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This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3
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Author
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Topic: Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)
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Mike Blakesley
Film God
Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 12-18-2017 11:59 AM
I have a feeling that Han Solo was killed off because Harrison Ford didn't WANT to do another one. He reportedly had asked to be killed off in one of the three original trilogy movies, I'm not sure which one.
I enjoyed the movie but I agree it was a little flat. I thought the running time and pacing was fine, (I didn't find myself getting bored) but I was wishing the main characters would be together on the screen more often.
The revelation of who Rey's parents are was one of the flat moments. It didn't have the impact of the "I am your father" scene in "Empire" -- I suppose a lot of people were banking on something like that happening, and the movie goes a different direction. This movie needed some profound scene like that to make it great. But if it DID happen, then people would have been griping that this film was just treading old ground. I still think there is more to that angle of the story that hasn't been told yet.
It's true that Finn could have mostly been edited out and not affected the overall plot. Which was a surprise to me -- I thought he was going to become more important to the story, not less. Again, maybe there's more to his story for the next installment.
I was disappointed in Carrie Fisher's scenes during the battle segments. She clearly couldn't raise her voice beyond much of a whisper, which was too bad. Her reunion meet-up with Hamill was one of my favorite bits of the movie, but other than that....well I hate to say it but I think the next movie will be better off without her, as long as they figure out a graceful and meaningful way to handle her exit.
I agree with Lyle about the direction of Luke Skywalker's character. I suppose it's part of the story that he's become cynical and grouchy in his old age, but I was hoping once he "returned" to the story he'd also return to his former, smartassy self. Sadly that didn't happen. He did a fine job with his scenes as they were, but I was expecting him to add to the "fun" angle of the movie and he didn't.
Spoiler Alert - Click to Toggle
He appears to die, disappear or something at the end of the movie but they never acknowledge that happening, so I have expectations he may reappear in some form in the next movie...maybe a ghost, like Yoda and Ben Solo have done.
The battle scenes were terrific, and the new character Rose, played by Kelly Marie, was my favorite character in the movie. I thought the sound mix was outstanding. Nice thumping bass, good use of the surrounds.
Anyway, "flat" though it may have been, it did provide a good leadup for Episode IX which if they follow all the right threads, should be an outstanding movie with J.J. Abrams at the helm. PROVIDED THEY MAKE IT AN ENDING OF THE TRILOGY, AND NOT JUST A DUMB LEAD-IN TO THE NEXT TRILOGY.
3 out of 5 stars for me. My wife also enjoyed it, and for her not being a Star Wars fan, that was surprising.
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Pravin Ratnam
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 844
From: Atlanta, GA,USA
Registered: Sep 2002
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posted 12-20-2017 04:06 PM
If you don't like spoilers ,do not read this review.
Saw it at Regal atlantic Station's RPX theater. I wonder if I should ask for my money back since the picture brightness seemed dim and I noticed it for the last couple of movies I saw in this theater. Espcially compared to the IMAX presentations. Since they promise the absolute best presentation guarantee, maybe I should call them out on that and get a refund.
Getting to be middle aged, it is sad that I can not longer be jazzed up the by the opening crawl that enthralled me with anticipation in the past or even for A Force Awakens. Like the prequels these are perfectly decent movies and I actually didn't mind the humor used early in the movie. But they go so overboard with the Jedi mystique, it suffers from the same issues as the superhero movies. Too many powers and you wonder how the hell do they even die? And if they die, does it even matter much since they can obviously come back and interact with others normally.
As far as this movie, if I had no attachment to the original series, it is a decent piece of entertainment. But come on. once they knew Carrie Fisher died. and watch out SPOILER ensue, they should have reedited the ending of this movie.
They set it up so that Leia is the main old guard anchoring the final segment. And they have already said they will not CGI her at all. How the hell are they going to explain her departure? Just a reference in dialog "Oh , she is gone to a better place"?
The way they disposed off these characters with no much mourning or reflective scenes by other characters who suffered their loved ones leaving as even less emotion than when Luke stands by Darth Vader's funeral pyre in ROTJ.
This is what I would have done. I would have rewritten the ending once Fisher died(not that I was thrilled with it even if she lived). Luke lives for sure. I remove the scene of him vanishing into thin air. I then put in an epilogue of Carrie Fisher reflecting on all the losses. She had plenty of scenes where all she does is stare somberly. I am sure they could find some footage in the editing metaphorical floor where they could use unused footage for this. They mix it in with some reflections of Han, her son, and Luke. She goes to bed in a long shot (use body double here). Then she lays down old lady Titanic movie ending style (yes, it is corny, but you cannot have an anonymous send off to one of the main characters, so this is the best I got) and passes on because she feels she can pass on (makes beautiful symmetry with her real life mom dying the same way) knowing the rebel alliance is in good hands. Boom , you take care of it now instead of coming up with some clumsy explanation in Ep 9 and you also give yourself a chance to use the last remaining big actor from the original series in Ep 9.(sorry Billy Dee, you were cool and all, but you were not one of the big 3 in that).
So we go into Ep 9 without any of the big three and we probably will be subject to a lot of Luke as a freaking ghost type scenes advising the Keira Knightly look alike woman.
Oh, and the Leia using her force to move her unconscious self back into the ship from open space where she obviously has superman like body immune from getting destroyed in space visually looked so campy that i started to laugh.
Only redeeming thing was the movie never bored me. I still like Adam Driver as an actor . Nice to see Benicio back in a big movie. Finn had more personality in this movie than the opening one.
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Mike Blakesley
Film God
Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 12-21-2017 11:02 PM
quote: Pravin Ratnam
Then she lays down old lady Titanic movie ending style (yes, it is corny, but you cannot have an anonymous send off to one of the main characters, so this is the best I got)
I'll bet they thought of doing that, but here's why they didn't: This gives them a huge hook to pull people in to Ep IX. They already had plenty of hooks for VIII....mainly, Luke S.
I also expect Adam Driver to have the absolute shit beaten out of him in IX and wind up wearing a Vader-like suit/mask. That's what this one lacked, a bad guy in a mask.
I didn't mind the humor bits, in fact we laughed out loud at the on-hold joke. Sure it's not as good as the classic stuff, but nothing ever is -- with movies these days, to have humor you usually need some sort of bathroom / fart / shit / getting-your-dick-stuck-in-a-blender thing to get a laugh, followed by a bunch of R-rated language.
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Mike Blakesley
Film God
Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 12-23-2017 11:06 PM
quote: Pravin Ratnam
If all they wll do is explain how she dies, they might as well have wrapped up her death in part 8.
That's the hook....the explanation. Everybody will be at a fever pitch to find out how it's handled.
I fully expect Hamill will be back in some form or another....he'll be a hologram, a ghost, a dream sequence or something. Hardly any major character ever stays completely dead in Star Wars, unless they're bad guys. (I was a little surprised not to see a Han Solo cameo in this one.)
One thing I think we can all agree on... when it comes to Star Wars, a certain percentage of fans will hate anything they do, no matter what. If Luke had gone right back to being his old happy-go-lucky self they'd have complained about THAT, saying "his character should have been less happy having been exiled for 30 years."
What's strange to me is, they all KNOW they're going to hate anything new, so why don't they just ignore the new stuff and keep watching Episodes IV, V and VI over and over?
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