STAR WARS The Last Jedi *SPOILERS!*

[TheInvisibleMan]

Ultimately, Star Wars is a story about descent and redemption. It does seem to be more prevalent than it used to be that redemption is intolerable to larger segments of audiences, even in a fantasy morality play like this one.

because redemption is boring

[Punisher007]

Just sharing.

2017 ain't 1983. Times have changed and the context has changed, so the comparison doesn't really work. Different times, different standards, not that hard to understand really. Also in the case of Luke, we're at least told who his father was and what happened to him relatively early on in ANH. It's why the twist in ESB works so well, we thought that we knew who his father was (and from sources that could be trusted, people who knew him personally). And Luke's mother was never relevant to the plot and so only touched on once briefly in ROTJ.

They didn't keep EVERYTING about Luke's father secretive, to the point of not giving him a last name even, for two years/multiple films, only to then reveal that his dad was just some random moisture farmer who died offscreen and was buried on Tatooine. So it's a VERY different situation from Rey.

[Soubhagya]

2017 ain't 1983. Times have changed and the context has changed, so the comparison doesn't really work. Different times, different standards, not that hard to understand really. Also in the case of Luke, we're at least told who his father was and what happened to him relatively early on in ANH. It's why the twist in ESB works so well, we thought that we knew who his father was (and from sources that could be trusted, people who knew him personally). And Luke's mother was never relevant to the plot and so only touched on once briefly in ROTJ.

They didn't keep EVERYTING about Luke's father secretive, to the point of not giving him a last name even, for two years/multiple films, only to then reveal that his dad was just some random moisture farmer who died offscreen and was buried on Tatooine. So it's a VERY different situation from Rey.

But why do we need to know anything about Rey? I find this answer much more satisfactory then say Skywalker or Kenobi or Snoke. She is her own person who does not derive her importance due to some glorious past lineage.

And the Star Wars universe does not feel so small now. The Prequels made it feel like a story of less scope. Even with such a huge galaxy everything of importance happened to a small group of people.

[Guapo Méndez]

I really wish this trilogy had been made instead of the prequels. Sure, while we had the cast around their prime (I know Harrison would have been the toughest one to get into a role he said he hated), but my inner fanboy would have loved to see Luke Skywalker be the hero I wanted him to be.

Now, about The Last Jedi. While I didn't madly in love love it like I did with Awakens and Rogue One, there are some very cool bits. I could have cut away the casino sequence, but I understand why it is there: the resistance tried to find a way to make a bad situation work, and we were shown that the truly rich, debauched characters will support whomever gives them money. Much like it happens in our world.

I'm bummed by the No-Snoke explanation and I wish the Rey fake-out is still a fake-out. I would have loved to seen Luke in a much more badass role, but I can identify with the older, definitely PTSD former jedi master who saw things turn to **** on his watch, and how him being a master with very little master experience of his own doomed his family.

But all in all, the movie works. It tries to go places we haven't seen, it gives us the meat without wandering into the weeds...it makes me curious for the next chapter. When I saw Phantom Menace, I couldn't believe how bad it was. Attack of the Clones confirmed that the saga had lost plenty of opportunities to work with the characters and by Revenge, I saw it as the blatant attempt to right a ship that was 66% underwater. Even Lucas himself admitted that he lost about 80% of the screen time with stuff that had nothing to do with the conflict.

The Last Jedi tried, dared and, doggone it, it managed to deliver.

[Guapo Méndez]

Luke and Leia were siblings in drafts of the script going as far back as when their name was Starkiller. There's never been a draft where they weren't siblings. Darth being foreshadowed as Luke's father was telegraphed pretty clearly when Beru said Luke had to much of his father in him and Owen said that's what he was afraid of.

God, no. This was changed in the middle of filming ESB. Luke and Leia were supposed to be separated by the tides of war and the third trilogy was supposedly the search for Luke's sister.

Darth Vader was always the guy who killed Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader did not meant Dark Father from the beginning. That was a neat sleight-of-hand after-the-facts revision, which made it seem like he had a plan, but no. George talked a big game but never had more than what he had in hand to work with.

There are a ton of links, stories, interviews and books that can back-up my comments, but check this out: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian...b_8817166.html

[AJBopp]

God, no. This was changed in the middle of filming ESB. Luke and Leia were supposed to be separated by the tides of war and the third trilogy was supposedly the search for Luke's sister.

Darth Vader was always the guy who killed Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader did not meant Dark Father from the beginning. That was a neat sleight-of-hand after-the-facts revision, which made it seem like he had a plan, but no. George talked a big game but never had more than what he had in hand to work with.

There are a ton of links, stories, interviews and books that can back-up my comments, but check this out: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian...b_8817166.html

That is not true. I have a copy somewhere of the original script, which was published in a glossy softcover in the early 80s. Luke and Leia were always siblings. Originally Leia was his younger sister and lived with the family on Tatooine.

