Starwars the Last Jedi Movie Spoiler Review

SPOILER WARNING

With the Starwars the Last Jedi already showing in cinemas for a quite a while now I think its time we move to spoiler territory. For those who still havent seen the movie Id suggest you go watch it before returning to this Blog post. Ive seen the movie twice now so I think Im ready to do this. There will be spoilers, easter eggs and what not that is going to be tackled upon in this post. But if you dont mind being spoiled at any point then read on. You have been warned.

photo from: imdb.com

Starwars the Last Jedi is the second movie in the Sequel Trilogy that takes place after Return of the Jedi. There have been a lot of stuff being said in this movie both good and bad, and I aim to discuss my thoughts about them as well. So once again SPOILER warning to everyone who hasnt seen this movie since we are discussing some major key plots in Starwars the Last Jedi. Ill try to be brief.

SPOILER WARNING

 photo from: imdb.com

So lets first talk about easter eggs and what not. So right off the bat after the opening scroll we find what remains of the Rebel as they evacuation off on some planet. Its clearly a call back to that scene in Empire Strikes Back where even after destroying the Deathstar the Rebels are still on the losing streak and is retreating from an ice planet of Hoth. No ice planet though and no Luke hanging upside down ready to be monster food.

photo from: imdb.com

One can tell they did their own thing but had a lot of callbacks and easter eggs from the original and then some. Like that scene with Poe's X-Wing taking out the Dreadnoughts guns feels like that trench run with the Deathstar in New Hope where they cant take down a small fighter and had to scramble their tie fighters. Theres also part with the Falcon flying through the salt caverns later on in the movie with TIE Fighters chasing it which is undoubtedly a callback to the Falcon going through the Deathstar in Return of the Jedi.

photo from: imdb.com

Theres was that scene at the beginning with one of the rebels seeing the Star Destroyers coming out of light speed from the planets surface and I immediately thought of the Adama Maneuver from Battlestar Galactica. Some probably wont make the connection but a lot of sci fi fans will notice it too. In fact Id linked a youtube video of the Adama maneuver for reference below.

I also like how Lukes way of training reminds me of how Yoda teaches Luke back in Degobah. making fun of how little Rey knows about the Force. In fact the line "Its the ability to control people and lift objects" that was mentioned by Rey is pretty much how fans view the Force and it got a good chuckle out of me and a few others in the theater.

Oh yeah in case you werent paying attention I mentioned Yoda is in this movie as a Force ghost. And not a CGI Yoda but a puppet which Im sure delighted fans. And this is the cryptic, fun loving Yoda too. The one fans saw in Empire and Return. Its still the best Yoda in my opinion.

 photo from: imdb.com

Now lets discuss the issues I found in this movie. As much as a high score I gave on this movie it has it flaws the same way Empire had for me back in the day. So lets break it down as much as we can. First of theres the Porgs, cute as they may seem some folks dont seem to like these little folks as they are just seem to be there just to sell some toys for the Starwars line, but compared to introducing jar jar in the prequels and countless other version of Darth Vader this franchise had for Toys the Progs is the least of the issue I found in this film. There was also the BB9-E which was BB8 counterpart that me and probably a lot of others wanted a showdown between these two droids. It didnt happen, but we still got one more movie after this so we can always hope. ...and Starwars is build on Hope.

I know a lot of folks got triggered when Leia did a Mary Poppins move with the Force since it hadnt been done before in movies but then again Yoda said to Luke in the very same movie "We are what they grow beyond." So in technicality Luke and Leia is stronger in using the Force than their previous masters...stronger than Yoda or Vader. And it gets stronger the further along the line it goes. So going by this idea why shouldn't Leia have the ability to use the Force to save herself at that scene. The Force can lift rocks and heck knows its been shown in the game Force Unleashed to push away big ships and what not in space. In Starwars the Dark Empire we even see the Force create a sort of Blackhole that can destroy a ships the size of a Star Destroyers. In addition  Leia isnt someone who likes to be the damsel in distress so she probably had Force training herself to some extent. Theres even comics and books that back these up.

photo from: imdb.com

Now going to the character themselves some complained is we didnt see much of a back story on Snoke on how he turned Kylo to the dark side or why Luke would try to kill Kylo as he is still technically Han and Leias son. We didnt see how Vader was turned to the dark side by the Emperor either back in the original trilogy and no one complained why Ben would go into hiding when Vader a student he claimed he was teaching turned into the dark side. I guess the writer thought that the fans would have already filled the gap as this kind of turning into the dark side of the force since this has been done before. The movie was set to bring something new to fans not remake a formula thats already been done before. Wasnt that one of the major flaw they didnt want after the Force Awaken was shown. That it felt like too much like the original trilogy. 

