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atamascolily · 4 years

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Extremely subjective opinions about Star Wars planets

Inspired by @carmarthenfan. I did my top ten faves, and then gave up trying to put these in order, so they're literally in the order they occurred to me.

(This is not conclusive; I left a bunch out. There are a lot of Star Wars planets, y’all.)

1. Tatooine.

Iconic. Terrible place to live. Great place for making your characters suffer. Who cares that the ecology makes no sense when you have wide open spaces, exposed rock layers and salt flats, and a rockin' aesthetic? Not to mention wretched hives of scum and villainy and also, like, ACTUAL DRAGONS.

(Thesis: literally half of what makes ANH so compelling is that it's set on Tatooine.)

2. Yavin IV (Legends)

AKA Jedi Jungle Friendship Camp or Space Guatemala. If I was going to live anywhere in the GFFA, it'd be here. Temple ruins (even if they are infested with Sith ghosts), hot springs, rainforests, biodiversity, awesome eclipses and a giant blood-red gas giant constantly overhead, not much in the way of development... what's not to like? (Okay, the Sith ghosts are a problem, but they got rid of those eventually.)

3. "Forest moon" of Endor, ROTJ

Redwood forests are awesome. I'd totally live in an Ewok treehouse. They're the only place in the galaxy with handrails!!

4. Coruscant

I'd probably hate to live there, but it's a great setting for fic. A surprisingly large amount of wildlife and plant life, despite the rampant development. Epic architecture, lots of culture, Luke has a cool retreat in the Manarai Mountains and Han and Kyp go skiing at the poles. Home of "the room where it happens".

(most of my fics to date are set on Tatooine, Yavin or Coruscant, lol)

5. Alderaan

Too bad the Empire blew it up. :( IDK about the whole Killik business, but Space Switzerland seems great, and I'd live there in a heartbeat. An actual multi-biome world, wow! I should write more fics about this place.

6. Myrkr (Legends)

Jungle planet with metallic trees and furry, Force-repelling lizards. Also giant vornskrs that use the Force to hunt. Don't forget Talon Karrde's awesome tree base!

7. Dagobah

I love this place, even if living there would be a challenge. Actually kinda has a functioning ecology in canon. Love the sheer abundance of snakes, plus dragonsnakes and the mangrove-like gnarltrees, which are the adult form of giant white spiders (I love plant-animal weirdness like this).

8. Mulako Comet (Legends)

Not technically a planet, but how can you not love a resort carved out of a giant frozen comet HOW. 10/10, we stan. The perfect place for a romantic getaway, especially if you are a water nerd like Luke.

9. Vjun (Legends)

The Gothiest goth place ever to Goth. Has names like "River Weeping" and carnivorous moss that nibbles on Obi-wan. <3. Vader's Goth castle was originally here before the writers moved it to Mustafar.

10. Honoghr (Legends)

Another terrible place to live, thanks to the Empire's sabotage, but I love there's actually an attempt at an ecological plot line here (Timothy Zahn is surprisingly good at those). A single biome world, but for a legit (and sad) reason. I should write some fics about this place.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Corellia (Legends) - It's okay, I guess? I'm not sure how I feel about the Corellian trilogy in general, but there are some things with the Selonians and the Drall that could be interesting for fic? Also, Treasure Ship Row is cool.

Kessel (Legends) - Hell-realm. Not sure if Kevin J. Anderson's "glitterstim" is the same as "spice," but Han and Kyp have to fight off giant spiders in the dark underground mine, which is certainly dramatic. Had a moon until a prototype Death Star blew it up.

Ithor (Legends) - JUNGLE PLANET POPULATED BY BOTANY NERDS, SIGN ME THE FUCK UP. But they won't let you actually explore the surface, because it's sacrilege. :(

Belsavis (Legends) - Hoth on the surface, Yavin in the rift valleys (but with, like, plantations), plus underground tunnels full of monsters and Jedi artifacts. Home of a secret Jedi botany master and his plant friends, so I'm in favor.

Chad (Legends) - Mostly ocean planet--I guess Space Earthsea, but with more geological activity? Callista makes it sound dreamy and idyllic in her flashbacks, but all the native Chadra-Fan are trying to GTFO, so I dunno.

Nam Chorios (Legends) -Like Tatooine, I would probably hate living there, but it's a great setting for a fic. The perpetual twilight would get old fast, but I love the terraformed ecology, the sentient rocks and the Force storms. Drochs are super creepy, though.

Hijarna (Legends) - There are ruins and sweeping vistas. What can I say, Karrde knows how to pick a secret base. :)

Dathomir (Legends) - Rancors have to be native to somewhere, so why not Dathomir? Courtship of Princess Leia is hokey and weird as all get-out, but it did give us Teneniel Djo, and I love her.

Hapes (Legends) -100% better at you than everything, and they know it. Leave them to it.

Yavin 8 (Legends) - Giant snakes and giant eagles... who literally eat children. Kinda weird being in a place where humanoids are on the bottom of the food chain. Love the Melodies' amphibious lifestyle, though.

Wayland (Legends) - Endor with the serial numbers filed off. Still love it, though. And Palpatine built a lair in a giant mountain! Props to him.

Ryloth (Legends) - sounds like an actual hell realm, but a desert planet? One half in perpetual sun, one half in perpetual darkness, and only a very narrow habitable zone? I’m game.

Msst (Legends) - Terrible, if accurate, name. All we ever see is the eponymous mist, plus giant pink creatures that numb you with poison and devour you alive. Brakiss's home planet. No wonder he hates everything. On the plus side, his mom got to see Luke Skywalker naked, so good for her.

Kashyyyk - TREE WORLD, WE GO HARD (part II). Except I don't think the Wookiees have handrails, do they?

Hoth - Ice, ice, baby. Ecology makes no sense; it's a fucking glacier. I would hate living there, but I've read so many fluff fics about snowfall fights and sex in X-wings and supply closets that I feel a kind of fondness for it.

Byss (Legends) - Dark. Hidden. Secret. Goth as fuck. I like it. Exegol, but with more class.

Ahch-To - Skellig Michael is great, but too recognizable as itself to really be a good stand-in for somewhere else. Puffins are better than porgs. Great place to hide, but I stand by my claims that the Jedi order could not have arisen there. Love the aesthetic. The Caretakers deserved way better!

Naboo - Space Italy. Would definitely live there. Closest thing we see to Dinotopia in the GFFA. (Tell me Theed isn't Waterfall City!)

Kef Bir - why not just let the original forest moon have multiple biomes? It's okay to have multiple-biome worlds, I promise, we wont get confused. Epic sweeping grasslands, steep cliffs, massive waves. I love what little we see of it.

Crait - you're going to film a Star War on the Bolivian salt flats and NOT make an epic dream sequence with the night sky reflected on the salt?? What. Hoth with red dust. Crystal foxes look like Vulpix from Pokemon, and I like them.

Ilum - cool ice planet gets turned into planet-destroying superweapon and blown up. Not a fan.

Bespin - I don't know about the ecology, but 10/10 for aesthetics.

Nal Hutta / Nar Shaddaa - Ecological disaster. Gross and full of Hutts.

Niraun (Legends) - I don't like caves and that's pretty much all we see. Especially if those caves are filled with carnivorous hordes of Space Army Ants.

Gamorr (Legends) - "Procedures programs for visiting Gamorr consist of a single line: DO NOT VISIT GAMORR. Really!” Especially do not visit in the season known as "slushtime".

Af'El (Legends) - I know very little about it, but it seems cool? "The Dark World". Home planet of the "wraiths" (Defel) and the homunculus wasps.

Kijimi - "Disneyworld with space facism". Swirling snow and stone looks cool at night. Too bad that fight scene was such a mess.

Takodana - it's the English Lake District, I'm never going to be able to suspend my disbelief to believe it's anything else.

D'Qar / Ajan Kloss - Yavin IV knockoffs. If you want me to care, you're gonna have to give me something better.

Exegol - this “planet” is just a CGI soundstage with a floating pyramid/arena whatever, and lightning. Weather instantly improved when Palpatine died, which strongly suggested he liked it that way. Knockoff Byss.

Mustafar - Literal hell-realm. Lava does not work like that. And apparently, ROTS insists it also has snow and trees, which seems like a little too late.

Canto Bight - you'd think people with that much money would have a better-looking planet. ughhhh.

#star wars #ecology #fictional natural history #fic ideas

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mrmallardsmobileposts · 4 years

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How I Think The Star Wars Sequels Should Have Happened: Another MrMallard Nerd Moment

(MAJOR SPOILERS)

The Force Awakens:

fine jumping on point. Not perfect, but honestly a return to form in regards to making Star Wars movies fun again. Keep TFA as-is, warts and all - the trick is paying this movie off by the end.

The Last Jedi:

Less faux-Guardians of the Galaxy humor. That's not to say "no humor", I honestly thought Luke Skywalker had the best jokes of the movie, but less "your mother" and less "Finn wakes up from a coma and drips IV fluid everywhere, Wakka Wakka!". The former is corny, the latter is undignified and actively cheapens character development from the prior movie.

Cut the stampeding race-beasts, because it reeks of Disney's "fuck you we're Disney" money, but keep Canto Bight as a whole. The alien designs are charming - it's a nice moment of fanservice, along with the Jizz music. It also serves as a nice character-building exercise for Rose and Finn.

Ultimately, I think it might have been a better idea to kill off Leia in this movie considering Carrie Fisher's passing. I don't dislike her in this movie, and I honestly enjoyed the scene of her in space - my first thought was "holy fuck she can use the force!!" - but I think it would have been better for her to pass on in this movie, both logistically and for her character. That, or they should have scaled back her cobbled together Frankenstein-performance of CGI, cut lines and recontextualised footage in TRoS. Either/or.

Keep the mutiny plot with Poe, but something has to be done with how they treat the secret plan. The resolution to the mutiny plot was the thing that bothered me the most with TLJ, but it's pretty much the only thing for Poe to do in the movie and it adds conflict to the main story I guess. Making the Holdo/Poe seem a little less personal might help? idk. honestly a lot of this storyline felt forced.

Don't try and resolve Rey's backstory in this movie. Keep it as a running mystery. I understand that they were trying to go for a clever subversion in this movie, but it just added another stupid thing that TRoS bad to address and it honestly kinda ruins the trilogy.

Honestly, either cut Crait entirely and make it the beginning of the next movie - bc the movie's already two hours long and it feels like the final battle stretches the movie out beyond its natural ending point - or shorten it a bit and make it a bit more functional. It looks cool, but at that point it's like tacking an extra mile onto a marathon.

Also, don't shoehorn a failed heroic sacrifice with Finn imo. That, or give him more screentime and character development to build up to that moment. Post-TFA, he's really half-baked, and I honestly think he should have been more of a focal character next to Rey. The heroic sacrifice felt like it came out of nowhere, and by thwarting it and adding the Rose Tico scene, it felt like a waste of time even having it in there. It comes and goes with no fanfare.

Honestly, I would have preferred if Luke stayed alive at the end of the movie. I think his death was a movie too soon. Saying that, I think they nailed his death in this movie - if they were gonna kill him off, I think they did it right. Also, don't kill off Snoke. It's a cool scene, but it fucks up the next movie.

Re: Rose Tico - she's not my favorite part of the movie, but I don't actively hate her and I think the response to her character that Kelly Marie Tran had to face was absolutely disgusting. I think her plotline with Finn was a little underbaked, and that scene at the end where she prevents his heroic sacrifice just kinda sidelines them both. I think making her a navigator would have helped her character in TLJ and TRoS.

In short: trim a few excessive CGI scenes, cut a few cornball jokes out, play around with the characterisation and tone of the mutiny plot, dignify Finn's character instead of reducing him to a rehashed coward, comedic relief character and pointless failed Rebel martyr, and maybe keep Luke Skywalker alive at the end. Bring the movie in at around 2 hours max.

Keep Luke Skywalker as-is, bc his character is a highlight of TLJ.

The Rise of Skywalker:

Kill off Luke Skywalker in this movie. Seriously, just cut and paste his death at the end of TLJ into this movie. Work him into a reduced role when Rey junks her ship, like the force projection messed him up and he doesn't have much longer to live, and have him help her when she returns to his island planet instead of adding a phoned-in Force Ghost appearance. Maybe have her there when he passes?

Reduce Leia's role in this movie instead of stitching together a Frankenstein's Monster of a performance. Not to be morbid by that reference - it's just that everything she says feels so stilted and wrong, like you can definitely tell they've thrown all the scraps they have left into her character in this movie. It doesn't feel natural or respectful for her character to spit out non-sequiters for the characters to respond to in an equally unnatural sort of way.

Honestly? Canonise Fey/Rinn, however you want to portmanteau Rey and Finn's ship name. If you give Finn more of a character arc in TLJ instead of side-lining him, and establish that he and Rey are particularly close - which they are IMO - and then pay off that "I have something to tell you" beat with a confession of love. This isn't a stab against Reylo, though I've certainly had words to say about Reylo, I just think Finn/Rey is a more wholesome ship and I prefer this dynamic to the fuckin dark side/light side paradigm of Reylo. I Just don't care for it. Kylo Ren's conflicted nature doesn't have to resolve in romance. Gimme Rey/Finn.

Snoke gets offed by Palpatine. There's no breeding vat for Snokes, but if the movie wants to suggest that he's still just a puppet or a creation, that's fine. That, or build Snoke up as the bad guy, and either follow through on that or have Palpatine be a twist halfway through the movie.

Maybe make Palpatine a Sith Ghost? They do exist to some degree. Or have him stuck in some other limbo that requires him to hijack Rey. Anything is better than that "if I do this you do this, but then I'll do this so you would have to do this, but really I'm going to do this so either way my entire plan was completely unnecessary lmao" clusterfuck where he's a living corpse impaled on a robot arm.

Cut out the macguffins, or make them feel less inconsequential. Okay, so the dagger storyline involves rebooting C3PO. It has stakes and gravitas to a degree. Cool - keep that. What the fuck is up with the wayfinders though? Why are there only two? Why do they need to be so convoluted?

Maybe have Maz Kanata talk about Luke's lightsaber, and/or have her involved in finding a way to Palpatine. It would pay off her appearance in TFA and explain her importance to Luke.

By making Rose Tico a great navigator in TLJ, her role on the team can be expanded in TRoS and she can do like star charts and stuff for all the different worlds they're going to - she can come along instead of being fucked over by JJ Abrams in this movie. She can even help with Maz Kanata's wayfinding plan. In short - make her a part of the team.

Honestly, fuck the Knights of Ren right off. They're a waste of time. That, or set them up in TLJ - hell, have one of them on Canto Bight and another one on Snoke's ship. Maybe even retcon Phasma into being a Knight of Ren. Anything but bringing them back as a mook squad in this movie, with no weight or character.

Honestly? Show Palpatine surviving the Death Star crash. The retcon is all the more painful for being completely and utterly unexplained. Doesn't matter if you have to touch the source material to do it, CG in a force shield as Palpatine falls through fire and have him hobble to a life support pod that takes him to where he is in TRoS. Literally anything is better than "Somehow, Palpatine returned".

Either cut the healing powers, or leave them in sans Reylo kiss.

In short: reduce Leia's role instead of using cut content and a CGI puppet to stitch together a performance, leave Luke alive until this movie, kill Snoke in this movie OR have him be the big bad, make Finn/Rey a thing over Reylo - again, no hate, I just prefer this pairing over Reylo - write more details about Palpatine's survival, either put some Knights of Ren into TLJ or don't have them at all, get rid of the Wayfinder macguffins and/or work Maz Kanata and "master navigator" Rose Tico into a plot to find Palpatine.

At the end of the day, there should have been a planning committee for the Star Wars story, not for the merchandise. You can see from how the sequel trilogy crammed out merchandise that Disney was clearly asking for marketable merch, but the story is a trainwreck - there was a Star Wars committee, just not where the property needed one.

The sequel trilogy was a worthwhile experiment imo - it didn't pay off, but it was worth doing just to see if it was possible. But even then, I would prefer three decent movies over a couple of experimental trainwrecks retroactively ruining one decent movie.

This post was mostly trying to work with what the movies already have, though by TRoS you really do have to start overhauling shit to make it work. In my eyes, the longest that these movies should run is two hours - any more than that is a slog, especially when the movie feels like it takes two hours. The Last Jedi felt like two and a half hours. The Rise of Skywalker felt like a two hour movie crammed into 80 minutes, despite the fact it was longer than 2 hours. The best way to make these movies more watchable is to make them shorter - cut out superfluous money shot scenes like the Canto Bight chase, have more efficient scenes to balance out the stylish scenes. The sequel trilogy is short on efficiency imo, and without a movie where it feels like progress is being made, the style doesn't work.

So tweak some things to make each movie more efficient.

#star wars #finn/rey for life suck it haters

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youremyonlyhope · 4 years

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The Last Jedi

Here we go. The most controversial Star Wars movie ever (unless Rise of Skywalker has reviews that are just as mixed. I haven’t read any so I don’t know how it’s been received yet.) I actually really really enjoyed the Last Jedi, but I haven’t rewatched it since I saw it in theaters.

Also, unrelated, but literally just a few hours ago I met Oscar Isaac. I was doing a caroling event where I work, and he came by with his son to watch. During one of our breaks, he asked if his son could try the microphone and he held him up so he could whisper and sing stuff into the mic. It was adorable.

I seemed to be the only person who recognized who he was, though one of my co-workers said he had thought so too but he wasn’t sure until I confirmed it. So I went up to Oscar and said hi, asked if he was Oscar Isaac, shook his hand, and thanked him for coming. He says that it was great and that his son loves to sing.