[Hawkgirl_70]

Really disappointed with the sequel trilogy so far. It feels like they bring back the old characters to have at fans’ nostalgia, then butcher them figuratively and literally. Meanwhile, the new characters are left alive and fine despite being nowhere near as compelling as the old characters. The only thing these movies have done for me is give me a newfound appreciation for the all six of the original Lucas movies- even the prequels.

I 10000% agree with everything you've said. So does my entire family that grew up with Star Wars. Huge Disappointment is the best I can say about these 2 movies.
I did like Rogue One, however.
But they shouldn't have done 7, 8, and 9.

[robreedwrites]

That is not true. I have a copy somewhere of the original script, which was published in a glossy softcover in the early 80s. Luke and Leia were always siblings. Originally Leia was his younger sister and lived with the family on Tatooine.

That isn't quite correct. The original script is radically different than that. It sounds like what you may have is a copy of Adventures of the Starkiller as taken from the Journal of the Whills, Saga I: The Star Wars - which is the second draft of the script. In that, Luke and Leia are cousins and Leia isn't a princess or even that important. The sequel was supposed to be the search for the Princess of Ondos.

Adventures of the Starkiller as taken from the Journal of the Whills, Saga I: The Star Wars

[bobellis75]

Reflecting on the movie more...I have softened on my total dislike of it. There are a lot of things to like, but a lot they could have done differently. For the life of me, you cannot give me a good reason why Luke couldn't have physically been on the planet, in the fight. We could have been treated to Luke showing off his power like we saw with Vader at the end of Rogue One...just wrecking the First Order. Even if you then kill him anyway...at least he really goes down in the fight...not sitting on a rock a million miles away.

[Carabas]

That isn't quite correct. The original script is radically different than that. It sounds like what you may have is a copy of Adventures of the Starkiller as taken from the Journal of the Whills, Saga I: The Star Wars - which is the second draft of the script. In that, Luke and Leia are cousins and Leia isn't a princess or even that important. The sequel was supposed to be the search for the Princess of Ondos.

Adventures of the Starkiller as taken from the Journal of the Whills, Saga I: The Star Wars

You forgot the link.

[robreedwrites]

You forgot the link.

Thanks for the heads up. I corrected it.

[Zuriyel]

That's stupid how can they not have a basic 3 movie plan?

Yeah... that caught me by surprise too.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

But why do we need to know anything about Rey? I find this answer much more satisfactory then say Skywalker or Kenobi or Snoke. She is her own person who does not derive her importance due to some glorious past lineage.

And the Star Wars universe does not feel so small now. The Prequels made it feel like a story of less scope. Even with such a huge galaxy everything of importance happened to a small group of people.

Because then why keep Rey's parentage a secret. If you just said her parents were nobodies then it's fine we accept it and move on. When you keep her shrouded in secrecy, have cryptic flashbacks of her being abandoned, and then treat it like s mystery, well the mystery has to pay off.

Star Wars still feels small. It's the same silly civil war all over again and a struggle between the light side and the dark side and some final Jedi taking on the last few Sith. The fact that Rey isn't a Skywalker doesn't matter to me as far as scope. It matters to me that we wasted time last film with her being a mystery.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

Yeah... that caught me by surprise too.

Because remaking ANH was more important than crafting a story. That's the bottom line. Disney bought Star Wars and wanted to cash in. They didn't want Lucas' ideas on how to continue, they wanted to revist the old bears to make some of that Star Wars money.

[Tazirai]

2017 ain't 1983. Times have changed and the context has changed, so the comparison doesn't really work. Different times, different standards, not that hard to understand really. Also in the case of Luke, we're at least told who his father was and what happened to him relatively early on in ANH. It's why the twist in ESB works so well, we thought that we knew who his father was (and from sources that could be trusted, people who knew him personally). And Luke's mother was never relevant to the plot and so only touched on once briefly in ROTJ.

They didn't keep EVERYTING about Luke's father secretive, to the point of not giving him a last name even, for two years/multiple films, only to then reveal that his dad was just some random moisture farmer who died offscreen and was buried on Tatooine. So it's a VERY different situation from Rey.

Do we need to know who Rey's parents are?
Do we need to know who Mace Windu or Yodas parents are? Isn't the larger narrative, "Star Wars is more than the Skywalkers" legit?
We needed to know who Lukes father was because he was an ACTIVE participant in Galactic Affairs. Do we really need to know who TWO random Junkers are?

Fans, fanned the flames of Rey's parentage. Disney tried to make people like Phasma. I like Phasma because her comic is awesome and I love her look. As a writer, I try to ignore Character pushes, because I know the disappointment it can cause.