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I really like Star Wars:The Last Jedi. I've seen it twice at our AMC Dolby Cinema theatre. The second time we watched the first showing (9 a.m.) and to my surprise, it only cost $8.99. I wasn't expecting the Dolby theater to honor matinee pricing, but they do.

 

My top 3 Star Wars films are now, Empire Strikes Back, Rogue One and The Last Jedi.

I really did not like this movie on several levels. I'll have to watch it again after some time has passed.

My work took us for our Xmas party. I was bored most of the film.

I disagree that the Finn/Rose side story was unnecessary. I do think the llama race through the forest was too much. I think you could trim the whole trip down by about half and still get what you need from it. I feel that storyline was there to help strike at the core of why we have to fight the First Order/Empire and really get what the Resistance is about. One of the contemporary gripes about the OT is that we never see why the Empire is so bad, we are just told it's bad. I think this scene helps remedy that a little bit. It also sets up one of the most poignant moments at the end of the film. I'm ok with both of those things.

 

I think a lot of people are upset that their plan didn't work. But I'm ok with that too because sometimes plans don't work and thus far Star Wars has lived on the back of harebrained schemes by rogue agents that need everything to happen perfectly to save the galaxy, and do. If it happened again here, what's new? What's interesting? But what happens if the crazy plan fails and everything goes totally tits-up? Finally we get to see that and our characters get to deal with it. It also is a character moment for Poe Dameron. It's his idea to send them on this plan. Many times in this film Poe is so sure he is right and I think it's important that sometimes he's not. People are wringing their hands because Rey "has no faults" (which isn't true), so here we have a moment where Poe puts everything at risk on the back of an unlikely plan that blows up (literally) in his face (not literally), and now he has to look his mentor in the face and accept a whole humble pie. That, my friends, is how you build a character. We don't love Han Solo because he's always right, we love him because he's usually wrong and Leia has to save his hash. It's how he recovers from that, that makes us love him. "you do have your moments, not many of them, but you do have them."

 

So I don't think we can throw away the Monte Carlo trip entirely. While it doesn't pan out as a plan it pays off in bigger ways for the film and its characters.

I feel that storyline was there to help strike at the core of why we have to fight the First Order/Empire and really get what the Resistance is about.

Because arms dealers are getting rich off of the First Order, and they abuse space llama stable boys? That’s all I got out of that whole trip. Plus, we found out the Resistance is making arms dealers wealthy, too. That, to me, was the biggest revelation for Finn on that whole trip.

 

One of the contemporary gripes about the OT is that we never see why the Empire is so bad, we are just told it's bad.

Well, they blew up Alderaan.

 

so here we have a moment where Poe puts everything at risk on the back of an unlikely plan that blows up (literally) in his face (not literally), and now he has to look his mentor in the face and accept a whole humble pie. That, my friends, is how you build a character. We don't love Han Solo because he's always right, we love him because he's usually wrong and Leia has to save his hash.

Yes, but Han was an interesting character from the outset. Poe still isn’t. Maybe I’m missing something, but he completely lacks any sort of charisma.

 

So I don't think we can throw away the Monte Carlo trip entirely. While it doesn't pan out as a plan it pays off in bigger ways for the film and its characters.

While I agree it may have helped develop Rose and Finn’s characters, I still feel the entire subplot felt tacked on. Their entire mission was nothing more than an elaborate countdown clock. They could have figured out some way for them to get directly onto the Dreadnaught, and accomplished the same plot points in far less time.

I think the larger themes of avarice and oppression are expressed in the reductions you list. I think those are important because, as you point out the Empire did blow up Alderaan, but the Rebels were already fighting them at that point and we don't know much of why. It just fleshes out the conflict a little more and makes it less one-dimensional. I guess you don't need it, but I don't think it's out of place.

 

We are definitely seeing different Poes. I think he's a great character. He's the up close action rebel pilot we all imagined Wedge Antilles to be, so he scratches that itch. He's also got that brash hotshot pilot thing that made Han so appealing. Honestly, he feels like this franchise's stab at a rogue type and I think it works. (I admit some bias because I'm also reading the Poe Dameron comic book and it's really good). I'll also argue that we have only lived with Poe for 3 years, but we've lived with Han for 40, so time may prove Poe to be better than you think at first blush.

 

I really think if they had tightened that sequence up a bit, it's purpose would be more evident.

Loved the movie because amongst all the new characters got more screen time (I am a big Poe fan BTW) and some good time with the older characters too.

 

"What I'm not looking forward to, is that J.J. Abrams will be back for Episode IX."

 

Oh F\/(|< no. Geez, after Star Trek and Star Wars I think Abrams needs to stay way from Sci-Fi movies. The man has no technical or scientific plausible sense to make a good movie of that type.

I guess you don't need it, but I don't think it's out of place.

I don’t necessarily think it’s out of place, I just think they spent way too much time on that part of the film for a minimal payoff. I’m not convinced downtrodden llama stable boys make for an evil enough empire. There needs to be something more sinister at work, and I think that was presented better at the beginning of The Force Awakens with the slaughter of the village.

 

We are definitely seeing different Poes. I think he's a great character. (I admit some bias because I'm also reading the Poe Dameron comic book and it's really good). I'll also argue that we have only lived with Poe for 3 years, but we've lived with Han for 40, so time may prove Poe to be better than you think at first blush.

I haven’t read the comic, so I can only go by the two films. But Han Solo was already cool in 1977.

 

I think Poe’s “rogue” nature felt tacked onto this film, just for the sake of adding drama, since in the previous film he seemed to be their highly respected, ace hot-shot pilot. He didn’t seem like a rule breaker there.

 

Maybe he’ll become a more interesting character for me in the next film, but for now, I still think of him as a minor character, at best.

Mark Hamill's own follow-up on The Last Jedi: https://twitter.com/hamillhimself/status/945784443964309505

Mark Hamill's own follow-up on The Last Jedi: https://twitter.com/hamillhimself/status/945784443964309505

 

Sounds more like damage control. He's been way to vocal about not liking the film to have a sudden change of heart for no good reason aside from his dislike for the film getting traction online. He even went as far as saying he's only been to some of the events around the movie because he's contractually obligated to do so.

♪ Bathrooms stinking like an open sewer, ♫

♫ Sticky messes on the floor ♪

 

Gotta keep that Christmas spirit!

Over Christmas we watched all of the Star Wars movies (in story order) before going to see Last Jedi.

 

One of the things I liked about Last Jedi is how many of the plot points didn't take the easy & predictable ending. There were lots of times where I thought, "that isn't what I expected".

 

Can someone explain why Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo didn't reveal her escape plan to Poe? Not doing so makes it seem like she had no plan, which kicked off the whole Finn / Rose stoyline that ultimately resulted in the First Order learning of the plan.

 

And while I could nit-pick the film to death, it was a decent addition to the Star Wars films - certainly better than it's immediate predecessor and in the top half of the list.

 

It will be interesting to see where the story goes from here as the Rebel Alliance tries to recover from being effectively wiped out from a military perspective.

Can someone explain why Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo didn't reveal her escape plan to Poe?

 

 

Not doing so makes it seem like she had no plan, which kicked off the whole Finn / Rose stoyline that ultimately resulted in the First Order learning of the plan.

 

Exactly.

 

It's just a plot device.