(12-28-2017 09:13 AM)AppfanInCAAland Wrote:  I quite enjoyed The Last Jedi. I saw it twice, taking my kids the second time. There were things that didn't sit right with me the first time but on second viewing, it occurred to me they were nit-picks.

Luke tossing the saber over his shoulder, for example, was campy visually, but I agreed with the sentiment the movie was going for. Same with Leia "flying" - it looked funny for sure but it's compelling that she would almost subconsciously gather her latent Force ability to save herself at her most desparate hour. These are nit-picks that I can overlook. Most of the other complaints are people not liking that the movie didn't conform to their head canon.

We don't need to know who Snoke is within the context of the story, much like the Emperor in Jedi. And to detour into it in the film would have been out of place. Kylo probably already knows and Rey doesn't care who he is. It would be only for some audience diehards and thus unnecessary. His backstory, for people who care (not me), can easily go in a book.

Complaints about the bombs, Leia surviving in space, ships running out of fuel, etc that relate to science, aerodynamics, and the mechanics of space in the Star Wars universe are laughable and amount to sophistry at best.

The Knights of Ren are clearly the other Jedi students mentioned in TLJ and I assume they will play a role in IX.

That Rey is a nobody makes sense within the universe created by the prequels and The Clone Wars show. Anyone who was expecting her to be related to the Skywalkers after Han met her on the Falcon in TFA ("Chewie, we're home") and Rey didn't immediately respond by saying "Dad, how did you find me and the ship I stole when I ran away" was setting themselves up for disappointment.

That Han and Luke had problems after ROTJ is, to me at least, more compelling than if everything had gone smoothly. That Luke was tempted, even briefly, to stop a turn to the darkside in Ben Solo, is not out of character. In fact I found it moving that he thought about it momentarily and stopped himself, only to have it backfire in his face. That it sent him in a tailspin emotionally causing him to reject the Jedi and become a recluse I found to be both realistic and well done.

I may be the only one of the interwebs that feels this way, but I kind of liked the Canto Bight casino stuff. Out of place, maybe, and detour or distraction, sure. Could it have been cut at least partially? Yes, the movie was too long as it is. But I thought the ride through the streets was fun and Benico Del Toro was great.

The movie had problems for sure, as I said, I thought it was too long with some pacing issues and some campy visuals. A lot of the attempted humor feel flat for me as well. But overall, I really enjoyed it, it was well acted, looked and sounded great, and had some really exciting and moving moments. I particularly liked the interactions between Rey and both Luke and Kylo Ren.

My family and I just saw it today. We all enjoyed it and thought it was good. I myself reading what people posted are being to nit picky in my opinion. Throughout the film I had a few concerns that it was looking like some recycling of the Empire and Return of the Jedi, but it turn towards the end to make it its own movie with the Star Wars theme.
That is what really disappointed me in TFA, it was too much recycle of or the original Star Wars. Glad they didn't make such of mess of it this time.
Being how big Star Wars is, I don't think there can be a perfectly made movie.