I always joked that I’d bump into Oscar one day since he lives in Brooklyn, but I didn’t think it’d actually happen. And not while I’m wearing a Star Wars shirt and Star Wars socks (which he obviously couldn’t see since I was bundled up in a coat and a scarf and boots but whatever). And definitely not the day before I’m supposed to see the Rise of Skywalker.

I’m still freaking out oh my god. Ok. Time to rewatch the Last Jedi.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... This was the first Star Wars movie I’d seen in theaters in like 12 years at this point. Seeing those words on a giant screen again was amazing. “Certain that Jedi Master Luke Skywalker will return and restore a spark of hope to the fight.” I love that line. I love any and all comparisons of Luke to hope. Yes I am biased. But also, restoring the spark is exactly he does in the end so yes, I love it. It’s just now hitting me that we’re picking up exactly where we left off. Having 1 night between the two movies is every different than having 2 years. ...Was that whatsherface from Game of Thrones, Catelyn’s creepy sister? (IMDB says yes) *BB8 beeps* “Happy beats here buddy, come on.” BB8 sort of said the thing! Also, OH MY GOD I JUST MET OSCAR ISAAC AND NOW HERE HE IS ON MY SCREEN WHAT THE HELL. Was today even real? Oh General Hugs. “Skinny guy. Kinda pasty.” Knowing Oscar and Domnhall are friends makes this better. Oh BB8. Very honorable of Billie Lourd’s Lieutenant Connix to make sure she’s in the last ship leaving the base so everyone else leaves before her. I forgot about the chain reaction of bombs destroying their own Resistance ships... You know, Paige dying while dropping the last of the bombs was already emotional. Rewatching it after you know she’s Rose’s sister makes it worse. First Binary Sunset of the movie. General Hugs has a very good upset face that makes me not feel bad for him at all. More like I want to punch him. Snoke can use the Force across the galaxy... forgot about that. I realized I didn’t mention this in the last one, but I remember the crew complaining that when they filmed the end of Force Awakens it was a cloudy day, but then when they went back to the island for TLJ it was super sunny. And now that it’s been pointed out, I noticed it immediately. Luke throwing the lightsaber. I can’t remember if I was spoiled for this but I feel like when I watched it, I wasn’t that thrown off by it. Something else I didn’t mention at the end of Force Awakens is that I LOVE this set. The stone houses are amazing. Oh porgs. Also, that porg looking into the lightsaber always gives me anxiety. The first words we hear Luke say in 40 years are an annoyed ��Go away.” which at least is less whiney than the Tosche Station. Oh Chewie’s like “DUDE. WE NEED YOU.” “Wait... where’s Han?” Awww. Throwing in a little Vader’s theme in there. More temper tantrums. People getting mad at Luke calling a lightsaber a laser sword (in a purposefully mocking way) even though George Lucas himself called them that in some interviews. Yes, it’s not a laser sword, but Luke is trying to show how ridiculous he thinks the idea of him taking down everything is by calling a lightsaber that. I remember being like “Luke... no let’s not just milk that thing... oh ew” I do love the shot of Luke using the giant stick to cross to the other cliff and kill the fish. God that’s a steep hill. “No one’s from nowhere.” “Jakku.” “Alright that is pretty much nowhere.” That’s funny. “It’s time for the Jedi to end.” Remember when that line in the trailer made the fandom literally break down? I love knowing that behind the scenes, Carrie had to slap Oscar a billion times. Also, I do not blame Leia at all. So many people were mad about Leia and Holdo demoting Poe, but Poe was too fearless in that moment. Yes, he destroyed the ship and it worked out, but they lost so many people and they already didn’t have many to begin with. It was worth it, but at a very high cost. So I don’t blame her. Heyyyyyy it’s that girl from that Black Mirror episode and what was that other show? Chewing Gum or something? (IMDB says yes it’s Michaela Coel) See and Poe’s already learning a little by asking permission. Of course... later on he doesn’t ask permission... but whatever. Leia’s Theme... causing me pain. Oh, Kylo didn’t kill his mom. We’re supposed to be happy about that? The bar is on the ground. The utter horror I felt the first time the control room was destroyed and Leia was pulled into space. Oh I love the moment when Leia flies in. Because I’d heard that in the books and comics, we get to explore Leia’s Force abilities and stuff but we don’t get it in the movies besides “I feel that Luke’s in trouble.” Which sucks, because she is the “other” if Luke didn’t work out, so she’s just as strong as Luke if she got trained. They should have just trained both kids honestly, why did they pick the boy? Not saying Obi-Wan and Yoda are sexist... but they’re probably sexist. Also, foreshadowing. I actually noticed the hologram of the ship and Leia flying through this time. Oh Chewie. I like the porg that literally has his jaw dropped in horror. Knowing now that the dice were kind of a symbol of Kira (was that Emilia Clarke’s character?) and Han’s relationship makes me not like them as much. Still, cute throwback that they’re still on the Falcon. We can just ignore they weren’t there in Force Awakens (I kept an eye out and didn’t see them) The way Luke laughed when he said “R2!” I just... my heart. “Nothing can make me change my mind” *R2 plays the Leia hologram* I literally just went “AWWWW” out loud because I forgot that that’s why R2 started playing it. Oh my heart. That hurt the first time. Luke standing over Rey, but offering to help her. Parallels. Oh Admiral Ackbar. I love Holdo’s dress. I love the draping. Someone teach me how to make it. “Thank you for making me aware.” Yeah Poe, she already knows. Stop mansplaining. This is literally a case of mansplaining, why would Poe think he’d have to explain to a commander that there’s no fuel? Yeah it’s a little harsh, but is Holdo wrong? All of these fanboys complain about Canto Bight, but forget that it was Poe’s idea. Then they go and say Holdo was too mean should have put Poe in charge. Guys. Poe’s impulsive. We love him, but he’s the ultimate Gryffindor with no fear and will just do anything without considering consequences. I do wish Holdo had been more open like “I have a plan. You don’t need to know all the parts of it. Just let me do what I need to, ok?” instead of “Just follow my orders.” but still. Oh poor Rose. “Doing talking....” Oh she’s so cute. “I’ve had to stun 3 people trying to use this escape pod.” We love a girl who can fight. Yeah. Once again. Not mad at Rose. Finn does have some selfish tendencies, he’s well meaning but ultimately selfish (or at least, only thinking of Rey). So I do not blame Rose for stunning him.

And now I will take a nap since I have to go to a show tonight. And then I will finish the last 3/4-ish of the movie when I get home later.

Annnnd I’m back!

See. Rose has good reason to be mad at deserters. Ok so it wasn’t Poe’s idea to go to the Star Destroyer it was Finn’s. I will give him that. But still Poe went along with it. “That... wasn’t exactly my...” Oh 3PO. I wish Maz had had a bigger scene. More Lupita please. I have one question: from what angle is this hologram filmed? And how does the camera follow her? I guess it’s multiple hologram cameras, but still, it followed her as she rolled and ran around. Also, did Finn call Maz or did Poe call her? Because as far as we know, only Finn knows her. It seemed like they both had the idea to call her, but that Poe had it first. Did Finn tell Poe about Maz? I’m glad they showed Finn handing Poe the binary tracker thing, since for a second I was like “What if Rey had popped up next to Finn on the Star Destroyer?” I’m glad Rey’s first instinct is to shoot Kylo. “Can you see my surroundings?” “You’re gonna pay for what you did.” “I can’t see yours.” Why do I remember that line so vividly? Why does it make me feel so unsettled? Rey, my sweet Rey, I wish you had just told Luke that you saw Kylo. I love Luke’s explanation of the Force. And him messing with Rey was funny. I love when Rey’s reaching out and feeling life, death, peace, violence, etc. And I love Luke saying the Force doesn’t belong to the Jedi, because it doesn’t. The Jedi failed years ago. “You didn’t even try to stop yourself.” Luke’s horrified. But also, Rey’s just like an extreme version of Luke. Yoda knew that Luke’s emotions could make him vulnerable to the dark side, Rey’s already vulnerable. Yeah, I don’t blame Luke for being scared of Rey after he feels like this is Ben all over again. Oh my god. I love the porg that has a metal piece over its head. That actually made me laugh out loud. Poor Chewie.

I just had to refresh tumblr because my draft wasn’t saving. It brought me back to my dashboard. Where there was a spoiler for the new movie and it wasn’t tagged. PLEASE tag your spoilers people.

The water hitting Kylo still confuses me. Say what you will about the Canto Bight plot... the costumes are AMAZING. The costumes literally make the whole side plot worth it to me. Literally I was just in awe by all the costumes during every single scene. And the set! The set’s fantastic too! I literally just paused every single second to take in all of the costumes. Do I care if the Canto Bight trip ended up pointless? Nope! Because it gave me some of Star Wars’ best costumes. Oh... to be an extra in the Canto Bight scene... Just show up... And put on a beautiful outfit... And do nothing else but pretend to drink, talk, and gamble... That’s the dream. Oh hi Mark Hamill! That was cute that they let him voice that little thing. I remember noticing the thing and being like “...is he important?” and nope, it’s just Mark doing an extra voice. Oh I love the Fathiers. Aww and it’s the little Force sensitive boy. I have thoughts about that kid that I can get into later. The way BB8 jingles with the coins. I love it.

Rey: *Does a move with her stick* Rey: *Does the same exact move with the lightsaber* Fanboys: She’s too good too fast! Mary Sue!

As I said throughout all of the Force Awakens, she’s just applying the skills she already had. If anything, a lightsaber’s easier since it’s half the length and she doesn’t have to worry about the back of it hitting her. LOL, remember when we thought this shot was an epic shot of Luke training her? Good times. Oh that poor fish nun. Everything Luke says about the Jedi is true (also did I not say they failed earlier in the post? Luke agrees with me). Rey’s right that a Jedi got Ani to come back from the dark side, but the Jedi’s system enabled him to turn in the first place. Soooooo yeah. Oh Luke. Don’t blame yourself. Kylo was already basically gone. Sure, seeing his uncle standing over him with a lightsaber definitely didn’t help... but it’s not the only thing that made him turn. Who is this captain of the medical ship? He looks familiar. (IMDB says he’s Danny Sapani. I probably recognized him from the Crown) Oh BB8. Finn, did you learn nothing from Rey? Put the cover back on the vent! Awww the Fathiers have such sad eyes... I love the Resistance ring. Can I buy one? Ok. The shot of the bubble egg lady singing felt like it was much longer the first time, but it’s really only a split second. I. LOVE. THE. CANTO. BIGHT. SET. I know it’s a real town in like Italy or somewhere near the Mediterranean. I want to go. I love it. I love that the first thing Luke does when he decides to use the Force again is to seek out Leia. Oh poor Adam became a meme after this. He just has a very wide and bulky body, ok? God Luke looks so scary in Kylo’s flashback. “Let the past die. Kill it if you have to.” That reflection scene is so visually stunning. So in a way, it’s like Luke is failing Rey like he failed Ben. He’s not helping her in the way she needs, so she’s being lured by the dark side instead. I love the walls falling around Luke. “Did you do it? Did you create Kylo Ren?” Rey, he already told you earlier that he believes it’s his fault, so the answer from him is yes. I can’t remember if we hear this story of Luke and Kylo one more time after this or not. “Then he’s our last hope.” Ok ew. No. Kylo is not allowed to be compared to hope. Only Luke, Leia, or Obi-Wan can be. Oh for a second I thought that torch was a lightsaber. YODA!!!!! I think I had been spoiled for Yoda showing up. It was definitely still exciting though. “The sacred Jedi texts!” Oh Luke. Oh memes. Not as whiney as I remembered. “But that library contained nothing that the girl Rey does not already possess.” Because Yoda knows she stole the books. Oh Yoda. I love Yoda. Oh Rose. Ok, so I will give it to Poe that at this moment it doesn’t seem like Holdo has a good plan. Abandoning ship isn’t necessarily cowardly, but on the surface it does seem like it puts them in more danger. Literally earlier today I watched a video about the layout of the Millennium Falcon, and the escape pods were mentioned. And I thought to myself, wow that must be something from the novels since we’ve definitely never seen that in the movies. Welp... I was wrong... Rey’s in one now. I was about to be like “Do they not care that an escape pod just docked?” before I saw Kylo. LOL the iron coming down like a ship. I feel like I remember being completely terrified when Rey stepped in front of Snoke. Oh BB8. Bumping into stuff. I remember being super relieved that DJ (has he told us this is his name yet? I can’t remember) gave back the medallion. Captain Phasma! Hey girl hey! Leia shooting Poe is still funny to me. Also Lieutenant Billie Connix is smart. I love the scene of Holdo and Leia saying goodbye. Also, Holdo’s purple hair with her bright blue eyes is super striking. Good choice. Snoke puts down the lightsaber. Unknowingly sealing his fate. Literally when Snoke reveals he connected their minds, I was like OF COURSE. Because the whole time I’m like neither of them are strong enough to do this. “She was more interested in protecting the light than she was seeming like a hero.” See. And that’s the flaw in both Poe and Finn. And Rey to an extent. They’re thinking about the big picture, but in context of smaller things like seeming like a hero, saving Rey, saving Kylo, etc. But Holdo’s thinking of only the big picture. I knew DJ betrayed them, I just forgot how badly.

And here’s another annoyance (which I was sorta trying to touch on earlier). Everyone hates the Canto Bight plot, yet they complain about Holdo trying to take charge. If Poe just let Holdo take charge and ignored Finn and Rose’s idea, then her plan would have been a complete success. No Canto Bight, no DJ to betray them, all the transports make it to Crait unnoticed, and the First Order eventually destroys a ship that’s empty except for Holdo. They complain about Holdo, but don’t think about the fact that Holdo could have prevented another plot they hated if the main characters had just listened to her.

And then Snoke hits Rey and literally puts the lightsaber back to where it will kill him. Ok literally I just misread a caption that said “Lord Vader” as “Lord Voldemort” and I was very confused. Taking a second to say that I love this set of Snoke’s throne room. Been thinking it forever, but Kylo picking up the lightsaber off the ground and seeing the reflection in the smooth red floor is amazing. Kylo igniting the lightsaber through Snoke is amazing. Also, I typed “Ben igniting” before literally freezing for a second and being like “...ok that’s a lot to unpack” I guess when he does something good my brain thinks of him as Ben instead of Kylo. ALSO, arm #16 and #17, I love that Snoke’s arms were cut off too in true Star Wars fashion. And I am VERY excited to see this fight scene again. I told myself not to pause at all during the Kylo and Rey team up fight, but I paused literally a second into it because Binary Sunset yes.

And my idiot brother and my mom are texting in the family group chat so it’s popping up on my screen throughout this scene. Ugh.

All of these red knight weapons are so cool. And I forgot about the one that gets chopped up... Oh my god one is a sword that transforms into a whip. LOVE. IT. And I love the quick lightsaber ignite through the head. Love it. Woah how is there still 44 minutes? I remember this battle being much closer to the end. I was wondering when the red walls went away, but I rewinded and saw that they had been slowly burning away after Rey made something hit them. Nice touch.

Ugh my brother and mom will not stop texting.

“You have no place in this story.” Wow Kylo, harsh. Oh shoot I forgot about the lightsaber breaking until they started their Force tug of war with it. I’d always wondered what would happen if someone lightsped through something... I want to say that I realized what she was doing before they told us, but now I realize that they basically told us what she would do when the First Order guy said “they’re preparing to hyperspeed.” so I guess I just caught on to the obvious hints.

God that moment still gives me chills. The silence. The way it sort of goes black and white. The multiple angles. So good.

I know for a fact that I spent the rest of the movie from this point on with my hands over my mouth in a constant stake of shock/fear/anxiety. Oh BB8. Some people thought this was ridiculous. But I had just spent the last few months rewatching the prequels before seeing this, and compared to the stuff R2 does, BB8 clumsily controlling a walker is nothing. Oh how I love Gwendoline Christie. I FORGOT THAT WE SAW HER EYE IN THE MASK. I hope Phasma survived. She’s so awesome. Ok my quality is like horrendous right now so I’m gonna refresh. LOL I FORGOT ABOUT GENERAL HUGS NEARLY ATTEMPTING TO KILL KYLO. Oh I forgot how much I love Crait as a set location. OH AND THE ICE DOG THINGS! LOVE THEM! Poe petting BB8 when he comes back kills me. I like those space age two person laptops. “People believe in Leia.” *Binary Sunset plays* My heart. Ok for a second I was like “This first person camera is like a war movie” and then it turns and we see the trench and I’m like “...ok... ok fine but that was very literal.” The red footsteps. Just... guys this set is so AMAZING. Ugh, these red streaks of dust behind them are so amazing. And when Finn passes in front of the camera, it gets covered in the dust and blurs part of the lens. Just like the Rathtar goo in the Force Awakens. I wonder if that’s going to be like... the thing of the sequels. One shot that has the camera lens partially covered by something. Also, I just wasted time trying to figure out if there’s an official name for that or not... oh well. The winding stripes left behind as they weave around... just... amazing. YEAH! GO CHEWIE! GO REY! Oh my god I forgot about the porg roaring. “Oh, they HATE that ship!” I’M DEAD. Look at the salt and how it forms the crystals in the trench. I love it. I FORGOT ABOUT THIS SHOT OF THE CAVE FULL OF THE RED SALT. I LOVE THIS SO MUCH. I remember when the trailer had the first shot of the gorilla walkers, and I didn’t notice at first that there were normal AT-ATs next to them, and then I realized these things were twice as big as AT-ATs and I was horrified. See, and now Poe has learned that you can’t always be a hero and is making a good decision. I forgot about Finn’s speeder literally melting as he gets closer. I don’t understand the people who were mad that Rose stopped Finn. I for one was HORRIFIED at just the thought of Finn dying this way and thankful she stopped him. “That’s how we’re gonna win. Not fighting what we hate, saving what we love.” The kiss is pointless but I love the line and sentiment behind it. Oh god. Ok. Here come the emotions. Binary Sunset is playing. I was a wreck. And a little of Han and Leia’s Love Theme as she sees the dice. I remember actually noticing that in the theaters and half-sobbing. Oh god the forehead kiss. Oh and he winks at 3PO as he walks by. My heart. This is the specific shot of the gorilla walkers and the AT-ATs in a line that freaked me out. That shot of Luke standing up against all the First Order walkers and ships. Amazing. That shoulder brush though. Kylo’s so dumb, he literally just watched that lightsaber get destroyed, he HELPED destroy it. He should have known something was up, it couldn’t have been repaired that quickly. Purposeful shot of Luke’s feet not moving the salt. That Matrix back bend though. “I will have killed the last Jedi.” He said the title. Also, is that the only time it’s said? Because they say it a lot in Force Awakens but I don’t think so yet in this movie.. “And I will not be the last Jedi.” Ok so now it’s said again by Luke. Purposeful shot of Kylo’s shoe leaving a footprint as he runs to Luke. I’m pretty sure I probably shrieked when he tried to slice Luke in half.

