequence is addressed in this film.

It's almost as if Rian Johnson disagreed with JJ Abrams' direction for The Force Awakens and sought to make a point by slashing away everything set in motion in Episode VII. I wish The Last Jedi could be redone entirely.

I get the sense that Johnson doesn't really loves Star Wars and barely understands the rich history and cultural impact it has. Despite The Force Awakens being a flawed film, I never doubted that JJ Abrams is a huge Star Wars fan. At the very least, he understood the tone of the saga. Some may applaud Disney for taking a risk, whereas The Force Awakens played it too safe, but The Last Jedi isn't a well-constructed movie. It feels that rather than immersing himself in the lore of Star Wars, Johnson spent his time reading fan theories to make sure that The Last Jedi fooled them all.

After watching the movie, I got this feeling that Disney and Rian Johnson only want to keep light sabers, untrained force users, and the whole Imperial vs. Rebel conflict for future movies. Instead of being a continuation of the Star Wars saga, this movie seems to be some kind of transition story to set up the rules for the future Star Wars movies. As a fan of the previous seven Episodes, I left the theater feeling something that I have never felt after seeing a Star Wars movie, and not in a good way.

In a pivotal scene in the movie, Kylo Ren says to Rey ,"Let go of the past. Kill it if you have to." How ironic that Rian Johnson is like Kylo Ren and wants nothing to do with nostalgic ideas of the past. Kill them all with no explanation and move on.

Rian Johnson failed to realize that The Last Jedi is the middle part of a three part Sequel Trilogy that should continue the previous narrative. Instead all the story threads laid out by The Force Awakens and the Original Trilogy are completely disregarded with little finesse. If this movie came through Disney's scrutiny without reshoots then God knows how bad Rian Johnson's new trilogy will be. Disney should cancel this trilogy because clearly he doesn't know how to make a proper Star Wars film.

Due to Disney's lack of transparency, after seeing this movie, one can sense the real reason why Colin Trevorrow was fired from directing Episode IX. He rocked the boat by pointing out what a cluster**** he was inheriting from Johnson. I never thought I'd say this, but JJ Abrams has my sincerest sympathies. I was excited after The Force Awakens for the next installment. After The Last Jedi though, I'm not as eager. I just hope J.J. Abrams can fix Episode IX and wrap this up in a respectable manner. 

To all the fans who originally wrote all the above quotes in their reviews, I would like to thank you for doing your best to express your thoughts on The Last Jedi.

There are reports of a 3 hour cut of The Last Jedi. I'm genuinely curious to see that version of the movie. Will it contain critical scenes, or is it more of the same of what we got in the theatrical release? 

The very last scene in the movie was also a radical departure from what any Star Wars film to date has shown. In all previous films, the final shot before we cut to credits is that of a key character in the story - from Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen in Revenge of the Sith to Leia on-board Tative IV in Rogue One. In The Last Jedi however, the final shot before the credits roll is that of a no name stable boy looking up to the stars.... Wow, what a fitting final visual cue for Rian Johnson and Disney's possible intent with The Last Jedi. That final scene reminded me of another somewhat similar ending:

Well done Rian Johnson, you reminded me of what is arguably the most disappointing ending in video game history as a final slap in the face. I'm excited for this movie's behind the scenes material, as he has a lot of explaining to do.

Speaking of endings, with JJ Abrams' return to the final installment of the Sequel Trilogy, I'm concerned the odds are against his favor. With only 2 years left (instead of the 3 years we got with I-VI) and the writer of Batman v Superman as the co-writer of the film, JJ Abrams has to pull off nothing short of a miracle to get this trilogy, the lore, story threads and characters he built back on the right track and deliver at least a satisfying conclusion.

The Last Jedi should be an important case study for all would be filmmakers and storytellers. In an established series like Star Wars, how far should one go to push and emphasize elements, themes, subvert expectations without damaging everything else in your story and alienating most of your audience?