Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)

Luke:
So this was his film and we get a lot of the backstory, but are still left wondering and asking. He senses the darkness in Kylo, and for a moment he's impulsive and might end him. Seems like Luke was falling to the dark side himself. How could a Jedi so powerful have that first instinct? I was kinda hoping Luke was turning "bad". But it also makes sense in a way. A big theme of this movie is Balance, Darkness & Light, etc. Even the island has the yin/yang symbols and Snokes even talks about Darkness & Light to meet it. I think the major revelation is how Dark & Light is within everyone and there is no pure darkness/light.

Also the Force isn't some genetic thing like the prequels talk about. It's literally the connective tissue of the galaxy. It could just be called Gravity. It's not some magical property or religion. It also means there isn't a "dark or light" side of the force. The Dark/Light is literally just the human element.

How one can be more powerful than another is still a big question, but is probably just related to your human senses & focus. Luke's power was demonstrated to be quite substantial. The new power of projecting across the galaxy is cool. A little cliche, but kinda makes sense. Since the Force connects everything then I can see where it makes sense. I see it as a parallel to Gravity Waves. Force Waves criss-crossing the Galaxy.

I think Luke's peril made sense. We see in an earlier scene that rain water from the island was on Kylo's hands after he "connected" with Rey. I was waiting to see Luke sliced in half on the island, but they didn't go that far. I think it's believable that the lightsaber did connect with Luke in a manner similar to Vader & Obi Wan, even if it was from such a great distance.


Leia:
I was ready for Leia to die but only because of the RL circumstance. But honestly, this story is as much about Leia as it is Luke. If she was still alive, then I think her surviving would be more acceptable. As it stands, they either need a new actress, or a CGI Leia will return.

The story of Leia is pretty sad, honestly. This entire saga she's been leading the Rebellion/Resistance and never actually succeeding. And now in her ripe old age she's planning YET AGAIN to rebuild the rebellion. In a way it makes you ask some very big questions.

She's like the embodiment of the typical: "Never give up", "Fight for what's right", "look out for the little people", etc etc.

But in the grand scheme of things, her life has been failure after failure, with minuscule victories scattered about. It's like her entire life has been devoted to "saving a galaxy". But can it be saved? Is there actually hope? Will the Empire always exist/succeed?

Is the Rebellion actually the "bad" guys?

They tried to ram it into our minds that there are poor, oppressed and tortured, and they need to be saved/heard. But isn't this just a false reality? There will always be hardships. Leia's fighting a losing battle.

It's humorous how her bloodline has been so closely connected to both sides. Empire & Resistance. Both institutions controlled by a Skywalker.

This film really is meant to display how dire her situation is now. Down to a few hundred people remaining. You have the massive Empire chasing a few pissants around the galaxy. It's very humorous, and there isn't really a stated goal. It's the same goal. "Overthrow the Empire", but it's basically just lip service now. At this point you just know there will always be an Order/Empire/whoever-has-the-most-guns

And it was a nice touch to throw in the Arms dealer selling weaponry to both sides. Just reinforces that the whole saga is based around false expectations.


So who do we route for now?

Rey:
The unknown meant to represent every person, no matter their station in life. The new Luke, except her lineage is full of nobodies.. Or so we assume.

Was Kylo really telling the truth, or did he take advantage of a weakness? Maybe he sensed she didn't really know and then filled her mind with nothingness. This can easily be flipped on its head next Episode. I will believe what he said is the truth for now, it fits the overall theme of this movie, but it could also be false and she may still have ties to the main characters. The way he grilled her and then spoke so quickly can easily be a sign of him lying.

She finds Luke originally to bring him into the fold, but then decides to train and find herself. I think the major points are that she never really trained under Luke, but she did use the island in her own way and to discover on her own.

Also the connection with Kylo, even if at the design of Snoke, is still a major development. These two each think they can turn the other, but for what ultimate purpose? As stated above, the Dark/Light is a human element of the Force, remove that and these two have the same goal: Join Together.

They could theoretically come together and create a new order or religion. Kylo doesn't really have a major objective right now other then "Kill Mom! Kill Rey!". It's kinda petty tbh. Has the "Supreme Leader" ever had any other objective then "Kill the Jedi!"? Well the Last Jedi is dead so it's about time for a new objective.

I think Rey's main objective is to continue pursuing Kylo, for whatever reason. She could just as easily return to a life of a nobody, but this connection with Kylo will prevent that now. She will need to confront him to ultimately put it to rest. The ultimate cliche will be if they actually find a way to make peace.

Will Ep9 be the conclusion, or does it kickoff a new trilogy? We could easily see ep9 ending with Rey completely taking over Leia's role, and Kylo fulfilling the role of the Emperor. Kicking off yet another trilogy where it's Resistance/Rebellion vs Order/Empire/etc.

