The New Review - Star Wars: The Last Jedi

The New Review

"Star Wars: The Last Jedi"
Director: Rian Johnson
Starring: Daisy Ridley, Oscar Issac, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher

So, here we go.


Background Check: Episode 8 of one of the greatest sci-fi franchises in history. Formerly completely done by a man named George Lucas, now currently owned by the House of Mouse.

Concept: Episode 7, we were introduced to what look to be the new generation of heroes and villains of this story/series of stories, while slowly saying goodbye to the old guard. This Episode is the follow up... and where do we go from there story.

Execution:

Cast: The Principle cast is unchanged. A few newbies, like personal favorite Del Toro, but in Episode 7, it was a very solid new wave, they are still welcome here... Score: 9/10

Characters: Again, returning characters are all good, but aside from Rose, anyone new seemed like an after thought. Sure, DJ was a cool character, but considering timing, is it possible he died too? And then, my hopes that we would get more story for Snoke fell EXTREMELY short... Score: 7/10

Story: Snoke was a disappointment. No what or why or who. Just...done. The story for the movie overall was... rushed. Why would an Imperial fleet just... follow behind one cruiser... firing potshots at it until it ran out of fuel? To make a point? Seemed drawn out. The side stories(Kylo and Rey, Rey and Luke, Finn and Rose)... only one of them felt..."Right", and that was Finn and Rose, and that was totally so Finn could get a love interest. Nothing more. The scale of this movie, and the lagging of the actual story... Score: 3/10

Visual: It's a Star Wars movie... shows that technology to make these movies has gotten better. But Leia's scene in space... that was very... awkward. Score: 9/10

Sound: Once again, Star Wars. Legendary sound studio. They deserve all the credit... for great sound... ever. But... if John Williams would've snuck the Superman theme during the Leia scene, I would've lost my shit. Score: 10/10

Flow: I admit, for the story that it had, it flowed pretty well... BUT in the end, it felt like too many stories at once. Like 2 complete movies mashed together, but too much got cut out, and holes appeared...... and that does hurt this movie. Have you seen the commercial where they stack the quarters on the wet paper towel to show how strong it is? This movie starts as the name brand... ends as the competitor. Score: 6/10

Substance: It is a Star Wars movie. One made by Disney. Sure, there is going to be some conflict... some humor... some story... it lacked in story. It lacked in conflict. And the humor... too much FORCED humor. Natural humor is okay... but some of that humor could've been followed up with a snare drum... ba-dum-tiss... and it still would've felt... out of place. It would be a good family movie... but just... headscratchers. Score: 7/10

Closure: The passing of Luke... wasn't as heroic as I thought it should be, but the ending had the seeming true new hero and villain established... leading up to that ending, that set-up... it did seemed rushed... jumbled together. The strings tied together, but how you accidentally knotted the laces of your shoes? Yeah. Score: 7/10

Legacy: Star Wars movies have been known the be epics. Great battles, stories, plots, fun, and scale in that Galaxy Far Far Away. Even when those movies have been terrible in main aspects(like Episode 1), they still felt... GRAND. And this one did... NOT. So much so, that I don't think it should be as respected as those that came before. As a movie, standalone, it was a pretty DECENT movie. But as a Star Wars movie... it...was.. not. Score: 1/10

Extra Oomph: Tribute to Carrie Fisher is an expected, but very nice touch. But one question... the original trio, Han died in Episode 7...Luke dies in this one... how... what... are they gonna do about Leia in the next one? Nice touch bring in Del Toro, though, considering Disney owns both franchises, this would've been a chance to have someone else play DJ, and have Del Toro play The Collector. Connect those universes in a very tongue-in-cheek fashion. As for the movie itself, I have as many, if not more questions as I did before... which is a positive... but... not the questions I wanted to have... Score: 7/10

FINAL SCORE: 66/100 a Solid D... for Disney, how could you fuck this up?

Conclusion: it was a decent movie, but not a great Star Wars movie. I wouldn't say I hated it, but it WAS a huge disappointment, and missed out on the potential that could've been.

It's all a matter of opinion: I cannot stress enough that THIS is MY opinion, you can either agree with me or not. I don't have to justify my opinion, because *clears throat* that's what this blog is about. Whether I like it or not doesn't mean you have to or not...... It's just my justification behind MY recommendation... Which leads me to my FINAL JUDGMENT...

FINAL JUDGMENT: Unless you are a HUGE Star Wars fan/nerd/geek about it all, I say... DON'T see it. Wow, I haven't said that in a long time(mainly because I wasn't blogging)... but I do truly mean it. Watch it to form your own opinion, but seriously... I would pass. The only great thing about the movie was the company I had to see it with.

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Well, there it is. I have given Star Wars: The Last Jedi a 66...a D. Wow, I expected higher... I estimated higher. I guess I had more issues with it than I thought.

Until next time, may the force be with you. And may the force get you through the rest of the holiday season.

~The Master is Out

Stay tuned... the 2017 Year In Review is coming soon... with a new addition.