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nBy now it should be no surprise that The Last Jedi was annextremely polarizing film, some loved it, some hated it, me? I thought it was an extremely satisfying film,nI loved how it shook my expectations. Of course, I had expectations. We all did.nI remember having movie buff conversations around each one’s theories of whatnwas going to happen with Luke, Rey, Kylo and Snoke. Still, no matter how manyntheories we had, what was going to happen in the film was a mystery to us all.nBut boy was it fun to speculate! We should have took heed of the trailer fornthe film which did warn us “This is not going to go the way you think!” Andnthat was the problem, everyone thought the film was going to go how they wantednand when it didn’t they labeled it as “bad”. The reasons people gave for hatingnthe film weren’t truly convincing for me because they came of as either blindnhatred, or simply hatred because the film didn’t make their fan predictionsntrue. Here are some of the reasons I heard from friends and read on theninternet. Do you agree with them? For those of you who haven’t seen the filmnyet, do not go forward, this is an article that’s FILLED WITH SPOILERS! YOU’VEnBEEN WARNED!
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nThe Film is Feminist
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nI understand what you’re saying with this, but it’snsomething that’s happening in cinema and in society in general. Women are finallynbeing put in the forefront and given major roles in films and you primates outnthere who don’t agree are part of the problem. Since forever, women were alwaysnrelegated to playing ‘damsels in distress’ in films, always holding the man’snhand as he went ahead and solved the problem. Well, not anymore. Cinema is changingnand hopefully the world with it. Now women are leading the rebellion. Thoughnwhen you think about it, Leia was always leading the rebellion, so Star Warsnhas always been fighting to put women in the forefront in a way. Put that innyour pipe and smoke it. This is something I always applauded about The ForcenAwakens and it’s something I applaud with The Last Jedi. Women are in thenleading roles, they are at the crux of the plot, they are making the bigndecisions, they have something to say, it is they who are saving the galaxy. Theynare not being “bossy” they are simply saying what they think and making thingsnhappen. If you don’t like that, it’s time you checked your ways of thinking. Inhave no problem with the ladies taking the spotlight, it’s about time.
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nThe Porgs Are There for Selling Toys
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nFrom day one Star Wars went hand in hand with merchandising.nIt has always been part of the equation. It’s why Ewoks exist. Now I’ve nevernbeen one to hate the Ewoks, because dammit I’ve always dug them. Thosenmurderous cute fur balls. And I’m not one to hate any of the creatures that popnup in the Star Wars universe (Jar-Jar Binks excluded). I mean, cute cuddlyncreatures have always been a part of Star Wars, and you can’t deny The Porgsnare actually cute, so I don’t get this hate either. Plus they are part of the indigenous life forms of the Island, it actually makes sense that the island is so alive and filled with all these different lifeforms.
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nThe Comedy Doesn’t Fit
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nAgain, most of the things people hate about The Last Jedi havenalways been part of Star Wars, take for instance the comedy in it. Some have gonenas far as calling it “intrusive”, as if it didn’t belong. Others felt like ThenLast Jedi was closer to Spaceballs than Space opera? Hey people, wake up, there’snalways been comedy in Star Wars. Remember Luke saying “I used to live here younknow” and Han replying “You’re gonna die here, convenient!” Or how’s about Leincalling Han a “Nerf Herder” or Yoda acting all goofy? So what if Poe callsnGeneral Hux, Hugs? So what if Luke has funny looking nuns helping him out? So what if Chewbacca has a funny moment with the Porgs, anlittle comedy has always been part of the Star Wars formula. It’s nevernoverbearing.
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nLeia Using The Force
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nLeia Organa has always been strong with The Force. It’s whynshe hears Luke’s voice in her head when he called her while hanging from thenrafters of Cloud City in The Empire Strikes Back. It’s how she “felt” that he hadn’tndied inside the Death Star when it exploded in The Return of the Jedi. So whyndoes it create such a reaction when she finally uses it to save her life in ThenLast Jedi? Is it because audiences thought she looked stupid or silly floatingnthrough space? The Force has always been used by characters to float from herento there, why wouldn’t Leia use it to save her life in that particular moment?nAlso, for me it was a cinematic, symbolic and moving resurrection of Carrie Fishernand it became an impactful moment for me in the film.
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nLuke Would Never Become a Murderer
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nNow this point here is about interpretation. The big deal here is that Luke pulls out his sword on Kylo to kill him because he considers him too big of a threat. You have tonremember, Luke only considers killing Kylo for a second, only because he’d seennKylos future and he knew all the chaos and destruction that Kylo was going tonbring to the entire galaxy, all the millions that would die under his yoke asnruler of The First Order. But Luke only considered killing Kylo, he didn’tnactually do it because Luke knew Kylo might have some good left inside of him.nSame as Darth Vader had some good in him left at the end of Return of the Jedi.nAnd don’t give me the “Luke would never do that” shtick because Star Wars hasnalways been about that inner turmoil we all go through, that battle with ourninner demons and our dark side. I can feel the conflict within you, butnremember, Star Wars has always been about that very thin like between the Lightnand the Dark.