I just now remembered that I’d actually kind of wondered if he’d be a Force projection or something when he first showed up. Because I’d just watched Return of the Jedi like a week earlier and saw Obi-Wan do it, so I wondered if Luke was doing it too. Especially when Poe said Luke was distracting the First Order. It passed my mind and was confirmed when Kylo couldn’t hit him. And here’s where I started to feel like my world was crumbling...

Oh god. My eyes are wet. It hurts. But when I watched it the first time, I really felt like my world was absolutely falling a part and ending forever while I watched Luke die. With the stupid binary sunset in front of him just like when he was a teenager and when he was a baby. One of the first things he ever saw was the binary sunset. I was like “This is beautiful, but that doesn’t mean I’m not completely in pain and dying.” That shot from above of Kylo with the stormtroopers, mirroring a shot from the prequels of Ani. Nice. So do they still have that connection even if Snoke’s dead?

HEY! Hey. Those dice were still visible to Kylo even after Luke was dead... was Leia Force projecting them to Kylo? It wouldn’t take as much work as doing it to everyone else at once from lightyears away. One person, your son, would be easier. So maybe... maybe Leia’s the one continuing the projection of the dice. I’m gonna stick with that theory thanks.

Awww BB8 asked Rey about his antenna, just like when they first met. Remember when people were like “Are Poe and Rey gonna be a thing?!?!?” and of course I’d much prefer that over Reylo thanks. The books! Somehow, that obvious shot of the books goes over so many people’s heads. So many complaints about the books getting burned, when they literally show us that Rey saved them. I had never noticed the bunks in the Millennium Falcon either until I saw that video earlier, and I’m glad I got to actually see one in use since Rose is sleeping in one.

Oh GOD the entirety of the Resistance can fit on the Millennium Falcon... that is NOT good.

I LOVE the scene of the kids retelling the story of Luke. I must have already gone in depth about this 2 years ago, but I love it. Luke became a legend in the end. He didn’t necessarily want to be one, but he’s become one. It was exactly what was in the opening scroll, he restored the spark of hope. That subtle use of the Force by that little boy. With Binary Sunset playing. And I love that last shot of him holding the broom up like a lightsaber.

I nearly forgot that they put in “In loving memory of our princess, Carrie Fisher” at the end. That’s what got me to finally cry. 40 straight minutes of covering my mouth in anxiety, then feeling like my world was crashing down around me as Luke died. Having it dedicated to Carrie made me just start sobbing so hard. Watch that happen again tomorrow.

I remember when I left the theater, at first I was like “What if the boys is Rey’s brother?!” but then... I realized that a huge point of the movie went over my head for a second there.

The fandom got so caught up in figuring out who Rey’s parents are, whether it’s Obi-Wan or Luke or Leia or even Palpatine, that they were mad when Kylo said they were no one. But like... guys... not every single Force user is related to the Skywalkers or anyone else we already know. There were hundreds of Jedi in the prequels, because anyone can be Force sensitive. Obi-Wan’s parents were nobody, Qui-Gon’s parents were nobody, Mace’s parents were nobody. They didn’t come from long lines of Force users (at least in movie lore), BECAUSE THE JEDI WEREN’T SUPPOSED TO HAVE KIDS. The Skywalkers aren’t even a long line, it’s just 3 generations at this point. So literally none of the Jedi of the past came from powerful Force users (or at least from ones who got the chance to become Jedi) since that literally goes against the code.

Luke found at least 11 other Force sensitive kids to train alongside Ben, their parents were all definitely nobodies since he’s the last Jedi. Ben is an anomaly, Luke and Leia are anomalies, the Jedi don’t have kids! The fandom got so caught up in figuring out who Rey could be related to, that they forgot that for millennia the individual Jedi were not related to anyone.

Anyone can be Force sensitive. Anyone can be a Jedi. Rey is an example of that. That little boy is an example of that. That’s why I love that the little Force sensitive boy was the final shot of the movie. He was meant to reassure and remind us after the Rey parentage reveal that anyone can end up Force sensitive. They don’t need a famous/powerful parent. They can come from anywhere and be anyone. And I love that that’s the final note of this movie.

Some people were not reassured. Some people couldn’t handle the idea that Rey’s powerful just because she’s Rey, not because she’s someone’s daughter. She HAS to be related to someone to be that powerful, right? But every Jedi before her who was just as powerful wasn’t related to anyone, so why does she have to be?

ANYWAY! I was actually worried over the last 2 years that I’d rewatch The Last Jedi and not like it as much as I did in theaters. I still like it a lot. Even the Canto Bight scenes get redeemed by the costumes and the set being so amazing. But I love the message of don’t be a hero, this is bigger than just you. And I love the message that even if you’re “nobody” from “nowhere” you could still be Force Sensitive and you could still be a Jedi. I love Luke’s send off, I love that he does end up reigniting the spark and being a beam of hope again. I love it.

And I’m excited to see the Rise of Skywalker tomorrow.

#hope rewatches star wars #ignore me if you want

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eddycurrents · 5 years

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For the week of 19 August 2019

Quick Bits:

Aquaman #51 continues “Amnesty” as Aquaman, and now Aqualad, help the elder sea gods move in to their new home on Amnesty Island. There’s a lot of character building and reflection throughout this story and definitely feels like a calm before the storm hinted at by the cliffhanger and the “Year of the Villain” material. Kelly Sue DeConnick, Robson Rocha, Daniel Henriques, Sunny Gho, and Clayton Cowles are continuing to deliver one of DC’s best comics.

| Published by DC Comics

Bad Reception #1 isn’t a bad start to this horror series fully written, illustrated, and lettered by Juan Doe. The title is a clever play on both concepts in the story of no connectivity to social media and on a wedding reception. Utilizing a highly publicized wedding event that’s being promoted as “off the grid” to potentially commit a murder (or whatever actually happens at the wedding or after) is an interesting hook.

| Published by AfterShock

Bettie Unbound #3 sends her to Mars this go around to land smack in the middle of a conflict. Things only seem to go downhill from there. Great art from Julius Ohta, Ellie Wright, and Sheelagh D.

| Published by Dynamite

Black Mask: Year of the Villain #1 gives us Luthor’s offer and gift to Black Mask from Tom Taylor, Cully Hamner, Dave Stewart, and Wes Abbott. It nicely gives us some insight into Black Mask’s childhood, before changing him into essentially a parallel to a Marvel villain. There’s also a bit of a new status quo for Batwoman.

| Published by DC Comics

Blade Runner 2019 #2 continues to be a wonderful ride from Michael Green, Mike Johnson, Andres Guinaldo, Marco Lesko, and Jim Campbell. This is still a wonderful exploration of the tone and feel of the Blade Runner franchise in an entirely different setting with different people.

| Published by Titan

Bloodborne #14 is going to mess with you as “The Veil, Torn Asunder” continues and our protagonist this arc keeps breaking with reality. It’s disturbing and unnerving, perfect for this series. Piotr Kowalski and Brad Simpson’s art just seems to keep getting better and better here too.

| Published by Titan

Bronze Age Boogie #5 is fairly insane as this penultimate issue careens through the past with a rather nasty battle between humanity and the Martian forces. The artwork from Alberto Ponticelli and Giulia Brusco is incredible. The back-up featuring “Moon-Thing” this issue from Stuart Moore, Shawn Crystal, Lee Loughridge, and Rob Steen is also great.

| Published by Ahoy

Canto #3 has some more interesting twists and revelations as this beautiful fable continues to unfold from David M. Booher, Drew Zucker, Vittorio Astone, and Deron Bennett. Continuing to build the story on storytelling is wonderful and your perspective on the slavers might change.

| Published by IDW

Criminal #7 pushes “Cruel Summer” forward as we get Ricky Lawless’ perspective on Teeg and Jane’s relationship and how it, and pretty much everything else, is ruining his life. Very interesting development of Ricky’s youth as he becomes more and more of a jerk.

| Published by Image

Deadpool Annual #1 is a heartfelt and funny story as Deadpool explains why he’s better than Squirrel Girl from Dana Schwartz, Reilly Brown, Nelson DeCastro, Craig Yeung, Matt Herms, Guru-eFX, and Joe Sabino. Actually, it’s more about Deadpool helping a young kid deal with Nightmare, featuring a hilarious trip through Nightmare’s realm, and a horrifying realization. It’s also really nice to see Reilly Brown back at doing some Deadpool.

| Published by Marvel

Death’s Head #2 is more glorious madness as Death’s Head, “Vee”, Wiccan, and Hulkling try to work out who’s going to be parts or who’s going to face Dr. Evelyn Necker (the alternate reality doctor who made Death’s Head II and apparently eventually this upgrade Death’s Head V) from Tini Howard, Kei Zama, Felipe Sobreiro, and Travis Lanham, yes?

| Published by Marvel

Eve Stranger #3 gives us some deep revelations on Eve’s past, her parents, and how she came to live with Delilah. David Barnett, Philip Bond, Eva de la Cruz, Lee Loughridge, and Jane Heir continue to deliver a deeply funny thriller here.

| Published by IDW / Black Crown

Excellence #4 deals with the fallout of the battle between Spencer and Aaron. It’s nasty, and further reinforces just how much Spencer’s father is a jerk. It’s interesting as to how layered and complicated that Brandon Thomas, Khary Randolph, Emilio Lopez, and Deron Bennett are making this world, and yet the key motivating factors are still some of the most simple, basic human interactions and how we hurt one another.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Fairlady #5 is a rough one to end this on. Don’t get me wrong, this story is great. Brian Schirmer, Claudia Balboni, Marissa Louise, Lesley Atlansky, and David Bowman deliver another interesting mystery with gorgeous art, and an interesting tie to a previous issue, but the build up for an even broader mystery hurts. It hints at possibilities that may never be answered because this series is now cancelled. Still, this was great while it lasted.

| Published by Image

Ghost Spider #1 is a direct continuation from the previous Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider series, from Seanan McGuire, Takeshi Miyazawa, Ian Herring, and Clayton Cowles. As Gwen moves to the 616 to go to school, I guess it makes sense to relaunch the series with a new number 1, but, as said, it’s still continuing on the same story with the same creative team. Thankfully it’s a great creative team and story, so it’s well worth picking up.

| Published by Marvel

Guardians of the Galaxy #8 is heartbreaking. Donny Cates, Cory Smith, David Curiel, and Cory Petit continue “Faithless” as we learn what’s going on with Rocket. It ties together much of his past with his Guardians tales and his current condition. Very nice character moments.

| Published by Marvel

Hellboy and the BPRD: Saturn Returns #1 begins a new historical mini from Mike Mignola, Scott Allie, Christopher Mitten, Brennan Wagner, and Clem Robins. This one’s set in 1975, but spans a wide time period as they discover more and more bodies. The mystery set up of who’s committing the murders is quite compelling, especially with the pseudo-occult drawings likely to have been drawn to give a misleading impression of the murders. But the real gold is in the character development, looking at how Liz Sherman is adjusting to some of her early years at the Bureau.

| Published by Dark Horse

History of the Marvel Universe #2 is again worth it alone for the absolutely stunning artwork from Javier Rodríguez and Álvaro López. Like the first issue, it’s a dry read, but it can be fascinating as Mark Waid, Rodríguez, López, and Joe Caramagna guide us through Marvel’s history.

| Published by Marvel

Killer Groove #4 is kind of messed up as everything practically goes to hell. I love the approach to flashbacks and hallucinations this issue, keeping the main characters in full colour while the rest are a grey wash. Really neat effect from Eoin Marron and Jordie Bellaire.

| Published by AfterShock

Last Stop on the Red Line #3 is still one of the most unique series on the stands, even as it gets weirder and more straight-forward as the secrets and truth start potentially sliding into place. The art from Sam Lotfi and John Rauch is incredible.

| Published by Dark Horse

Livewire #9 kicks off a new arc from Vita Ayala, Tana Ford, Kelly Fitzpatrick, and Saida Temofonte, building on Amanda’s confrontation with PSEP and adding a new wrinkle on politics. It’s interesting to see the problem from the political perspective and addresses some of the issues that naturally arise from a government program sanctioned to abduct and murder children.

| Published by Valiant

Middlewest #10 introduces us to Abel’s grandfather and it goes about as well as you’d expect. More toxic masculinity, more “be a man” and “embrace your anger” nonsense, leaving Abel a confused and scared child. Skottie Young, Jorge Corona, Jean-Francois Beaulieu, and Nate Piekos are continuing to tell a very strong story here of abuse and survival in a magical realist way.

| Published by Image

Outpost Zero #12 asks some very important questions as it demonstrates that a portion of the colony certainly would rather keep their heads buried in the sand, ignoring the potential of alien life and secrets from their past, rather than confront possibilities of their future. Great character work here from Sean Kelley McKeever.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Pearl #12 concludes the series (for now at least) with some explosions, gun fights, and a new kind of order. Brian Michael Bendis, Michael Gaydos, and Joshua Reed have really been telling a compelling crime thriller here, offbeat and with some oblique humour, with impressive artwork.

| Published by DC Comics / Jinxworld

Psi-Lords #3 is another beautifully illustrated issue by Renato Guedes. This series is worth it even just for the artwork. We also get further backstory on the genesis of the Psi-Lords and the Starwatchers and the reason for sending the “Astro-Friends” to the Gyre. And some may not be what they seem.

| Published by Valiant

Savage Sword of Conan #8 continues “Conan the Gambler” from Jim Zub, Patch Zircher, Java Tartaglia, and Travis Lanham. There’s a great build of tension as Conan plays his game of cards and a wonderful twist as we go into the finale next issue. Nice detail on the trump cards.

| Published by Marvel

Strayed #1 is a very strong debut from Carlos Giffoni, Juan Doe, and Matt Krotzer. It’s a rather interesting concept of harnessing communication with a cat who can astral project, coupled with the horrors of humanity colonizing alien worlds. Stunning artwork from Doe.

| Published by Dark Horse

Stronghold #5 is a very interesting conclusion to this series, giving more information on the true nature and history of Michael, and setting up the potential for more stories somewhere down the road. Gorgeous artwork from Ryan Kelly and Dee Cunniffe.

| Published by AfterShock

Superior Spider-Man #10 sees much of Otto’s past come back to haunt him as his identity as the former Doctor Octopus goes public and he searches for who is trying to ruin his new life as San Francisco’s Spider-Man. Very nice build on Spider-Geddon and the most nightmare inducing character from therein from Christos Gage, Mike Hawthorne, Wade von Grawbadger, Jordie Bellaire, and Clayton Cowles.

| Published by Marvel

Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #2 is another fun issue from Matt Fraction, Steve Lieber, Nathan Fairbairn, and Clayton Cowles. We get more on Jimmy’s family, his legacy, and Superman’s secret super powers, but it also introduces the next sensation who should be lighting up the charts, Pawquaman.

| Published by DC Comics

Teen Titans #33 elaborates on Luthor’s offer to Lobo. We also get more on the current state of the team and on just how far, and rather villainous, Damian and Djinn’s actions are now in regards to how they’re dealing with criminals. Adam Glass has been taking the team down a dark road for a while now and I’m interested to see how this blows up.

| Published by DC Comics

Transformers ‘84 #0 is a bit of an oddity, reuniting the Regeneration One team of Simon Furman and Guido Guidi to celebrate the 35th anniversary. It’s a one-shot tale set in nebulous continuity detailing trying to discover the Ark in medieval Earth. Great art from Guidi and John-Paul Bove.

| Published by IDW

Valkyrie #2 is another great issue from Jason Aaron, Al Ewing, CAFU, Jesus Aburtov, and Joe Sabino as Jane takes on Bullseye. It’s a pretty epic battle, beautifully illustrated, that looks like it’s going to have some interesting ramifications.

| Published by Marvel

Vampirella #2 is liable to divide people further on this new run as it leans heavier into sex & violence and reveals Vampirella’s therapist as a potential misogynist with very problematic diagnoses for mental conditions. I mean, I don’t think “crazy vampire bitch” is anywhere in the DSM-5. Great art from Ergün Gündüz, though.

| Published by Dynamite

The Weatherman vol. 2 #3 reveals more information about the virus plaguing Earth and sets up even more problems in the way of Nathan, Cross, and co.’s attempt to restore Nathan’s memories. Gorgeous artwork from Nathan Fox and Moreno Dinisio.

| Published by Image

Other Highlights: Absolute Carnage vs. Deadpool #1, Batman #77, Daredevil #10, Faithless #5, Fearless #2, The Goon #4, Grumble #9, James Bond 007 #10, Jim Henson’s Beneath the Dark Crystal #12, Jughead’s Time Police #3, Lucifer #11, Magnificent Ms. Marvel #6, Marvel Comics Presents #8, New World, Powers of X #3, Red Sonja: Birth of the She-Devil #3, The Ride: Burning Desire #3, Spider-Man: City at War #6, Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #35, Star Wars: Tie Fighter #5, Star Wars Adventures #24, Tony Stark: Iron Man #15, Warlord of Mars Attacks #3, Wonder Woman: Come Back to Me #2

Recommended Collections: Age of X-Man: Marvelous X-Men, Age of X-Man: NextGen, Bloodborne - Volume 3: Song of Crows, Corto Maltese: The Early Years, The Curse of Brimstone - Volume 2: Ashes, Hawkeye: Private Eye, Klaus - Volume 1: How Santa Claus Began, Meet the Skrulls, Ophiucus, Saga Compendium - Volume 1, Spawn: Enemy of the State, Star Wars - Volume 11: The Scourging of Shu-Torun, Star Wars: Age of Rebellion - Villains, War of the Realms: Strikeforce, X-Men: Grand Design - X-Tinction

d. emerson eddy would like to be a mongoose dog.

