Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)

[BoyScoutKevin]

So, it was mostly positive for most people.

The opening crawl is back.

Some have said this is the 2nd best in the series, so far, next to The Empire Strikes Back (tesb.) If so . . .?

I disliked (tesb,) but even years later, I am not sure why.  I did like this one (tlj.)

What a difference 2 years make.

--Ren looks younger and more like a child. Does anybody know how old he is suppose to be here?
--While Hux looks older.

Some great lines in this film. Luke's reply to Rey saying that she was from Jakku, had me on the floor.

I was extremely disappointed by the action scenes in (tesb.)

I was not disappointed by the action scenes here.
--the battle in space. Not the 1st one, but the 2nd.
--Though, (IMHO) that was not as good as the land battle.
--Though, (IMHO) that was not as good  as the chase scene thru Canto Bight.

(IMHO) a much better looking film than (tesb.)
--the cinematography
--the costumes
--the film locations
--the sets

Yes, Virginia. There are children in Canto Bight. And they have the Force.

This had more of an emotional punch than (tesb) for me.

In the Navy. Those were naval rankings. It's the navy in space.

The twists and turns.

I wonder if Rey's parentage will hold thru Episode IX, or whether there will be another twist.

Religion seems more prominent here than in some of the other films. A bit thin, but it is there.
--Luke. Jesus had 13 disciples. The original 12 + the 1 to replace Judas. The same number that Luke had.
--Ren. Satan. Not only the darkness in both, but just as Satan was cast out for rebelling, so Ren was cast out for rebelling, and just as Satan took some followers with him, so Ren took some followers with him.

Both sides in the war were more diverse, as were the civilians we saw.

Thus, I found it less disappointing than (tesb.) The only disappointment I had in this film was that I thought we'd get to see the Knights of Ren, and I seemed to have missed that.

(tesb) killed off any interest I had in Star Wars for 15 years. Though, I did see the 2 Ewok movies. Liking the 1st, but not the 2nd or the sequel. (tlj) on the other hand has increased my interest in seeing Episode IX.

Who will not be back in Episode IX?
--Leia. Because Carrie Fisher is dead.
--Snoke. Even he cannot come back from what happened to him.
--Till you see that body. Even Phasma might be back.

Leia will be missed. If Episode VII was Harrison Ford's film, and Episode VIII was Mark Hamill's film, then Episode IX was meant to be Carrie Fisher's film. Yet, I believe the actors they have now, for the most part, can carry on.

So, think salt and not book burnings.

What's next?
Certainly, there should be something before A Wrinkle in Time in March. That is not the 1st adaptation of the book. There was an earlier TV version, which I saw, but do not remember. What I ddo remember is the teacher reading the book to the class, and that was over 50 years ago. A book that won the most prestigious prize in children's literature. The Newbery. An award that has been given out for almost an 100 years.

[akiratubo]

I'd rank it on the very bottom, below TFA/Attack of the Clones (previously tied for the lowest).  Nothing about TLJ worked for me, at all.  I wish I hadn't even seen it, to be quite honest.

[sprite75]

I liked it well enough.  I actually saw it twice - the local independent theater where I live had to close on New Year's Day so I decided to go see one more movie at that theater before that happened. 

I was a bit disappointed that they didn't have Benicio Del Toro play the role of Thrawn in the movie.  That would have been so awesome as opposed to the DJ character they had him play, and made the film so much better.  Especially if he supplanted that whiny little bastard Hux, who irritates me about as much as Jar Jar.

[Trevor]

One scene in this made me howl with laughter: Luke is shot at and after the smoke blows away and the dust settles, he walks on and brushes a bit of dust off his jacket. 

I have never seen a film where the audiences were more divided in their opinions than this one.

[Alex]

I was asked for my opinion on this by a workmate and told him there was too much comedy, the Leia space walk was stupid and the casino bit should either have been dropped or developed more. Everyone else who had seen it seemed to agree with those sentiments and that other than those parts that it was a good movie.

[Neville]

I thought it was a decent blockbuster, but little else. If anything, they've provided Mark Hamill with a well deserved opportunity to shine as well as moved the plot of the series a bit further.

I just can't believe how soft the fans have been on the new two movies, after all the backlash George Lucas had to face with his second trilogy. Like those movies or not, but at least they tried to give something different -as well as familiar- and had coherent character archs. These two movies -three if you count "Rogue One" - on the other hand look as if 10 year old kids were given all the money in the world to film their Star Wars toys. Every single plot point is rehashed from the first trilogy and characters go in one direction, then backpedal furiously to do the opposite.

What's the point, really?