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nThe Casino Scene is Too Long
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nThe Casino scene on Canto Bight is actually a very importantnscene in the film, in fact, it’s the one with the most social commentary. It’snthe scene that’s making a statement about the society we live in. Child slaveryndoes in fact exist in our world, and its one of those things that’s extremely wrongnwith our reality, yet there it is. If director Rian Johnson wants to make ancomment about that and take a good chunk of the film to do it, then so be it. It’sna statement that matters. And it’s not unheard of in the Star Wars universeneither, The Phantom Menace shone a light on similar subject matter by havingnAnakin be a slave child as well. And who’s profiting from those races? The richnscum of the earth, who sell weapons of mass destruction, to both sides. Sonyeah, there’s something to be said there. On top of that, it’s an amazingnsequence filled with a bunch of creatures! I didn’t know where to look at withnso much coolness up on the screen. It was on part with the Cantina scene goingnall the way back to A New Hope, so yeah, it fits right in there in Star Warsnuniverse.
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nRose is a Weak Character
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nThere’s something to be said with Rose as well. Aside fromnthe fact that Disney is making a huge effort to make these films ethnicallyndiverse by including people of all colors and nationalities in their films, Rosenalso fulfills the role of representing the working class. Her character (asnwell as Finn’s who used to mop floors on the Dark Side) show how anyone of usncan make a difference and become a hero, we can all do something important withnour lives if we chose to. And that’s also a statement that matters. She savesnFinn from sacrificing himself unnecessarily. And it’s her dead sistersnmedallion (which she unselfishly gives up) that ends up saving the day at onenpoint. So, I guess she isn’t as weak a character as you all might think.
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nThey Shouldn’t Have Killed Off Snoke
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nStar Wars is famous for killing off cool villains. RemembernDarth Maul and how we all thought he was the coolest looking villain in StarnWars? Remember how we thought we’d be seeing a lot of him in future films onlynto see him get sliced in half in The Phantom Menace? Or how about Boba Fettndying in the Sarlacc Pit? The same can be said for the good guys. I mean, I wasnso freaking sorry to see Qui Gon Jinn dying in The Phantom Menace! Of course Inwas as shocked as the next guy when Snoke bit the bullet, but come one guys,nLucas had been playing that game since forever. Plus, I like the fact that Snokesndeath shook things up to the point where we have ask ourselves what the hell isnThe First Order going to do now? In this movie no one is safe! I loved that about it.
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nThe Film is Boring
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nNow this is just a lame ass comment. Really, a film thatngives us juicy character development and has all these amazing events takingnplace, how can you even say this film was boring. Rey meets Luke, The FirstnOrder is on The Rebels ass, Finn almost bites it, Snoke is split in half… andnthat freaking battle in Snokes Throne Room, that scene is the reason theyninvented phrases like “worth the price of admission”. This comment about thenfilm being “boring” seems like blind hatred to me. Moving on…
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nIt Doesn’t Feel Like Star Wars (It’s Too Disney)
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nThis isn’t true in my book for various reasons, but numbernone being that Disney has actually made sure that these films feel a lot likenthe first trilogy, like those first three films that came out. Some mentionednthat some of the creatures were too Disney, namely the caretakers, the crystal doggies and the Porgs…tonthat I say whatever, Star Wars has always had cute little creatures. How couldnit not feel like Star Wars when The Last Jedi shares similarities with both ThenEmpire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi? It has Luke and Leia. It has ThenMillenium Falcon, Yoda, C3-PO and R2. This is very much a Star Wars film mynfriends. It’s another brainless excuse to spew blind hatred.
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nSo that’s my take on it dudes and dudettes. I think thatnwhat is going on is the film destroyed all theories and didn’t give audiencesnexactly what they wanted, which is what The Force Awakens did. J.J. Abram’snfilm gave audiences exactly what they wanted. The Last Jedi did the opposite ofnthat and to me that’s the genius of it. J.J. Abrams is apparently going tondirect the next one, so let’s see what he does with this universe left inntatters. Maybe audiences will like Episode 9 more because J.J.’s the kind ofndirector who loves to give you guys what you want, but to me Rian Johnson madena bold and risky film and as a result ended up making one of the most talkednabout entries in the franchise. To me that’s something worth noting.
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nThe risk taker, destroyer of worlds, Rian Johnson.
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nWhen Empire Strikes Back was released, it had a similarnreaction to The Last Jedi. Audiences thought it was too dark and like LastnJedi, it wasn’t immediately loved by all. What we need to remember as audiences is thatnin Hollywood, the second film in a trilogy is always the one in which everythingngoes to hell. This is the chapter in which everything becomes complicated andnsad and all our heroes are left in dire straits. This is all done so that itnall resolves itself in the third and final chapter. This is George Lucas 101.nThis is screenwriting 101. So, don’t worry my friends, I’m sure Episode 9 willnbe a bit more uplifting and J. J. will be considered the savior of the StarnWars universe because his film will be the “happy ending” to this new trilogy. Inalso bet that like Empire Strikes Back, decades down the road, The Last Jedinwill be considered by many as one of the best in the series, mark my words.
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