#This Week in Comics

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elizas-writing · 6 years

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How I Would Fix The Last Jedi

So it’s been a while since The Last Jedi premiered and with the initial hype and anger settling down, more people are looking at it through a proper critical lens. The more posts I see critiquing The Last Jedi, the more I’m starting to realize it’s got a lot more problems than I thought. Don’t get me wrong, I still like it and found certain elements the best of the franchise, but perhaps I focused a little too much on being positive just to drown out all the anger (which to be fair, most of it was unwarranted to begin with). And thankfully now that most of the more pissy fanboys quieted down, I can post this in peace.

This film’s biggest problem was the lack of a good editor to keep the pacing consistent and allot the right amount of character development for everyone. So I’ll be addressing some of the major concerns with The Last Jedi and analyzing where and how problems could be fixed.

1. Leia’s Fate

Given Carrie Fisher’s death, some fans were anticipating Leia would possibly be killed off during The Last Jedi. But since she’s still alive at the very end, now they’re going to have to find a way to do that off screen unless they have enough spare footage from The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi to fill the gaps. To be totally fair with how much they filmed with Carrie, this was probably the best they could do without reshooting most of the film and pushing back the release date. Plus, this is the last time we’ll get to see her--- let me have Super Leia in Space. I think the only way they could work around this would be to record lines mentioning her depleting health given how long she was in space, even with using the Force to save herself. It’d at least give some foreshadowing that maybe she won’t make it to see the Rebellion win and drive our main heroes to follow in her footsteps.

2. No Memorial for Han Solo?

Yes, more than two years passed and the shock of Han Solo’s death faded for the fans, but for the characters, only mere hours passed. Leia lost her husband, Chewie lost a best friend, Rey lost a father figure, and Luke lost a brother-in-law. They should still be torn up about this, especially Luke given all his guilt on failing his nephew. It’s really hard to believe that there wasn’t even so much as a memorial for one of the greatest heroes of the Rebellion. Imagine how much more gut-wrenching the opening would be if they were caught off guard while mourning Han.

I want more of Rey depressed and angry that the one father figure she’s known was offed by his own son without mercy. I want more of Luke’s guilt eating him which increases his reluctance towards training cause he doesn’t know if this will happen again and who else he’ll lose. Han’s death should still have a massive impact on the story and where the Resistance will go without a legendary fighter with such a special spark you won’t find anywhere else in the galaxy.

3. Admiral Holdo’s Reckless Shit

It’s really hard to gauge if I actually like Admiral Holdo because the film is back-and-forth between pulling the rug from under us with the character drama and forgetting the high stakes of their present situations. I get that Poe is hot-headed and needs to learn patience, but c’mon, you’re losing precious ships and lives the longer you stall and don’t just tell this trigger-happy nut what’s going on. She has no reason to be so secretive, and it’s just plain irresponsible given the small size of the Resistance. There’s no effort on her end as a leader to work together with some people, and unfairly talks down to them like children. And I know Leia does this too with Poe when she demoted him, but they have a quasi-mother/son dynamic where it works because they were working together longer than Poe has with Holdo. They might as well be strangers for almost two hours.

I definitely don’t hate Holdo as much as the rest of the fandom does, but we need more of her side with nuance on the divide and finding balance between fighting and self-preservation, especially as she leads in place of Leia and the two were close friends for decades. But you don’t get that connection and how much the Resistance means to her mere minutes before she dies. She comes off way too heartless than necessary for this side-plot. And it sucks because it’s a fascinating struggle between action and self-preservation in regards to rebellion and knowing when to do what to make actual progress, but it’s buried too deep in the subtext underneath the needless bickering between Holdo and Poe. Just show what she’s up to from the get-go, validate her reasoning, and allow her to be a likable character so her major sacrifice actually feels earned and not a last minute sympathy grab for Poe to learn a lesson.

4. What was Benicio del Toro’s Character Again?

Oh yeah, DJ.... I legit had to Google to remember the character’s two-letter name. And if that’s not enough to say he has no purpose in this movie, I don’t know what is. I get that he’s supposed to parallel Lando Calrissian when he tricks Han Solo back in Empire Strikes Back. But while Lando still had screentime afterwards to double-cross the Empire and join the Rebellion anyway, DJ just freaking disappears, and it’s never addressed what happens to him after turning in Finn and Rose. Honestly, if you wrote him out of the movie, it wouldn’t make much of a difference. And it sucks, because this side plot had great themes going on with war profiteering and the apathy towards both the Resistance and the First Order so long as one has something to gain from their deals.

If you’re going to parallel Lando’s arc from Empire, don’t cut it short when it’s getting good and have DJ consider the consequences of his actions, regardless if he joins the Resistance or not. Set up some foreshadowing for the next movie where DJ is completely working for the First Order or the Resistance and realizes how much picking a side does matter with rising authoritarianism. It has great potential for whether or not he’s redeemed with how long his apathy will take hold so long as he makes a quick buck.

Or better yet, just entirely replace DJ with an older Lando who lost his sense of hope with the rise of the First Order and hides away on Canto Bight waiting for age to catch up to him, living in blissful ignorance while the rest of the galaxy crumbles. He’s the decoder Finn and Rose were looking for all along and this was Maz’s way to coerce Lando back into the Rebellion. Much like Luke, Lando is reluctant to fight and see any hope, but upon hearing of Han’s death and Leia’s condition, regret eats him for all the years he spent away from his closest friends and just wasting his life on gambling and drinking. He finally agrees to help Finn and Rose, but they only get so far before getting caught by the First Order, just barely escaping with their lives and reuniting with the rest of the Resistance for the film’s climax.

5. Finn Overcoming Stormtrooper Past

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I think this deleted scene speaks for itself on all the missed opportunity in developing Finn. That’s not to say he’s totally devoid of screentime as it’s still fun to see him with Rose exploring Canto Bight and getting caught up in their own misadventures. But many were hoping this would be the perfect time to explore his traumatic past and how Stormtroopers work in this world. Maybe he’d try to go back, save them from the brainwashing and help them realize they’re just senselessly murdering innocent people for nothing.

Holdo even has a line where she refers to Finn as a Stormtrooper almost in disgust, so you’d think there would be more time to show his change over to the Resistance and proving himself not just as a powerful ally, but someone who is more than their past. Someone who can finally break the cycle of children being taken away from their families to become disposable soldiers. But his battle with Phasma comes and goes so quickly and doesn’t leave as big of an impact as it should, and much like Force Awakens it feels like they’re playing great cards far too early. This deleted scene works so much better when you see the gears turning in the Stormtroopers when they realize their leader is just a massive coward, and it ends perfectly with Finn proudly calling himself “rebel scum.” It’s still beyond me why this scene was scrapped. They either needed to keep this in or have Phasma survive and make a grand final battle for Episode IX.

I want that spark of rebellion to ignite in the Stormtroopers where they realize “wait, what the hell are we even fighting for?” and dismantle the First Order from the inside out by Episode IX. It’d make a great parallel to the prequels and Order 66 but completely recontextualized in a story of rebellion and redemption. Throw in some of the Resistance saving children from growing up into soldiers, tragically epic scenes of sacrifice, and boom, there’s a climax of Episode IX practically writing itself.

6. Shut up Ben Solo-Organa

Now, I like Kylo Ren as a villain-- he’s similar to Anakin Skywalker’s whininess in the prequels except made legitimately terrifying with the fragile toxic masculinity of wanting to be stronger and powerful by any means necessary. However, I can’t do the woobifying, both from large sects of the fandom and Rian Johnson. I would be a lot more forgiving of his character development in The Last Jedi if Johnson made Kylo Ren’s intents more clear without implying any romance between him and Rey-- fucking really (and sorry, not sorry, the only thing I ship Kylo with is a swift kick in the ass).

I get that we need temptations of the dark side as part of the classic Star Wars story, and I love the twist on it where Kylo turning to the dark side was ultimately his choice and not because Luke failed him-- especially as killing Snoke didn’t flip him back to the light like when Vader killed the Emperor. But the heart of that particular recontextualization should be on the student-teacher relationship between Rey and Luke and not Kylo Ren sniveling like an infant. It walks a thin line of making Kylo Ren almost too sympathetic and forgetting how he ended up with the First Order to begin with. I don’t care how many puppy dog faces he makes; as shown by the end of the film, he’s not ready for redemption, if it will ever be in his grasp. His excess screentime of what we already know undermines Rey and Luke’s relationship which should be the focus of the former’s arc in The Last Jedi. But unfortunately, it isn’t as strong as it was with Luke and Yoda or Obi-wan and Anakin because the film has to juggle with a dozen other plotlines and characters.

Hopefully with J.J Abrams back in the directing chair, maybe he can steer the focus back on the films and what the fans really want. Granted, I don’t think The Last Jedi deserved nearly the level of vitriol it got within the last year, but even I couldn’t ignore some of the major problems and missed opportunities to get its themes across.

If you enjoyed this fix-it and what I do here, consider buying me a ko-fi to show your support!

#star wars #star wars the last jedi #the last jedi #star wars viii #star wars viii the last jedi #rian johnson #fix it #my writing #opinion #editorial

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kannuckthewolf · 6 years

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My personal thoughts on The Last Jedi

Here’s a list:

• Poe’s actions in the beginning were a product from his known knowledge of the layout of that dreadnought thanks to Zay Meeko from Star Wars Battlefront 2 DLC The Last Jedi. Should he have done it? Probably not. Did the cost of all those lives make his actions look reckless? Definitely yes. Was it still worth it? Yes and no, because the dreadnought was taken out, making it a great victory for the Resistance/Rebellion and the cost of life was massive. Which makes me wonder, what happened to B-Wings and Y-Wings? They still had X-Wings and A-Wings. If my memory serves me well, Y-Wings were bomber ships. What happened to them? Were they decommissioned or something?

• So if Luke went to Ahch-To do die, why would he leave two pieces of map that could help someone locate him? Was it specifically for only Leia so that when he died, Leia would bury or burn his body? That needs to be answered somehow because if he didn’t want to be found, then why would he make a map to FIND him?

• Why didn’t Luke ask Rey how she acquired his father’s lightsaber? Furthermore, how did Maz Kanata acquire that lightsaber? Last time we saw it, it went falling down a supposedly endless way on Cloud City in Bespin.

• The whole thing with Leia flying through space was... interesting. I mean, it was hinted heavily in Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi as well as the canon books she has Force abilities. Just... did it have to look Mary Poppins-like when she floated back to the cruiser? And how did, when that door open, did no one get sucked out into space?

• Vice Admiral Holdo. She was in Claudia Gray’s Leia, Princess of Alderaan book. So I knew who she was, but why wouldn’t she tell Poe her plan? Like the whole plan? Also she didn’t act like she did in the book. She had a weird speech pattern, not like Yoda. She looked like Holdo, but didn’t speak like her character.

• Which leads to wonder where were the Star Wars Loremasters in this? Where was Pablo Hidalgo? He does the visual dictionaries for the new movies. Why didn’t Rian Johnson ask him any of this was aligned with known Star Wars lore?

• Luke’s character. I mean, okay. Luke can change as a character. That’s fine. But the fact that Mark Hamill told Rian Johnson said that this Luke Skywalker wasn’t THE Luke Skywalker, I feel like Rian Johnson should’ve went back to the drawing board. Luke thinking killing Ben Solo, his own nephew, the son of his twin sister and his best friend, was a good idea just was not... Luke Skywalker. Remember, Luke Skywalker redeemed his father, Darth Vader, who everyone in the galaxy thought was irredeemable. Why not sit down and talk to Ben? Why not have an intervention for Ben?

• Also, his reason for his isolation was kind of a let down. Like, your nephew goes to the Dark Side so your response is to give up, cut yourself off from the Force, and run away?! Like what?! I thought the reason was to be more believable than that. Like, his wife (Mara Jade in my mind because she will always be canon to me) was killed by Ben Solo/Kylo Ren and maybe his child (boy or girl doesn’t matter) became hellbent on killing Kylo Ren so they went AWOL then Luke felt so guilty and shit that he lost all hope because not only had he let his nephew, sister, and best friend down, but his wife had been killed by said nephew and his child is going down the path of the Dark Side. You know, a little more emotional impact.

• The whole Canto Bight subplot. Why? We didn’t need that. I get the purpose for it, but it felt to Earth-like, too much Las Vegas/Atlantic City-esque. Also, Maz Kanata was playing a video game during that holo-chat with Poe, Finn, and Rose. You can’t tell me otherwise. Union dispute my ass.

• Vice Admiral Holdo’s scarifice was great with the hyperspace jump into the Supremacy and the Star Destroyers behind it. Just, it would have been more emotional impactful if it was Admiral Ackbar.

• Then again, this was Carrie Fisher’s last movie (Rest in Peace Carrie, you’ll always be my space princess and general). Why not kill Leia and have Holdo take Leia’s position in the Reistance/Rebellion?There were two emotional ways they could’ve done it. Instead, she lives at the end. They’re going to have to kill her off-screen and maybe give her a funeral scene in the next movie. Or just kill in a book or comic and have her funeral in said book or comic which would feel cheap in my opinion.

• Why kill Luke? I get Leia was supposed to have a big role in the sequel trilogy, but just switch her role with Holdo and have Luke die in the next movie. His death scene in this movie did bring tears into my eyes because of the binary sunset theme, reminding us of A New Hope.

• For people who gave The Force Awakens shit for having similarities to A New Hope, there were parallel scenes in this movie with Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. You can’t ignore that.

• Rey’s parents being no one. I’m okay with that. Remember, Anakin was a slave on Tatooine. He came from nothing. Hell, when we first met Luke, he was basically nothing to. While we did learn his father was a Jedi Knight in the Clone Wars, we didn’t see him as an heir to some great bloodline. He was a farm boy who finds out he has the Force. Rey is the same. Some junker girl who finds out she has the Force. Though, I’ll admit, it would’ve been nice if we got a training montage with Luke and Rey. He promised her three lessons and really only gave her one. The second lesson was just talking.

• Ben Solo/Kylo Ren’s personality seemed to switch back and forth between “I’m conflicted” and “I’m a monster and I’m okay with that”. Maybe that constant switching of personality was to show how conflicted he was, but... it was kind of jarring.

• Finn and Rose’s relationship came out of nowhere in my opinion. Rose, I like. Their relationship, not so much. Even Finn seemed surprised and confused when she kissed him.

• I feel like if Finn died in the way that he was about in this movie, I would feel like his arc is complete. He defected from the First Order, simply wanted to run away, then he met people that made him want to stay and fight for something beyond himself. He would’ve died a hero’s death in a heroic way. He would be remembered for this great heroic moment for all time. Instead, Rose crashes into his ship, “saving” him by dooming what remains of the Resistance/Rebellion.

• Luke’s astral projection fight with Kylo was pretty cool. Like, a part of you knew that wasn’t really Luke because he looked younger than he really was. But it was cool to see basically taunt Kylo, baiting him so that everyone could escape.

• The Luke and Leia scene felt more like a send-off to Carrie Fisher. “No ones ever really gone” (or something to that affect). Carrie Fisher will always be with us.

• Snoke dying the way he did wasn’t satisfying to me. Yes, Ben Solo/Kylo Ren killing was great. It was like that scene in Return of The Jedi where Vader’s watching the Emperor cackling as he electrocutes the crap out of Luke and Vader’s like “fuck this, I’m going to save my son” and picks up the Emperor and tosses down a long shaft. That was satisfying. Yes, people cheered at my first screening of the movie (the second time no one seemed to care). But then, after Rey and Kylo fight those red guards, Kylo’s like “I’m going to rule the galaxy and Rey, you should totally join me” and she’s like “Dude, what are you doing? Don’t do this” then the fight over Anakin’s lightsaber which is split in two. Seriously, you have Kylo kill Snoke and making it seem like he’s going to turn back to the Light then it’s all just kidding lol. Then, you don’t have the balls to make Rey go evil because you need that Jedi/Sith battle in your next movie.