Or do we get the Rey overthrowing Kylo and taking the seat of power for herself. Does she remain Light, or turn Dark?

Or do they come together, maybe even romantically, and birth a new generation of Skywalkers to rule the galaxy?


Kylo:
The redemption arc is real. He doesn't kill his Mom. He kills Snoke/Saves Rey. He was betrayed by Luke. Etc etc. They are really pushing the Light side of him this episode, but then we remember he killed Han. And then he has a major temper tantrum at the end. This dude is all over the place. And the Resistance escape because of his ineptitude/vengeance.

The other guy (Hux?sp?) was ready to put a blaster to his head if Kylo laid 1 second longer. There will for sure be some power struggle between these two, and maybe Hux finds a way to overthrow Kylo, or rebirth Snoke, or finds another Force user to aid him. Especially with him warning Kylo not to get distracted, and proven completely right, will certainly be moves being made.

Maybe we get a Rey saves Kylo arc next Episode. Not emotionally, but actually in a physical manner, because he's been overthrown and Hux wants to destroy him etc.

I think it's unnatural to route for the guy simply because he killed Han and is a giant crybaby. How are we supposed to like this guy? But really, he's Vader all over again. The Anakin in the prequels is a giant temper-tantrum crybaby too. So I guess they are going with the Skywalker men being giant babies. Even Luke has had his moments of whining.

Which is actually something we miss but makes the movies more believable/relatable. These characters emote like real people. Being a giant crybaby is just a natural thing that can happen at times.

And you know, Vader's redemption wasn't the most elaborate thing in the world either. So perhaps Kylo is never fully seen as a good person. But he's already had a big moment like Vader had: killing Snoke.

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Snoke:
So my biggest question is around Snoke. He just gets killed like that. And this is perhaps the first time there isn't some almighty deity/Sith/Emperor on the throne. We're supposed to believe this crybaby Kylo is the new Supreme Leader. It doesn't sit well with me. I feel like Snoke SHOULD come back, but that also doesn't make sense. We've seen big villains perish many times over already. Will it be revealed that Snoke was a puppet of some other? Or perhaps part of a larger secret organization? Where did Snoke even come from? Did they kill him off because he was a bad character?

We don't know shit about him, and now he's dead. Does his Force Ghost come wreak havoc, or can he resurrect himself ? We just saw Yoda effect the real world, so who knows? Maybe we get a battle of Force Ghosts... there are starting to be quite a collection of characters.

This movie just made the mystery behind Snoke worse. He was the biggest question in Ep7 and we're still left wondering.



Poe/Finn/Rose/Phasma/etc:

Phasma wasn't a good character, glad she died. What was the point of her? Just to have a Female Stormtrooper? She didn't do shit. Literally zero reasons for her character to exist the way it did. I wasn't routing for her character to be fleshed out, there was nothing interesting to flesh out. I mean sure... we could speculate how she became who she was, and what her origins are, but the character design was uninteresting and her actions were boring. Good riddance.

Finn/Rose love story is whatever, sure, out of place, forced, etc. I also got a "Titanic" feel when he said "How could you do that Rose?!". But do we expect these 2 to be a major story? They are supporting cast, they help out, they are "main characters" for merchandising and shit, but the story isn't really about them.

I actually like the fact that their plans FAILED. Goes to show that maybe these people aren't always "right" all the time. It shows that not everyone can be a Hero. As much as this movie was for the little guy... the nobody... it also shows that people fail... and fail often.

Some elaborate plan to turn off the tracking device, sounds great! Do it! And we just expect it to be the right move and be successful. I'm so happy that for once we get a major failure in this department. Just drives it home more that these characters wield zero influence. Even the suicide mission to blow up the cannon was completely wrong, as we find out. We're being told these characters are meaningless, and we're shown it. All of their actions lead to a net 0 gain.

Same with Poe, he failed at everything and it was finally the Skywalkers that saved the day... from another Skywalker. And the fact this story is so Skywalker-centric really continues to make me doubt Rey's a "nobody".

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Casino was whatever, I didn't mind it. It gave us another locale to look at, which was kinda needed imo, since the rest of the story was literally just 2-3 locations (Space/Island/Mineral Planet). The story was kept small and intimate, so experiencing some "life" on another planet made it "feel" more Star-Warsy.

Hacker guy is meaningless.

I mean, you people can bitch and moan about little shit like this all day, but Star Wars is full of random ass characters that do their own thing, and usually there is a reason given for most actions, but it sure is refreshing to finally have a movie that's light with some humor, but can show so many main characters failing at everything, and not every action being meaningful.

It was just great. Refreshing, sad, great visuals, new taste of the same formula, etc etc.