And another fault that popped up was that Snoke was easily killed in this film. Im sure this is a major flaw to a lot of folks seeing as how Snoke was build into this all powerful bad guy that pulls Kylos string only to be killed so easily. But wasnt that how the original trilogy did it too. Palpatine was this awesome villain that pulled Vaders string. Palpatine was so powerful that didnt need to hold a lightsaber and has lightning coming out of his hands, then only to be chunk down a long shaft like some kids pog. For me how easily Kylo killed Snoke this just show how much more of a threat Kylo is. Cause somehow despite Snokes claim he can read Kylos thought, Kylo found a way to mask his true intent and managed to kill Snoke and take control so easily.

photo from: imdb.com

Then there was the comedy in the Starwars and say its out of place. Personally I think the comedy parts are just fine and dont take away much from the film itself. When I watched Starwars I think of it as this great space adventure, a sci fi tale of bravery, good versus evil and the good guys saving the Princess. Its not supposed to be very dark aside from the villain side of things. This is Starwars not Batman.

Why didnt the First Order destroyed the Rebels right away? It was so easy with the amount of firepower at their disposal. Well why didnt Palpatine put two shield generators on Endor or even have a Star Destroyer hovering said shield generators filled with TIE Fighters in the movie to defend it. He instead rely on Stormtroopers that can easily be overpowered by a bunch of bears armed with sticks and rocks. The villain in Starwars isnt tactical geniuses and its been common since the series started. Sure there are folks like Palpatine or maybe Admiral Thrawn who can be clever at times but even they arent perfect. The Empire much like the First Order underestimate the Rebels and think giving them a slow agonizing death is the best way to do things. In the original trilogy they didnt even blow up the Falcon when it first encountered the Deathstar and just conveniently tractor beamed it on board so that Luke and the gang can rescue Princess Leia. Stupid idea if you ask me. I mean like in Return, didnt Vader throw the Emperor down a shaft. Seriously why do they have a shaft in that room anyways? Thats like putting a ravine in your kitchen.

photo from: imdb.com

Then theres also Rey, who folks think her training with Luke is rushed. Yes it is. But that is one of the plus side of the movie than it is the bad. Rey is already adept to defend herself as you see her in the movie wield her Bo staff and likely has more than enough skill from surviving alone in Jakku for so long. She clearly is strong enough to hold her own against one or two of Snokes Praetorian guards in the movie itself. This also explains why she can hold her own against Kylo in the final scenes of the Force Awakens. She doesnt need Lightsaber training from Luke. And her ability with the Force probably exceed Lukes as he seem to be afraid of her raw power on Force using.  Being untrained by Luke means Rey will have to discover how to use the Force herself in her own way, the sacred Jedi texts she took from that island will give her pointers but its going to be her own thing. So expect the use of the Force in ways havent been touched upon in future films.

Let's discuss Holdo character at this point. Why didnt she tell Poe about his plans from the start? Well Im guessing after the First Order started tracking them through lightspeed she wasnt sure they got a spy in their group so she wanted to keep everything hush hush. She is a seasoned leader and must have had her fair share of backstabbing and tactical in and outs. She did tell Poe that she has experience with pilots like him before. Its a big gamble really but if her little talk with Leia before Leia boarded that escape shuttle its clear Holdo has done this gamble before and lost many a good men. So that being said why she did she also stayed on the ship rather than set it on auto pilot or something? My take on it is that she doesnt rely on technology much which again probably hints something in her experience in the past. Holdo is sort of that eccentric commander who everyone doesnt understand and get along with but ends up being right and saving the day. Sure they could probably get someone else to replace her but given the rank and situation they are in with most of the leaders gone and Leia in a coma they dont have time for that. It just showed how much the Rebels are in dire state. She does have a reputation that even the greatest resistance pilot like Poe is aware of.

photo from: imdb.com

The major drawback I can probably agree on is the Canto Bight scenes with Rose and Finn. It just takes way too long for my taste. The setting is uninspired and serves no real purpose but getting them inside Snokes ship and the the First Order finding out the Rebels are using shuttles due to a certain hackers betrayal. They could have used up that time in the Casino planet for a longer fight scene for Finn and Captain Phasma which I still feel is a great character that is still not fully used yet. The whole casino arc is just so they can show a kid which can use the Force on a broom and probably other cleaning items. It really hurt the movie for me but then you remember how Boba Fett is and how much screen time jar Jar and the Ewoks had in the prequel and the original trilogy so Starwars other previous movies isnt all perfect either. 

The Rose and Finn arc would have just been fine if say Rose just turned out to be this great hacker and she and Finn just went into Snokes ship undetected and stuff happens leading to them and Captain Phasma sort of have a cat and mouse chase on Snokes ship. It would easily eliminate the need for the casino stuff and gives the Rose character a bit more relevance and depth aside from a girl that stuns folks that jumps ship and a sister to some Rebel Bomber pilot. We could probably have gotten a longer fight scene and screen time for Captain Phasma too.

Im no hardcore fan of Starwars and I havent played all the games, owned any Starwars items save for a shirt and maybe some cute tumblers, I might have missed a lot of stuff or interpreted them wrongly. The movie isnt perfect but its very enjoyable and theres a lot of awesome stuff in it that fans will be talking about for years to come. And probably some stuff they hate as well. Its a movie that did its own thing. Its sadly still no Empire Strikes Back.