• That brings me to this point. People say this movie takes risk. I’d argue it really doesn’t. Yes, they changed Luke’s character drastically. But they swing back and forth. Poe and Holdo’s tensions could have been avoidable if she just told him her plan, instead they make seem like she’s shady as all hell and Poe decides to mutiny for logical reasons until we finally know the whole plan and Poe is now all for the plan. Rey and Ben/Kylo’s Force Bond talks were great, but they didn’t really change either of their characters (though Reylo fans will tell you they’re totally canon now even though she rejects him after their fight on the Supremacy). They could’ve killed Leia and they almost did until they brought her back to life. Luke was against fighting the First Order because he wasn’t just going to walk out in front of the entire First Order with a “laser sword” and fight them even though that’s exactly what he does at the end.

• The Porgs were cute but unnecessary. Poor Chewie. He was under utilized in this movie.

• Captain Phasma was under utilized AGAIN! Seriously, you got Gwendoline Christie to play a kick-ass stormtrooper who’s apparently cool as all hell and then she gets even less screen time as she did The Force Awakens?! You hyped her up so much that of course what little she did do in the last two movies let us down!

• The Yoda scene was nice. It was nice to Empire Strikes Back Yoda again.

• General Hux has been a laughingstock in this movie. He became less redhead Hitler and more idiot general who wants validation.

• Another thing about Snoke. Look, when you or your parents first Return of The Jedi without any knowledge about the Emperor, did you care? No. You didn’t know his background. All you knew was that he was a scary old guy that Darth Vader took orders from. He was intimidating like Snoke was. We only learned about his origins through books and the prequel trilogy. Yes, I thought we’d see him in all three movies, but *shrugs* oh well. We’ll probably learn about him in books and comics now.

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these-are-the-first-steps · 6 years

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An objective, uninfluenced review and discussion of TLJ after just leaving the theatre- mileage may vary

THIS SPOILER-FILLED REVIEW IS UNDER A CUT. IF YOU SEE A TON OF TEXT AND NO CUT, SCROLL LIKE HELL.

OK, so, some initial take-aways:

-This was a really busy movie

-I feel like they crammed three films into one and I'm not sure how I feel about that.

-This did not have the standard feel of a star wars film and I'm not sure how I feel about that.

-Too much comedy. Sorry. It was a bit much and ruined the mood in a lot of places imo.

-Holy shit, that was the hottest, most sexualized hands-touching I have ever seen in my life

-My life literally flashed before my eyes when Finn went to kamikaze. They had him get so close to the end, and that tear— jesus fuck I genuinely thought that was going to be the end and I was a mess. God bless you, Rose.

-My life literally flashed before my eyes when Leia was ejected from the ship- they had me going thinking this was how she was gonna go. The force flying was hokey as shit, but you know what? Fuck it. Carrie Fisher can cheat death and fly- it's fucking canon now. Deal with it.

-The music did not blow me away on TLJ as it did in TFA. Most likely because the movie was so damn busy.

-Too many climaxes. Yes, there is such a thing. I was worn out by the end of this film and there was no real catharsis at all because of it.

-I don't know how the fuck they're going to do 9 without Carrie after that ending. Well…I do have one idea, but I kinda hate it.

The Meat:

The scroll this film was interesting, in that its last sentence broke the mold of previous star wars crawls- that was my clue right off the bat that this would not be following the standard 'feel', for lack of a better word, of star wars films. Honestly, I don't expect the off-shoot movies like 'Rogue One' to follow whatever standard 1-7 do, but like I expect it from the main series, and like I said at the beginning, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it yet. At the moment I'm a little disappointed that it deviated so much, but we got so many juicy tidbits and moments to have and to hold that that's kind of outweighing the minor point of format. So, I'll be seeing the film a few more times in various formats before coming to a hard conclusion on this.

Anyway…

HAHA POE GOT SLAPPED! THE SLAP HAPPENED! And it was pretty underwhelming honestly. And then out of nowhere Leia's all charm and kindness again? That really made the whole moment meaningless to me. Like she was never mad enough to slap him to begin with, so why? The moment was ruined by Leia's sharp U-turn and that sucked. They had a real opportunity to bring home just how severe and serious Leia's despair over so much loss has been, but the really watered it down every time, usually with comedy.

There was too much comedy in this film. I get maybe they were trying to lighten it up for the kiddos, but they did it in alllll the wrong places. It really botched the mood of the film repeatedly. The timing was just terrible. I mean right off the bat- sure, Poe's exchange with Hux was hilarious, but man it did not need to be in there. At least not first thing in the film when you're trying to set the tone. What a waste on all ends. That part really frustrated me.

I'm surprised at how soon Kylo bashed his helmet to pieces. That was really soon. Sadly the shock of it just wasn't there for me since I'd seen the trailers, but whatever. It was still a great moment done by Adam exceptionally well.

Mark Hamill was A+++ in this film. Everything about him was great. Absolutely stellar. While TLJ was mass confusion, Luke Skywalker stayed consistent and made linear sense throughout- the only exception being the very end. Why….why did he die again? I'm seriously confused? He looked pained, and I kept waiting for the camera to pan down to explain what was going on- did he actually have a giant saber hole in him from Ben or something? But no- he just flounders on a rock for a bit and then kicks it. I still just do not understand. I don't understand it at all. Also, Rian promised us some big compelling monologue from Luke that would be oscar-worthy and it wasn't there. Where was the monologue? Three sentences strung together do not a monologue make. Sorry, kids. I think Mark did a stellar job, as I said, and they've put him up for an oscar nom, but honestly….I don't think it was oscar-worthy simply because there wasn't enough there due to the over-taxed storyline, and if he does get one, it's gonna be earned out of sentiment more than anything, which….I mean, an oscar is an oscar, but still. You know? Also, we had stills and BTS footage of Luke down in that dark side hole with Rey and we never saw that. I hope Rian releases his director's cut so we get those scenes back- otherwise there's a good chance we'll get them in the novel or something.

Canto Bight was super unnecessary. What an unnecessary, overly-busy, budget-draining side romp. Maz was unnecessary. The whole 'let's get the codes' thing was unnecessary, although Benicio del Toro stole the fucking show with his character- that dude was great, and we'll definitely be seeing him again in 9. He's clearly going to be the side-character replacement for Phasma (RIP gurl). Canto Bight achieved only two things: 1. The FinnRose romance. 2. The stable kids, or at least one of them, has the force. Yep! That kid at the end- when he reaches for the broom, the broom jumps into his fucking hand, y'all. That kid has the force. The force is clearly back with a vengeance in the young babies of the galaxy. And that was it. I feel like they could have achieved both those things in better, more meaningful ways. But no, they wanted to do a casino(?) bit that will likely never be heard of again except in extended merchandising because fuck disney's money-grubbing ways. Oh, I DID like DJ's 'Rogue One' call-back reminder about how literally both sides of this war suck and everyone's trash, especially the warlords growing fat off the profits in the middle. I appreciated that bit. It was also a nice social commentary for a young audience that will hopefully stick with them. It was a cool moment that del Toro played beautifully.

Two words: PORG BABIES. Also, is Chewie vegetarian now? xD I don't think a whole colony of porgs should have come along in the falcon- that was a bit much. Again, comedy in places it didn't need to be. Whatever. Moving on.

Laura Dern's character dying was a waste, but you know what? That move she did was fucking brutal. It was amazing. It reminded me of 'Farscape' 's wormhole-popping maneuver immediately, plus extreme bonus damage. Just a beautiful sight.

Rose was great- Kelly Marie Tran knocked that shit out of the park. Laughs, tears, she ran the fucking gamut. I know we were all expecting more from her character's sister, but I guess it was the necessary setup to give her the impetus to go take risks. No complaints at all about Rose- I thought she was lovely.

Wow did Poe get a lot of screen time. He got a lot of screen time. I feel like Poe maybe learned some shit, but I honestly don't feel like Finn learned a whole lot which was disappointing. Even on Canto Bight he was like 'No, we're not doing this! Stop enjoying it!' Growth for him would be to start letting loose a bit, and he just doesn't. I also feel like we were deprived of a closing moment with him at the end of the film- we just get the tender moment with him and Rose, which was sweet, but it felt unfinished. I felt like Finn was more along for the ride in this film than actively moving it, and again I think that's the fault of this film being too damn busy and there not being enough time for things to go smoothly, linearly, and in ways that flowed naturally. There just wasn't time for it, clearly, and so character development suffered- unless you're Poe. Because damn Poe got a lot of screen time.

I felt like we should have spent more time on the salt planet. That felt like another over-done thing that, while the location was necessary, was it necessary to make it so busy? As I write this, I think I'm starting to realize that the backdrops are what have really distracted from the story. The backdrops haven't aided the story at all- they've just severely diverted attention from what's important- i.e. the struggles both literal and emotional happening to our characters. The casino was a riotous mess, visually stunning but constantly pulling my attention away from what was going on. The salt planet had tons of unique features but it didn't serve any purpose to the film. None of these backdrops serviced the story, and I think that's a HUGE problem. With an already busy, intricate web of storylines to keep up with, having all these non-contributing, busy-in-their-own-right backdrops just made it even harder to keep up and stay focused on what was going on. You don't leave the theatre feeling like all the threads came together in the end. You leave the theatre going "Well that was cool…but I feel like I've missed something", because you probably have. Here: YOUR BACKDROP SHOULD NOT BE COMPETING WITH YOUR STORY. Ok, I said it.

Snoke made some comments about Hux that were interesting and then promptly never talked about again. Why's that? Because there was no time. Pity. Anyway, the bit about him being easily manipulated because of his personal issues was great, and I was hoping we'd get to see more of that struggle with Hux, more of that fatal flaw at play- his daddy issues, insecurities about acceptance, etc., but it never came. Instead Hux was wasted on comedic moments. Oh how the mighty have fallen. Once again, unnecessary comedy fucking ruins the mood of this film.

Snoke's demise was shocking but also anti-climactic. They pulled all the power from him in one fell swoop and took this amazingly built-up character, this character that had SUCH cool potential, and Rian just threw it in the trash. I'm pretty disappointed. Actually, I'm really disappointed. No wonder Pablo was so disinterested in Snoke questions- Snoke was made ultimately irrelevant as a character. While the psychological effects of Snoke will continue to be a MAJOR issue, killing him was wasted potential, and now Ben’s lifelong struggle with this creature has been belittled and minimized because of it. That is terrible.

So now we get to the juicy bits- Rey and Ben.

We didn't get to see Rey hardly at all in this film. That….fucking sucked. Poe got more screen time than Rey. Fuck you, Poe. I'm pissed off about this. The only moving, worthwhile moments Rey had were opposite Ben. And boy did Daisy and Adam make the most of very limited screen time. Force Bond ahoy, y'all! We called it and it exists! However, it was really crazy abrupt. There was no lead-up of voices, of the connection establishing itself. One tiny teaser of it would have been enough, but no- suddenly it's just THERE, and the music and sound cuts, and if you weren't us and expecting this kind of force bond communication we've all been writing about prolifically for two years, I'm sure you were like "What the fuck- this is out of left field", because it was. Story-wise, it was. And that's disappointing. You want to see something you love executed well, and while you love and I love the connection, it wasn't executed well. It could have been done better. Again, any kind of hinted lead-up- since it was a surprise for both of them, maybe like a whisper of his voice calling to her in surprise? Or something. Instead we get them both right away, which was a bit blunt. I think it could have used with a bit of finessing. Oh well.

From a story analysis standpoint, I think Snoke's claim that he personally established the connection between them is bullshit. I think he was talking out of his ass, frankly. I think him claiming he forged the bond was back-peddling to try and continue to related all roads back to himself because while he certainly played the all-powerful omnipotence card, he clearly knew he wasn't and worked actively to maintain his illusion to keep Ben in check. But it was all a farce, as we could see, and even Ben knew where all the cracks in Snoke's observational skills were. He didn't really have 24/7 Ben TV. When Ben played him like a goddamn fiddle with that sneak attack, Ben showed that he could cloak and twist his intent in front of Snoke's face all day if he's focused enough, and felt he had enough purpose. He certainly did feel Ben becoming resolved alright. He felt him begin to prepare his saber. But how limited he was in what he could see! How limited, whereas Rey on the other hand….oh, he and Rey have something so much more than Snoke's clearly tenuous hold. Ben was only under the yoke as much as he wanted to be, and that realization is very much a doubled-edged sword. On the one hand, it meant he could find the strength to break free when he found a new purpose in Rey. But on the other, it also means he could have peaced out whenever he wanted and taken the FO with him but clearly he chose not to, which is awful and frustrating. But you know? When you wake up to your uncle looking like he's about to kill you in your goddamned sleep after you've spent years arguing against that sort of thing with the voices insisting your uncle will actually kill you, and suddenly the voices are right and your world is fucking shattered? When the voices become the only viable option in your life? I can get that. I may not agree with it, but I get it. And that's plenty.

Also, can we talk about the story of the school's destruction? So Kylo DID leave with some of the students. Let's make an educated guess and say they are the other Knights of Ren. Nice predicting, y'all. I'm sure they'll become major players in 9 as Kylo attempts to step into his role as supreme leader- while Snoke had the red guard, Kylo will have his knights. Cool. Very cool.

To back-track a little, I enjoyed the force chats between Rey and Ben a lot. I feel like more of them happened that we weren't shown. Even as Rey was recounting her brush with the dark side cave, you can tell she'd already been telling the story for a long while and he'd spent a long while listening. But again, with little finessing with all this, for those not expecting reylo the care they begin to have for each other seems really abrupt. Sorry, general audience- I wish it could have been better, too. But let's take what we can get, shall we? Kylo debases himself in front of Rey- admits he's a monster and then cries about it. I love it. Then he gives her the answer she wants in the form of advice, which was a fantastic bit of writing. After that, she inexplicably mellows out to him quite a bit and there's storytime in the stone house, the exceptionally warm lighting, as their hands achingly, hesitatingly touch- an insane amount of effortlessness in making yourself physical in a force-induced manifestation that, for Ben and Rey, resulted in the sexiest finger-touching I've ever seen, and for Luke became such a strain that it killed him. Powerful in the force are these two, indeed. I can't get over how warm that lighting was- literal love by firelight. And then….and then Rey cried it felt so good. And so did Ben. And when Rey recounts what she saw of his future in the elevator when their hands touched, she does this sweet look down at his chest before looking back with care into his face…I was feeling it so hard, man. That is a loving gesture. *I* have acted that way with someone I love. That's a tic that only belongs to lovers, not friends. What kind of 'solid' future did she see for him? With that kind of tic, it makes me wonder if she hadn't seen herself in it, too. Goddammit, ben! Get your shit together, boy!

Rey's lack of social skills, however, really fucking botched things between them, too. Surely there had to be a better way to reason with him than pulling out a goddamned saber. Bad move, sweetheart. And in one fell swoop you broke that man's heart. Everything after Rey's rejection was just bleeding-heart Kylo vomiting his emotions all over the place. I mean he was seriously torn up about it. And what about Rey running off? How come we didn't get that scene? Did she just straight-up split? Or did she stop for a moment to look at Kylo's unconscious, likely peaceful, face? I'm mad we didn't get to see it because it would have said a lot- instead once Rey rejoins the resistance, we get a TON more relationship-dodging. A TON of dodging. Because you know what? The relationship is there, man. Finn's got his gal, and Rey looks on acceptingly at this turn of events. Kylo and Rey have experienced a lot of emotional stuff together at this point- he's the only one that shares her secret about her parents. But you'd never know anything at all had happened to her at the end of the film. It's just business as usual. And that's really weird to me. That's not character growth. A bit of longing there, for what Rey almost, almost, let herself have with Kylo reflected in Finn and Rose's moment, but no- just plain old start-of-tfa Rey apparently. I mean….Rey didn't even ask him about his scar. He never brought up his scar. Was that a scene that got cut? Because how do you avoid that conversation? How do you avoid that? OH! The fight scene- and where she rolls her back onto his back to fight the red guard I WAS LIVING! It was so good, and they kept checking on each other during the fight. I loved it.

I've just been reminded of the shirtless scene- it didn't come off naturally, but I get that they're trying to establish that the bond is manifesting at 'inconvenient' moments, ok whatever. And then Rey goes and spoils the moment with more unnecessary comedy schtick which rolled off Adam beautifully- thank you, Adam. She totally checked him out, though. Maybe she was reliving that moment a little in the elevator when she looked down at his chest. Makes me wonder again just what exactly she saw in his future. I'm here for it.

Why did Rey fucking sail to the FO in a coffin? That made no sense. Although it was cute that Ben came to pick her up like "Hi." but then "Here are some shackles. Sorrynotsorry." I love how she was clearly expecting something else but NOPE.

Also, Rey really does come from nothing, although I don't fucking know how her parents can be in a potter's field in Jakku when Rey last saw them sail off into space. Sounds like hasty writing after being fed up with fans to me. Although Adam rattled it all off beautifully. And I love how Ben loves her regardless of it all. I loved the whole "You knew this the whole time so who cares because I don't? PS: come be my empress, it'll be great." Adam did so well in this film, but I can't help but think, like every fucking thing else, that his screen time was radically choked and that there's TONS more on the cutting room floor that give his acting more of the credit it's due and that flesh out so many more things to help them make more sense. Ugh.

In conclusion. I liked it. I cried when Leia's old holo projection played. I cried like a bitch. But I didn't leave the film feeling like my mind was blown like it'd been with TFA. I don't know if it's because I just felt overwhelmed in more of a bad way than good due to how busy everything was or if it's because I've been analyzing stuff for two years. It's probably a bit of both. Because I avoided the spoilers like the plague, you know? So everything was still new and a surprise, and while I think the film was a total trip that I'd recommend, TFA just felt cleaner, more impactful, and left enough space for all its characters to fully realize themselves instead of the cram-fest that this movie is. And most importantly, TLJ didn't leave enough space for John Williams to create any stand-out moments like in TFA- "The Starkiller" is a piece that gave me fucking goosebumps and that, to this day, will be one of my favorite moments in movie history. To choose a quiet dirge piece for a moment of bloody chaos was absolutely brilliant and shook me to the core, but there was no time for a moment like that in this film and that really bums me out. I was hoping for another moving experience like that.

Reylo's a thing now, but the kids have a lot of work to do on their relationship, because Kylo's in full spurned-lover mode and he's not handling it well. He's now a kid who's been handed all the power in the universe, and if Rey thinks that's not going to backfire, especially with their direct phone line to each other, she's got another thing coming. She's going to have her hands full trying to talk that boy down, and any next encounter between them is going to be incredibly tense and fraught with emotion. He finally outrightly pleaded with her to be with him. And that fucking means something. And Rey's not dimwitted enough not to see that. She knows the implications. She saw his good-ending future, remember- one that, as she recalled it, her eyes drifted to his chest in a very, very affectionate move that was well played by Daisy. In fact, I was so focused on Daisy's performance in that moment that I missed Kylo's reaction so when I see the film again, I'll have to remember to focus on him next time.

And Leia….Carrie was right that 9 was supposed to be Leia's film. I mean…that ending makes it indisputable. How do you work through that? Especially with Luke copping out? Essentially my prediction for what's going to happen is this: Lots, and lots, of Ghost Uncle Luke times. It's the only option they have. Luke's gonna come back, haunt the shit out of Ben and give him terrible girl advice, and then visit Rey and try to teach her some more. It's the only option they have, really. Mark thought he was finally done, but then Carrie just had to go and die- isn't that just typical. I also love how Billie plays such a bigger role in this film. Her performance was great, too, and there were moments where she really sounded like a young Leia that had me tearing up. I love them all so much.

So that's all I got for this initial objective general review of The Last Jedi. I plan to see this film at least once more in standard 2D (my preferred mode), and also in 4DX because why would you not want to be on Star Wars: The Ride for 2.5 hours? It's worth the ticket price. Plus seeing these films in 3D adds a whole new perspective to things, I discovered after seeing 3D TFA. So I'm open to that, too. I had a lot of technical complaints with this film, but otherwise I like the direction it went in, it was a direction I anticipated (minus snoke being wasted as a character- that still sucks), and I'd say as a shipper we got a good 75% of what we wanted. As a shipper, I'd say full steam ahead for the good boat Reylo and I look forward to a hopefully grittier, more distraught atmosphere to really bring shit home in 9. JJ Abrams gave us a very, very solid, coherent story for 7, and I look forward to having that back again for the grand finale. These characters deserve coherency. I love Rian, but he tried to cram too much in too small a space and lot really suffered for it- this was a problem Rogue One had that I hoped wouldn't repeat itself, but here we are. But even Rogue One navigated its complicated story better than TLJ did, I think. I don't know. Again, I need to see this film a few more times before I can really throw the gavel down. But now that this objective review is out, I'm happy to go back to putting my shipper glasses on and appreciating what we do have: Hot hand touches, shirtless Ben Solo, Rey saying 'Ben', Ben saying 'Rey', both of them crying over each other, both of them ogling each other, and the category of Emperor Ren fiction absolutely fucking exploding (and laughing maniacally that my own 'Exigence in force majeure' is now fucking canon-compliant can you believe this shit what is life).

Ok- enjoy the film, friends! TATFS out. PS: Oh yeah, haha, the jedi books were saved- ok. Also, I would love to get my hands on a director’s cut and all the deleted scenes so that I could try my hand at cutting my own version of this film- eliminate or better time 90% of the comedic bits and create a film that’s really darkly compelling and profound. Ok, I’m really gone this time bye.

#tlj #tlj spoilers #reylo #spoilers #star wars #star wars spoilers #star wars review #the last jedi #tlj review #the last jedi review #initial review

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paradiselostbythedashboardlight · 6 years

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So in honor of me finally rewatching The Last Jedi, I thought it might be fun to do a little retrospective and also rewatch the Force Awakens just to see how they flow together etc. Here is a rambling list of my thoughts

The Force Awakens rewatch:

1. It really has to be said, but Finn objectively has a much better part in this movie. He’s so funny and so charming and so relatable. But one of the things I think fan fiction made me mentally edit out was that he really is a super reluctant hero! Like, he legitimately never has any interest in joining the Resistance, most of the help he gives to them is motivated by quid pro quo for helping rescue Rey. Basically, I think this sets up his TLJ plot line a lot better than I had initially thought, because Finn is super uncommitted to the cause.

2. Finn and Rey are a fucking delight. One thing that this movie does so well is keeping them almost constantly in peril and they are just electric when they’re bouncing back and forth off of one another. Also I’d kinda forgotten (again, the perils of fan characterization) but Rey is actually very prickly to everyone at first and seeing her warming up to Finn and eventually even hugging him when he inadvertently does the most powerful thing he could (coming back for her) is absolutely precious. I ship them hard. And yes romantically, but I also feel like I won’t be mad if it doesn’t end romantically in the movies as long as they still are the most important people in each other’s lives.

3. Rey is also pretty unnerved by her Jedi powers and I think that subtly sets up a lot of her reactions to Luke’s training. She really is trying to play it like she knows what to expect and she’s ready to be trained, but she’s basically just putting on a brave face when her powers actually really confuse and overwhelm her in TFA. Also I TOTALLY forgot Kylo Ren being a weirdly elitist dick the whole time about her like “what? some girl? some rando scrapper???” like calm down there is meritocracy in this universe.

4. There are a lot of good jokes, to whoever says that Star Wars shouldn’t be goofy and have a lot of tension ruining humor, I raise you the scene where Finn is trying to put a bandage on Chewbacca and BB-8 hears him roaring and literally screams and runs away. Also Harrison Ford having the best two lines of his career essentially back to back with “that’s not how the Force works!” and then immediately “what do you mean you’re cold???”

5. I know he doesn’t have a lot to do in the second half of the movie, but the pure gleeful joy I feel when Poe is shooting down TIE fighters and there’s this huge pan shot and Finn goes “THAT’S ONE HELL OF A PILOT” will rectify any sins.

6. Seriously note, but this also gave me a better sense of how Leia’s storyline was meant to progress. She’s the one who has hope in TFA that her son can be redeemed and not just that, he can be brought home and everything will be fine. It takes Han’s death and all of the events of TLJ before she is finally ready to admit to Luke that her son his gone and he can never come back. I think by the time I saw TLJ I’d forgotten just how wildly hopeful she was and how crushing it is to see her abandon that.

7. Additionally, Kylo Ren is super fucking creepy in this movie. Like, I think again that the fan culture has made me forget that, but he’s legit terrifying. And that’s great, I really like how scary he is and he’s a great villain. But one thing I noticed is that everyone sorta portrays him like this super emotionally volatile explosive screaming guy, but he actually spends the majority of TFA speaking in a very creepy flat monotone. Essentially the only hints of anger you ever get are in his violent actions, but his voice is always calm. It’s only at the end when you see him really come apart at the seams and start screaming at people. Anyways, I think that was very telling for how accurate Snoke really is when he says that killing Han kinda made him snap. ALSO DAMN THE SOUND EDITING OF THE FORCE INTERROGATIONS IS GREAT.

8. Rey’s theme fucking goes. That’s all I have to say, it’s dope.

9. The stormtrooper screaming TRAITOR is exactly as funny as I remember it being.

10. Hux is a lot more... competent here? Or at least, he’s not a cartoon character. I don’t really feel strongly that one or the other is better though because I got enjoyment out of both.

11. This movie is a lot more of a World movie than a plot movie. I don’t know how else to put it. I think that’s why some love it and some felt cold while feeling completely differently about TLJ. But this movie is trying to get you hype for the world of Star Wars whereas TLJ is really focusing in on a particular plot and thus narrows scope and focus a lot.

The Last Jedi rewatch:

1. So switching from one movie to the other rapidly, I definitely felt a bit of tone whiplash at the beginning. Particularly the Poe and Hux dialogue is just super goofy and Hux’s face is making really campy expressions the whole time. But as I continued, I think I realized that actually the tone of this movie isn’t that much sillier. Yes it has porgs (and you can pry them away from my cold dead hands) but the majority of the scenes are actually pretty grim. Overall, this movie has a lot more death and destruction. No one but Han really dies in TFA and we barely notice when the Resistance loses a ship. The tone of this movie is actually pretty bleak for the most part, which is why I think the humorous sections seem more jarring.

2. Canto Bight. Ah Canto Bight. The part no one likes. It bothers me less with each rewatch because I can see how it sets up so much thematic material that I really do like. For example, DJ is a great foil to Finn in that he is pretty much what Finn could have become if he’d continued on his path from The Force Awakens without Rey. Disillusioned with both sides, motivated only by survival, no hope in something better. Also I really think it does give you complexity that TFA lacks with its pretty vague description of what exactly the Resistance is and what is happening in the galaxy.

3. You know actually, I think the reason people don’t like the Canto Bight sequence is because it’s basically the prequels! Hear me out: full of wacky aliens, showing the rich and powerful part of the galaxy not the gritty part, moral ambiguity for the good guys, dialogue is HIGH camp (”this lousy beautiful town” lol Rose plz no), CGI chase scenes. There is even a small boy yelling “woohoo!” at a race. It is the prequels.

4. I still love Luke’s plot and I don’t see how it could have gone any differently and still worked. There is literally no better reason for Luke to have randomly gone away to enjoy #islandlife alone when the Resistance needs him. Like... The Force Awakens sets up that he’s disappeared mysteriously and even Leia can’t find him with the Force so you’re expecting something bad.

5. Rey’s parents. I realized this time that she never actually clarifies in TFA whether she knows her family or not. So it does actually make sense that she remembers them from being like a 5 year old, felt horribly abandoned when they sold her, and hangs on to this naive belief they probably gave her about returning one day to save her. She’s not really searching for their identity so much as their whereabouts.

6. I know this is controversial, but Poe really does have a better plot line in this movie. I’m sorry, but he doesn’t really even have a storyline in TFA, he’s just like... a chill guy they meet. You don’t have to like the storyline, but you should admit that it is nice that he got one this time. I also noticed some really nice details/transitions where his dialogue mirrors Leia so it’s really clear that this is all a setup to him assuming command of the Resistance.

7. So... right... I don’t want to delay this any longer, but this movie does have some... awkwardness. The random scene with Maz. How coincidental it is that they find DJ. Holdo holding the idiot ball a little and being randomly suspicious around Poe. It isn’t quite elegant with its plot, but I do respect that it is due to the fact that the movie is trying to convey a much more complicated series of events. And TFA isn’t without some of these contrived moments, it just covers them a little better (I’m looking at you Rathtars and jumping to light speed whenever Han damn well pleases and Phasma in the trash compactor).

8. Kylo Ren is like way crazier in this one, but much less frightening. In fact, I noticed that while I previously mentioned this movie is way darker and more upsetting, the villains are actually much less scary. Snoke is like... super not scary. Hux is a loony toon now. Kylo Ren is somewhere between sympathetic character and petulant walking tantrum. I think that serves to put the focus of the story less on defeating some evil guy, and more on the evils of systems and organizations. The threat isn’t a guy with a mask or a gross face in this movie, it’s the endless consumption of war that ultimately makes human life meaningless. I like the message, but I also like scary guys in capes so... conflicted.

9. I’ve watched this movie three damn times now and I still can’t tell if I like Rose because she’s a good character or if Kelly Marie Tran is just That Charming.

10. I still really like this movie and whenever something doubtful happens, the movie immediately follows it up with something so mind bogglingly awesome you can’t even think about it anymore. The highs are high even if the lows are more obvious.

11. They should have fucking kept that Phasma deleted ending.

#star wars #The Force Awakens #the last jedi

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gaolcrowofmandos · 6 years

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Eleven Questions

Tagged by @astorey91 --thanks so much! Your Tolkien questions are FANTASTIC

1. Favorite ship, and why (you can only pick one)?

What, just one?! In that case, I'd have to say Curufin/Finrod. I really can't resist the tragedy and mutual sense of betrayal, not to mention the huge differences in political philosophy and theology between them.

2. Lord of the Rings or the The Hobbit?

I adore The Hobbit, but I'll go with LotR--more amazing characters, more room to develop darker themes and the light to counter them, and ya know, more direct Silm references.

3. Would you have followed the Feanorians or stayed in Valinor, and why?

I think I probably would have followed them, maybe for more Fingon-and-Galadriel-ambitious reasons than the whole revenge and rage against the Gods thing, but I don't think I could've stayed in Aman when there wasn't much left to stay for.

4. What race would you want to belong to in Middle-earth?

Maiar! Power, immortality, a level of free agency (like Melian just picked up and hung out in the woods of Beleriand, so I figure that's allowed?)--sounds more chill/less doomed than other races.

5. Do you think that Tolkien should have written more about regions like the Harad and Rhun?

It would've been cool if he had, and I would totally read the hell out of any content he produced, but I don't mind his focus on the West of Endor. Having these wide, uncharted realms to the South and East gives Middle-earth a grander scale than if we knew all the intimate details of every region there.

6. Why do you think that he did not write about them as much? (sorry I’m cheating with this one lol)

I think kind of for the reason I mentioned above: he really wanted to focus on the West of Middle-earth, but in order to create a world that felt much bigger than just the stories we know well, he needed the unknown realms. Unmapped regions make for a stronger Sub-creation, imo

7. What do you think happened to the Blue Wizards?

I always like the version where they went East, and were actually able to keep Sauron's influence at bay for a while. I figure he might have arranged for the Nazgul to, erm, take care of them once he realized the problem, though?

8. If there was a restaurant with Middle-earth based foods, what would be on the menu?

All that good rich hobbity food. Lots of wine. Like twelve brews of ale, mead, beer. Stewed coney with potatoes.

9. If you could have a Feanorian as your friend, who would it be and why?

Celegorm actually seems like he would be a really chill pal. (Except when he decided to kill things, but. The rest of the time)

10. Do you think that Tolkien would have written more if he had not died when he did?

100%! He was reworking ideas up to the last months of his life--no reason to think he'd have stopped. *sobs quietly over Leaf by Niggle*

11. Thoughts on the new Tolkien series? (sorry I’m stealing this one. I am terrible at thinking of questions!)

This is an unpopular opinion, but I'm none too optimistic about it. Even with it serving as a gapfiller rather than a proper adaptation, it's almost inevitable that it'll wind up being perceived as 'canon,' which is a space I'm not sure a transformative work should occupy... I'll probably still watch it out of curiosity, though ;)

My Questions:

1) Which Tolkien book was the first you read?

2) After reading which Tolkien book did you realize you were hooked?

3) Tom Bombadil theory of choice?

4) Describe (or link, if you want!) one of the first fics or pieces of art you enjoyed in the Tolkien fandom.

5) If you were a Maia, which Vala would you choose to serve and why?

6) Favorite Tolkien poem? (If it's one of the Lays, do you have a favorite part/canto?)

7) Best thing about the Jackson films?

8) Worst thing about the Jackson films?

9) Would you rather live in Rivendell or Lothlórien?

10) Does a Balrog have wings?

11) Favorite First Age character who is not an Elf or a Dark Lord?

I tag: @@@nixiegenesis, @ten-summoners-fails , @reblogthiscrapkay , @ivorwendarcy , @hello-from-valinor , @cerulean-shark , @burdenedwithgloriousfandoms , @filmamir , @adcuiliell3 , @raisingcain-onceagain , and @irreverentecthelion , if y'alll would like!

#tag you're it #about me #astorey91 #thanks for the tag!

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niobiumao3 · 6 years

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TLJ: Spoiler Edition

ABANDON ALL HOPE, YE WHO ENTER HERE

Okay so.

Things I really liked:

I liked the Kylo Ren arc; I liked how we got more insight into the past with Luke and how Luke’s one moment of weakness sparked something ugly in Ben, and how Luke has been punishing himself for this ever since. And I am of the opinion the narrative doesn’t want us to hate Luke for this. I think the point of the conversation with Yoda was to indicate that it was never going to be possible for Luke to be a perfect Jedi Master and make no mistakes, and that failure is the greatest teacher. That really, the failing is Ben’s, in giving himself over to the dark side such that when Luke does make a mistake, Ben is unable to forgive him or understand. Rey makes the same mistake, initially, in blaming Luke, and I think once she gets to Snoke and Ren and Ren refuses to turn back with her, she better understands what has happened.

I liked the discussions of how perfect binaries/dichotomies of light and dark and good and bad are useless and dumb and probably lead to more problems than they solve. I like that BJ, an ultimately reprehensible character, is the one who points out, ‘have you considered it’s in the best interest of war profiteers that no one ever wins, that war is forever?’

THE ADMIRAL FLIPPING THE DOUBLE DEUCE AS SHE LIGHTSPEEDS HER CRUISER INTO THE FO’S SHIPS AND OBLITERATES THEM. FUCKING, ANNIHILATED. The pure silence of that moment was so good.

Luke tossing Anakin’s Lightsaber like ‘fuck this thing’. Bigtime mood.

‘Lifting rocks.’

‘Page turners, were they?’

Rey, literally and figuratively, shutting the door in Ren’s face. Like I don’t get why anyone thinks Reylo will be a thing?

Johnson was continually subverting tropes. ‘Wild crazy plans cost lives and seldom work’ was used to great effect with Poe, and I appreciate that while Poe’s attitude frustrated Haldo and Leia neither of them hated him or resented him for it. It was more a ‘in order to lead you’re going to need to learn that you can’t bank everything on a crazy win’ plot arc, which IMO is okay, and not seen enough in these kinds of films.

The situation where Hux (who has clearly been ‘managing’ Snoke because Snoke is, despite being powerful, also quite predictable) trips up constantly wrt Ren because Ren is a rageful manchild whom Hux totally cannot grok was great. Perfect example: Ren says, PUT ME DOWN ON THE SURFACE, LUKE AND I ARE GONNA FITE, and Hux, being totally reasonable, says, ‘Like, why, there is no way we benefit from this, let’s just blow it all up and--’ and Ren temper tantrums and knocks Hux out, but the pilot says, “Right away sir.” Like, Hux, yes, you’re right, but who cares? Best case scenario, Ren dies fighting Luke and now Ren is out of your hair; second best, Ren kills Luke and now Luke Skywalker isn’t a problem. Win-win! But Hux doesn’t get why Ren is so irrational and always railing against the universe, and he trips up on this cognitive dissonance several times. It was a very well-written interaction.

I also liked the trope subversion of Ren rising up and killing Snoke. We are constantly denied this in earlier SW films. And as we see, it’s not sheer power than enables Ren to do it. The one time he tries that, Snoke bitchslaps him into next week with a simple hand gesture. No, it’s subterfuge and hiding his motives, which is a big theme for Ren. He does it to everyone, IMO in a suggestion that he has no idea who he actually is. And he doesn’t want to continue the Sith tradition or whatever; he’s a nihilistic, angry manchild who wants to burn it all. It was some very good writing for him.

I know a lot of people are mad about Luke’s characterization, but honestly, I liked it. I liked that it was his turn to be Ben Kenobi, the angry old hermit living in the middle of nowhere not wanting to get involved because he fucked up badly. I loved his ‘old master skywalker’ look, it was very Alec Guinness, and I wanted so much more than we got of it. And his super badass ‘no Snoke I am not falling for your bullshit’ astral projection move, spot on.

What I disliked:

The characterization of Rey and Finn seemed off. The girl from the first movie would have, I think, been a little more likely to trust Luke and not Ren. And she seems to, at first, but then her conversion is so fast. It felt more like something that needed additional time to happen. This said, I think you can make a case for Ren constantly leaning on her vulnerability wrt her parents. He found that pressure point and hammered on it relentlessly. But Rey’s initial round of blaming Luke for Ren should have given way to her realizing she was right the first time; that Ben had ultimately failed Luke just as Luke failed him, and that while Luke might not have stopped the situation, he was not the sole person involved. That Kylo Ren has to also be blamed for his own actions; the standard ‘just because someone did wrong by you it does not give you carte blanche to do wrong by others’. IMO Rey, or Finn or Poe, would be the people to be compassionate in this way, and ultimately only Leia is for like, 2 seconds. It was a bad turn for Rey which I didn’t care for.

Likewise, Finn continued to try and bail and that seemed like a regression from the end of TFA. You can argue we don’t really see him come to terms with ‘fight for these things worth saving’ in TFA the way we do here but it still felt like a duplication of previous things for him, rather than a growth. And I don’t know why he’s shown as being so susceptible to the lavish excesses of Canto Bight; sure, I can see him being dazzled, but more in a ‘what the hell, people live like this???’ way, not in a ‘I clearly need to get me some of this’ way. It seemed weird and off. It might have made more sense for Rose, if she’s the ‘hidden princess’ she’s rumored to be, to act like this, and Finn to be the one to pull her back.

Speaking of Canto Bight, that whole segment bogged down the movie and needed to happen while they were already on Crait, or instead involve them sneaking onto a Star Destroyer. Like, then you could have had Finn accidentally or intentionally inciting a Stormtrooper Rebellion, and get more Phasma, and keep BJ as a POW they release who then turns on them. You can even keep the discussion of war profiteering in--just have some impounded arms dealer ships, and he was arrested for stealing them or w/e...it would have kept narrative tension intact, provided a better structure tin which to build Finn and Rose’s characters...ah well.

Also, again, too much music. Way, too, much, fuicking, music. Give me the subtle background sounds of the ships, of the base, of the island. Not 1000000000000 strains of music. That moment when the ship went to lightspeed and sundered Snoke’s command ship, the pure silence, was breathtaking. The movie needed much, much more of that.

So yeah, overall, not a bad film and I appreciate the trope subversions, but I wanted better writing for Finn and Rey--equal to what Ren got--and I wanted more Luke and Leia, and I wanted less music. It’s still a gorgeous movie, and a solid SW film, but not as good as it could have been. In this way it’s like the prequels for me; annoying due to its wasted potential, though still enjoyable.

#star wars #the last jedi #the last jedi spoilers #spoilers #star wars spoilers

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thegeekerynj · 4 years

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An Occasional Attempt to Read, Discuss and Review the Wonders of Comics By: John Rafferty, cranky old man, and Fan of All Things Comics

Short Takes

Short Reviews, where the Cranky Fat Guy Doesn’t Have Much to Say ———————————————————————

Flash #756 - 757 Reverse Flash Family / Legion of Zoom part 1

Writer: Joshua Wiliamson Artist: Christian Duce / Rafa Sandoval & Jordi Tarragona

‘I know my Daddy didn’t do it! You’re lying!’

Hooooo Boy!

Am I the only one that thinks this is just taking tooooo long to play out?

This is a book about speedsters, right?

When did Barry Allen become such a whiny twit? I mean, Iris has bigger stones than he does...

Hoping this gets better, because right now, Williamson is killing this book for me. It’s a shame, too, because some of the artwork is absolutely brilliant.

Hat’s off to Duce, and Sandoval and Tarragona, for making so much of this.

out of 5🌶 🌶 🌶 🌶

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Billionaire Island #1-2 (Ahoy Comics)

Writer: Mark Russell Art: Steve Pugh

‘Oh My God! Oh My God! Forty years in Action Movies, and I’m finally doing it, For Real!’

Imagine, if you will, a time where the rich don’t want to pay taxes any more, and will do just about anything to avoid doing so...

Welcome to Billionaire Island, conceived by Rick Canto, majority stock holder of AGGRO Corp.

Sanctuary to the Ultra-Rich, where anything goes, nothing is illegal, what happens there, well it definitely stays there. And, anyone who comes snooping around, well, they get the hamster wheel.

Enter our two protagonists, Shelley Bly (biting humor if there ever is some), and a mysterious assassin, who makes short work, and then assumes the identity of the CEO of AGGRO Corp, Corey Spagnola.

Where Pugh and Russell take us, well, I’m not sure it matters, as long as the laughs and the satire are as biting and uproarious as they already have been!

Hamster Wheel!

out of 5 🌶 🌶 🌶 🌶 🌶.5

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Road To Empire One-Shot

Writer: Robbie Thompson Artists: Mattia De Iulis, Javier Rodriguez and Alvaro Lopez

‘But you just said it yourself. We were peaceful once. Can’t we be so again?’

Once, there was two warring races, and Earth-616 stood between them.

The Kree-Skrull War occupied much of my childhood, what with the Avengers, the advent of Mar-Vell, the Original Captain Marvel, his Nega-Bands, and the joining to Rick (oh, yes, I need another job) Jones, the Super-Skrull, the Skrull Race, and the Fantastic Four, Carol Danvers, Kamala Khan, the retcon of the Inhumans for the Kree Terrigen Mist, the Kree experimentation on Humanity to create Inhumans, The Secret Invasion, Hulkling, and now.... the Sleeper Skrull-gents, waiting to be activated, after the Secret Invasion went belly up... the list goes on, and inexorably on....

But now, we get the ‘true’ history of the Three Races, Skrull, Kree and Cotati (who da Fu...) anyway, this is where we are.

Strangely enough, this is a neat little bottle story, giving a history lesson, from the view of a combatant. Too often, these history lesson type stories are told either from the viewpoint of the winner, or the loser, and when that happens, the other side is never portrayed in a sympathetic light. This story, maybe because it is told from the viewpoint of a mother, casts all sides as both right and wrong, except the Cotati, who appeared to have been totally obliterated by the Kree, in an effort to show how ‘advanced’ they were.

All in all, a neat story. I’m not sure it’s enough to drag me into the 800 titles that will be involved in this story, but I was dutifully impressed with this story, and art.

out of 5 🌶 🌶🌶 🌶 .5

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Batman The Adventure Continues 1 & 2

Writers: Alan Burnett and Paul Dini Artist: Ty Templeton

‘These rocket’s cost money, ya know!

Send the bill to Batgirl, 123 Try And Find Me Avenue, Gotham City!’

Well, for fans of Batman: The Animated Series, and Batman: The New Adventures, your time is nigh!

Did you ever have that show you watched, no matter what, and when it got cancelled, you wished, with all your might, it would come back... on another channel, on a streaming platform, somehow?

For some reason, the Powers That Be at DC / WB / ATT decided it was time to give the Little Kid in all of us something to enjoy... 20+ pages of Paul Dini / Alan Burnett goodness with Ty Templeton SPECIALNESS!

Two issues in, and I’m all a-giggle... Batman - Superman -Luthor - GIANT ROBOT, Bat Family - Slade Frickin’ Wilson!!!, and the stories are fun! They are well written, snappy dialoged, nicely transitioned stories... good enough for the pre-teen, with more than enough to tickle the memories of the these characters unfold as written during the 90’s.

Templeton's artwork captures the stylistics of the cartoon show, while enhancing it for the newer reader. The reader can see / hear Dini’s influences in the dialog, it moves similar to the cartoon of old, nary skipping a beat, grabbing the old memories, and dragging them to the forefront.

I hope this team can keep the established pace up. If they can, this will be my GO - TO Happy Place Book going forward!

out of 5 🌶 🌶 🌶 🌶 🌶 🌶

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Sleeping Beauties #1 ( From the fevered minds of Stephen and Owen King)

Adapted : Rio Youers Art: Alison Sampson

‘Sleeping Sickness. A Never-Ending Universe. Jeez, it sounds like High School’ They say it’s in the genes.

Talent, that is.

Well, I’m here to tell you, this is the evidence.

The King Family, in all it’s gory. Sorry, glory. Tabitha, with her Nodd’s Ridge stories, Joe Hill, well between Hill House Comics, Locke and Key, NOS4A2...and now Owen, with Sleeping Beauties, co-penned with his dad.

You know. The creepy guy from Castle Rock.

Anyway, this adaptation is pretty, stylish, and so far, pretty on point. Rio Yours is doing a nice job of staying true to source, while pushing the story quickly enough to make it palatable for the comics world.

The wonder is the art. This book is beautiful. It is very stylized, almost webbed together, Some of the artwork is very airy, as if it is intended to float, almost without perspective, while other panels stand out as meticulous, detailed studies in a single action, to capture the act in case there is a need to refer back to it later.

Like a King story, there is a great deal going on, some detail which the Reader might miss at first, but will be drawn to later.

This is a book to watch. It is guaranteed to be a limited run, but it is well worth catching.

out of 5🌶 🌶🌶🌶🌶

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Justice League 45-46-47 Cold War parts 2-3-4

Writer: Robert Venditti Pencils: Xermanico & Robson Rocha Inkers: Xermanico, Daniel Henriquez & Robson Rocha

Jim Corrigan... The Spectre... Themyscira... Tartarus!

The Gates of Hell are Opening! God’s Fist of Vengeance is no longer tethered to a human host! Tartarus, the FIRST GOD of THE HELLS is loosed upon the world!

And everyone is just being introspectively angry?

John Stewart and Batman don’t like each other?? This is news? Everyone’s pissed at Superman?? Hell, I’m pissed at Superman!! That was dumb!

Corrigan pissed at GOD?!!? The Spectre, the Spirit of Vengeance, has been corrupted?? Why does this feel like 4 issues of a CSPAN?

Pretty artwork, though...

out of 5 🌶 🌶🌶

#comic books #comics #dc comics #the flash #justice league #sleeping beauties #owen king #stephen king #empyre

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yahoosodapop · 6 years

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The flaws in The Last Jedi

I love the movie. It was surprisingly deep after you get over the initial shock and overwhelming sensation of being thrust multiple concepts in a span of 2.45 hours.

Seems like the vocal ‘minority’ is all over the online reviews for this movie. I say vocal because I’ve seen this thing happen so many times...when a certain group doesn’t want like something the actively trash metacritic or any other public review systems. So I’ve learned to ignore it.

But let’s be honest, the movie is without its flaws.

Let’s go through the 3 major plot points and what I felt was lacking in them:

1. Resistance on the run

Leia is grooming Poe to lead. She say’s it herself when she berates him about his decision to sacrifice a very hefty chunk of their fleet to a ill-thought of bombing run.

“I see dead heroes. No leaders.”

Cut to Admiral Holdo, who Poe appears to woo over but eventually she shuts him out - asking him to be patient and trust the leadership. Poe doesn’t trust her and in turn instigates a mutiny on board.

I was...WTF Poe?!?

I get it, this story arc was learning about leadership. But at some point, he is insufferable. Being all flirty and cocky to get on Holdo’s good side and once she spurred him, he ended up as a mutineer. They played his cocky pilot without a brain scenario too much that Oscar Isaac’s face can no longer save me from being annoyed at his character.

When Holdo sacrificed herself in the end...WOW...that was the leader that the resistance truly needed. She had a plan all along. It’s too bad that Poe is now the leader of the rebels...after having such a fantastic character with Holdo, I feel let down. Bring back Holdo! I don’t care about Akbar, Holdo is much better!

This whole sequence...I don’t know --- I found it boring, irritating and I just wanted to get it over.

2. Canto Bight

Finn wakes up...

Where is Rey? Where is Rey? Where is Rey? Where is Rey? Where is Rey? Where is Rey? Where is Rey? Where is Rey? Where is Rey? Where is Rey? Where is Rey? Where is Rey? Where is Rey? Where is Rey?

And later on it turned to...

I’m doing this so I can run away with Rey. I’m doing this so I can run away with Rey. I’m doing this so I can run away with Rey. I’m doing this so I can run away with Rey. I’m doing this so I can run away with Rey.

Again it was annoying.

Finn held no allegiance to anyone except himself and Rey. To some extent, DJ was introduced as a parallel to Finn --- having no allegiance to anyone except himself and money. DJ is the man that Finn could become. A coward.

Parts of the Canto Bight sequence felt too long and too unnecessary. That whole bit about the racing creatures, the kids, the chase sequence...it felt too long. And when they get to the ship it gets boring --- even when they land on the Snoak’s ship...it just felt dull overall.

DJ could have been an excellent character. He could have delivered the war duality on a better level (Lord knows Benico Del Toro has the acting chops for anything)...perhaps had they talked more in the prison cell rather than all the other things that happened in Canto Bight that might have made more sense. But that much needed duality discussion on the ship and later on Snoak’s ship- fell flat. In the end most people do not need to question the status quo. It is what, it is. Bad guys and good guys.

And Rose...really a fantastic character who had a big crush on Finn due to his heroic exploits. I loved the moment when she shocked Finn ~ you go girl!!!

She gives some interesting insights on Canto Bight...but once again it falls flat. She delivers one of the best lines in the movie in the end as she saves Finn --- and I find myself asking...what has he ever done to deserve that from you because ‘Rey! Rey Rey! Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey!!!!’

And the fight with Phasma...it was so anti-climactic that I am so sad they had wasted Gwendoline Christie. Once again...Finn wins by pure luck. It wasn’t a showdown of epic proportions --- it was accidental whimper to the end.

And I am getting annoyed by BB-8 deus ex machina droid. Not even R2 could have done those miracles.

Finn in TLJ is no different from Finn in TFA. I’m expecting his first line to Rey in the third movie as "Run away with me, Rey.”

3. The balance and the Force

a.k.a The real story that Rian Johnson wanted to tell but somehow he had to talk about the other guys too...

I’m not going to talk about Reylo here because that is the best part of the movie for me - and you can see how much Rian Johnson enjoyed himself with that but let’s get down to business - the people who are hating the movie have reasons that all boil down to Luke’s characterization (not exactly the ‘abusive’ ship known as Reylo *gasp*!!!)

The first time I watched it, I was upset that Rian Johnson dragged my childhood hero / my favorite SW characters through the mud. No wonder Mark Hamill was upset before when he first read the script... Well Mark is ok now after having several debates with Rian himself...but none of us have the luxury of that...

Later on, you understand why Luke turned out the way he did and why he wanted the Jedi to end. But it takes A LOT of thinking.

They needed a lot of time, scenes and dialogue to convey what happened to Luke. And there were a lot of things in Ach-To that were too unnecessary and should just have been converted to Luke talking or showing Rey what’s going on.

Rather than that long and unnecessary bit about Luke’s adventures in Ach-To... The Green Milk... Those annoying Porgs (whose only purpose was for us to say awwwww...and I wish Chewie just ate them)... All that walking with nothing going on...That terribly long sequence with Rey and the mirror (I understand why the mirror sequence is important but it was too long).

All that wasted time could have been used to tell us more about our battered hero, Luke.

Hell take in all those annoying sequences from Poe and Finn’s story arcs and just focus on the most controversial and heartbreaking realization in this movie...Luke is not perfect.

The moments that should have explained Luke, prior to the startling revelation about what happened between him and Ben, were condensed to 3 lessons (with each lesson probably having 2 measly minutes of dialogue).

Lesson 1: The Force both light and dark. It doesn’t give damn if you’re a Jedi or a Sith. It balances itself.

Lesson 2: The way of the Jedi is wrong. (really MORE explanation should have been given here. I think Rian should have thrown in visual flashbacks on how the Jedi effed up to hammer the point home.) In fact, they could have dumped the whole duality of war concept here. With Luke explaining how the good guys and bad guys are the same.

Lesson 3: Failure is the greatest teacher. Of course, Rey doesn’t hear this lesson but she experiences it later on when she fails to bring back Ben (partly her fault). But this is highlighted with Yoda and Luke having a conversation...again it wasn’t that well done and it should have been more substantial.

Perhaps if those 3 lessons were given more importance, the audience may have more time to understand a humanized version Luke rather than outright reject what happened to him.

Of course the end is not without hope:

- Poe is slowly learning to become a leader and he better be since Leia won’t be in Ep IX and they killed a perfectly fantastic character with Holdo. No more of Poe/Holdo dynamic of gaining trust with an icky ‘you tell me your secrets and I’ll tell you mine...” vibe. It’s more ‘Hi I’m Poe and nice to meet you force weapon Rey.”

- Finn is attempting to pick a side. Of course, after the customary ‘Reeeeeeeeey~~~!’ reunion, we see him actually giving time to plain unextraordinary normal Rose. (And I live for the moment when Finn actually ends up in a relationship it’s not with super girl Rey and realize how super normal girls can be.)

- And Luke. Gives hope to his sister that Ben is still there and that Han didn’t die in vain. He cements his failure by death and at the same time tell’s Ben that he will always be with him. Cue in ‘Ben Solo redemption attempt Part II’ via Force Ghost Luke.

I love the movie. I really did. And I might watch it again on IMAX if I find time during the holidays. But I understand the outrage. We are used to movies that we just ingest for entertainment and forget. The last two movies I saw prior to TLJ were Justice League and Thor Ragnarok - purely popcorn movies where mI throw my brain out of the window to enjoy. Rian Johnson tried to give SW a deeper meaning but at the same time it can only be done by challenging what most people hold true for Star Wars. Even if Rian had the perfect movie cut, it would still not be enough to satisfy the weight of the fanboy expectation...

...

With Luke being unable to handle the weight of the universe’s expectation of him being the savior of the galaxy being a metaphor for what’s been going on with the SW franchise.

#star wars #the last jedi #tlj spoilers #the last jedi review

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mysteryspot-duhh · 6 years

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Star Wars: The Last Jedi - a bad good movie

I had the opportunity to watch the movie last Sunday. I left the theatre feeling quite confused, not disappointed but a little unsatisfied and feeling that TFA is a much better movie than TLJ. Bear in mind that the new trilogy are the ones that i see in theatre but i’ve seen the OT and the prequels multiple times.

Coming home, in the spirit of wanting to know what others think about the movie, i logged in on tumblr, and i saw all this hate towards it. I thought- this can’t be right, the movie is flawed but it still is a decent movie. I read the points from both sides of the arguments and it has taken me up a whole week to collect my thoughts and evaluate the movie by myself. I conclude, yes, the movie is heavily problematic and yes, I liked it.

The problem lies in the execution.

Yes, Rian! Execution. I still love you for giving me this movie though.

Here I’m gonna addressed some complains and how I think it can be made better. Or not. Depends. I’m just letting out my own frustration.

1. Leia Organa is force sensitive and this has been established since the OT. But, the execution for the scene is quite ridiculous hence, the phrase Mary Poppins in Space. Some people may have liked it and I have no problem with it BUT the scene did take me out of the moment. I’m fine when Leia opens her eyes, her fingers start twitching and she’s reaching out. It’s great!!! I got excited and i realized- yeah queen! Use the Force!!! Use the Force that I knew you have and go back to safety. The moment the scene shows the wide shot, that’s when the magic dies. The scene could just cuts to Poe and the crew looking bewildered, mouth gaping and all. Because the next thing we see is Leia already resting and what happened could easily being told to the viewer by the characters when they discussed the vacuum in the ranks. Just like how they said about admiral ackbar’s death. IT’S JUST A MEME PEOPLE! Mourn him in your sleep.

2. Poe has the most intriguing storyline in this movie. A young hotshot thinking the rebels should fight back, guns blazing. Wants to be a hero but fails to be a leader. I know as I’m watching, that Leia is grooming him to be the next leader showing him what happens when you do thing recklessly. People die, Poe! He got demoted, yes, but the execution of him being demoted is not enough. Leia just slap him and said, you’re demoted. And that’s it. For viewers, hell yes of course it feels just like a slap to the wrist. Poe needed a good ‘getting demoted scene’. Not saying that Poe should be slapped harder. The slap is not needed at all in my opinion. Show Leia’s frustration to a high level. Show that Leia herself have high expectations for him, emphasize that he let her down and him being demoted as he is not yet ready. Use dialog that viewer would know instantly, she’s not angry, just disappointed. Heh. As it turns out, Poe still don’t understand this and still want to be a hero, show a Poe scene which he resents Leia’s decision, maybe have him yells out his frustration. I mean if my boy Kylo Ren got to smash his mask, why can’t Poe throws his helmet?

3. Rose tasing Finn when she thought he wanted to run away IS NOT ABUSE!!! It’s the same thing as people smacking other people on the head for doing something stupid. Finn was NOT INJURED!!! The hate for this particular scene is ridiculous.

4. Complains about Canto Bight storyline being useless has some truth to it. I know the storyline wants to show Finn’s character development from someone who only cares about himself and those close to him to someone who cares about the world, why the rebels are needed. But again man, execution. Sorry Maz Kanata’s fans, her cameo is not needed. The scene before Maz’s scene, I was lead to believe- yeah, they gonna meet the person who can sneak them into Snoke’s ship. But nooo~ you have to have Maz’s telling you to find a person with red thing on his lapel and then bring him to break the code and all. Urgh. It’s a side quest to a main quest. It’s frustrating. I would cut that scene and just have Rose or Billie Lourd’s character to just say 'i know someone from Canto Bight who could break codes that could help us, but with a price’.

When they go to Canto Bight, instead of failing to find the codebreaker- yes, I know the whole thing is about failure- Finn and Rose would have to convince DJ who they found successfully to join them but DJ don’t want to help them. DJ is in the casino, not in an unnecessary prison, enjoying his life reaping benefits. Their failure is not being able to convince DJ to help them. They would have this debate on benefits of war, resistance is futile, that’s just how the world works. DJ only helps them once Rose herself said 'what if i give u this? My necklace blah,blah and such’. I know in the movie Rose gave him the necklace, but it would be better if she OFFERED the necklace showing she’s willing to sacrifice a precious thing for the cause. Mirroring Paige’s sacrifice for the rebels.

DJ’s character is great and I love how Benicio Del Toro portrays him although would be great without the stutters.

The fathiers and the slave kids is significant, I know. But what if, this is pointed out by DJ and Rose. Like Rose would say 'yeah, i grew up like this, i want to end this’ and DJ being the cynical he is 'yeah, but that’s pointless’ and Rose just heads over there and release the stampede just to prove a point. Hahha. THAT WOULD BE WILD, RIGHT? Then she proceed to inspire the kids in her own words right then and there. Oh, since the pointless prison thing didn’t happen, BB-8 would not be separated and just be happy to tag along and see Rose being a bad ass REBEL.

Finn’s development would be significant this way as he sees an embodiment of his problem and who he needs to be. DJ who only cares about himself and Rose who joins the Rebel for a cause. Then, the line between him and Phasma 'you’re scum’ 'REBEL SCUM’ has more impact as Finn chose the Rebellion.

5. Captain Phasma is this generation’s Boba Fett. That’s all I have to say. Rian! Why???!

Yes. I do think 'it’s salt’ is this generation’s 'it’s a trap’

6. I like Rey’s parents to be nobodies and Snoke dies, but POOR EXECUTION. It’s almost like an afterthought. I partially blame JJ Abrams for setting these up. I honestly don’t care during TFA about these, but I understand fans’ frustration. Just make the scene stands on its own. I don’t care you subvert expectations, just do it right. Let your fans down, respectfully. You could just insert a little backstory on Snoke like maybe in the scene when Snoke says Kylo 'still has his father’s heart’. Because that’s the first scene viewers saw Snoke in person instead of hologram. Hell, Snoke could be just a passerby at the Jedi Temple who coincidentally met Ben Solo who happens to train with his lightsaber ALONE and sense this boy IS ALONE and that he could be 'more than he is now’. It makes sense, Rian!

Rey random could be visually shown instead of that Twilight-esque moment. 'Say it! Say it’. I don’t watch twilight, Rian! but I know memes, Rian! Use the footage from TFA if you don’t want reshoots. It adds weight to the revelation, Rian!

I really hope JJ don’t backtrack this revelation in ep IX. Just add weight to it. Please.

7. Admiral Holdo withholding information. Yes I understand she has a higher rank she gets to do that. But, just to create tension for plot to progress is just baaaaad. The movie played with the notion of 'huh, there’s a spy in the Rebels’ as Poe accused her of being the bad guy. This point should be explored more, for example, the bad ass Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo withhold the information as she’s afraid the escape plan leaks. This could be shown as little as she discussing it with the lady- i don’t know her name, sorry- who introduce her in the first place. Or any other explanation?? I don’t care?? But explain why she withhold the information with more weight.

8. The moment when Poe realized Finn and Rose failed just fell short. A passing moment that is. Add more weight to it. Show the viewer the moment Poe realizes his mistake and regrets it. Not just the word 'they failed’. Maybe add, 'i sent them to their death, same as the bombers before. I made the same mistake.’ It’s not up to the viewer to analyze what’s going on in the scene. It’s the movie’s job to do it.

9. I don’t have problem with Luke’s storyline. I LOVED IT THE MOST. There. I said it. He’s a grumpy hermit and I loved it. I’m living for this storyline. He’s more a human as he live and become more a legend as he dies. The force projection is the best. It reminds me of Avatar: The Last Airbender. If Luke went there by himself, he would feel forced to ~maybe~ kill his nephew. He didn’t want to do that. AS YOU ALL SAID BEFORE, MY LUKE WOULD NEVER KILL HIS NEPHEW #NOTMYLUKE #JAKESKYWALKER. So the whole point is to give what’s left of the Rebellion to run away and spark the fire. It achieved that. Plus, my boy Kylo Ren looked like a fool. That dumb ass dork.

10. I love my girl Rey, but her storyline did fell short. The scene when she lifts the rocks didn’t affect me as much as the moment first she took the lightsaber in TFA. This is why people been calling her Mary Sue- although I can defend her in TFA. The scene cuts to Rey already lifting the rocks, not shown how hard it is to lift the rocks.

Ultimately, I like the movie even maybe will grow to love it, given time. This is the first Star Wars movie that makes me think and write all of this. I’m not a huge fan of writing, mind you. Sure it has HUGE problem with the execution, but the theme and complexity of the characters make it up to me.

#star wars #the last jedi #luke skywalker #general leia #rey #finn #rose tico #poe dameron #kylo ren #it's salt #admiral holdo

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cover2covermom · 7 years

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Happy Sunday bookworms!

Did you miss me? You may have noticed that things have been fairly quiet around the blog these past two weeks. Maybe? Well if you did, thanks for noticing! For those of you who didn’t notice, are you wondering what I was up to? No? Well I am going to tell you anyways….

*Weekly Wrap-Up is a weekly post where I feature what posts were published on the blog for the past week, any bookish/blog happenings, noteworthy posts around the bookish blogosphere, what I recently finished reading, what I am currently reading, and what I will be reading next.

Personal Update:

The reason I’ve been MIA for the past 2 weeks is that my family and I were on vacation in Florida. Of course we visited my happy place, Disney World. If I could visit Disney World EVERY year, I totally would, but my husband won’t allow it. We compromised on every other year. And yes, I am already planning our 2019 Disney World trip :)

And for those of you who are fellow Disney World fans, I give you some pictures from the Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade…

On the blog:

Monday 2/13

Book Event: Brit Bennett, Author of The Mothers

Friday 2/24

Kids’ Corner: Buy, Borrow, or Pass – Children’s Picture Books (February 2017)

Bookish/Blog happenings:

» So Cover2CoverMom actually turned 1 this past Friday the 24th and I completely forgot about it. Who does that?! Pre-vacation I was really looking forward to celebrating my one year blogiversary, but I grossly underestimated the amount of prepping and recovering from our vacation, so I never got around to drafting a post to celebrate. I actually went back and re-read my post celebrating my 6 month blogiversary, and found that this post is still very relevant → 6 Month Blogiversary: Reflection + Future Goals. I did realize that a few of the goals that I listed are STILL not being met. I still am not posting regular discussion posts and am not active on bookstagram. I do believe I have accomplished diversifying my reading and stepping up my book photography game… now only if I would post them to Instagram… Some things never change apparently. Anyways! I would just like to say a huge THANK YOU to all my book blogger friends and followers. I truly appreciate you all more than you will ever know.

Around the blogosphere:

» Sammie @Bookshelves & Biros shares some alternate Valentine’s Day reads → Awesome alternative Valentine’s Day reads *Special appearance by yours truly*

» CW @Read Think Ponder shares some book recs of books by black authors → Book Recs: Books by Black Authors

» Casey @Adoptabookaus asks where all the hype is for YA books with disabled characters → Its 2017… Where is the hype for disabilities in young adult books

» Drew @The Tattooed Book Geek shares reasons to love fantasy → Reasons To Love Fantasy

» Gretcchen @ChicNerdReads reveals the cover for her poetry book. #SpoilerAlert It’s freaking amazing! → Cover Reveal of My Poetry Book “love, and you”

» Millie @MillieBot Reads shares why she loves Jane Austen’s works → 5 Reasons Why I love Jane Austen’s Work

» Megan @bookslayerReads discusses character lists & maps → Discussion || Character Lists & Maps

» Danielle @Books, Vertigo and Tea shares another pairing teas with reads feature → Pairing Teas & Reads

» Marie @drizzle & hurricane Books talks about blogging goals → Pageviews, Followers, the Community: Goals in Blogging

» Reg @SheLatitude gives us a book look (an outfit inspired by a book) for A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab → Book Looks: A Conjuring of Light – V. E. Schwab

» Naz @Read Diverse Books features a book subscription box that focuses on Black Literature → Call Number: A Library-Inspired Book Box That Celebrates Black Literature!

What have I been reading?

*Book titles link to Goodreads

Recently finished reading:

» The Wolf Road by Beth Lewis

This book was way outside my comfort zone, but I am so glad I gave it a go! Despite the fact that this book made me very queasy at times (blood makes me faint), I am shocked at how addicting this book was. How can I describe this book to you? I would classify this one as a “post-apocalyptical psychological thriller wilderness survival story”… is that a genre? As you can tell, this book doesn’t fit into a specific genre, but has elements of multiple genres. Review to come!

» The Crystal Ribbon by Celeste Lim

I absolutely adored this middle grade book, though I think this book would appeal more to a older middle grade – YA audience. Since this book only just came out in January, and it is a debut novel, I have not seen anyone else talking about this book yet. I’m going to need SOMEONE to pick this one up soon. I would recommend this book to fans of Thanhha Lai and Grace Lin.

» Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai

My second Thanhha Lai book and I enjoyed this one just as much as Listen Slowly. I really enjoyed reading a refugee experience, especially since Thanhha Lai went through this herself and states that she shared many of the same experiences that our main character Hà experienced as an immigrant to the U.S. during the Vietnam War. This was my second book in verse that I read this month, the other one being Brown Girl Dreaming. Review to come!

» Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin

I picked this one up hoping to learn what exactly what gender fluid meant. You all know how much I sometimes struggle with the YA genre, but I am here to tell you that Symptoms of Being Human is YA done right! Not only was I educated about all kinds of LGBTQIA+ issues and terminology that I didn’t previously understand, but I was also highly entertained while I was learning. This book also goes into some deeper issues like suicide, hate crimes, bullying, etc etc, but also has some lighter moments with a touch of romance, friendships, and family relationships. Review to come!

Currently reading:

» Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

I am about 40% through this one. Much like State of Wonder, this book is interesting enough to keep me entertained, but I am not loving it yet. I hope that things will pick up in the second half.

» A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab

I began A Gathering of Shadows last night in order to prepare for the A Conjuring of Light book tour that I am attending next Saturday!!! I had been putting off reading this one until closer to the release date of A Conjuring of Light, but when I heard that V.E. Schwab was coming to Kentucky on her book tour, I knew I wanted to wait and read this one the week before the event to get myself psyched up. I literally cannot wait.

»Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Since discovering Neil Gaiman last year, I’ve been making my way through each of his books. Neverwhere was the next one up to bat. I am 40% through this one thus far and of course I’m loving it. Honestly I do not think NG could do any wrong in my eyes. I just love him so much.

On deck:

» The Demon King (Seven Realms #1) by Cinda Williams Chima

Moving right along with my SOKY Book Fest TBR, the next author on my list is Cinda Williams Chima. I’ve never read any of her work before, so I hope this is a good place to start. Anyone have any insight into this author/series? Let me know :)

What are you currently reading?

What will you read next?

Have a wonderful week, and happy reading

I explain where the hell I've been the past 2 weeks in my #WrapUp post! #BookBlogger #Bookworm Happy Sunday bookworms! Did you miss me? You may have noticed that things have been fairly quiet around the blog these past two weeks.

#Am Reading #Bibliophile #book blog #book blogger #Book Nerd #Book Talk #Book Worm #Bookish #Books #Bookworm #Currently Reading #Reading #TBR #Wrap Up

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