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I'm still not sure how I feel about this, tbh. It didn't entirely feel like a SW movie, but it had a lot of really good points, themes, and moments.
Things I did like?
Well, I liked that it wasn't just 'heroism'. It was tough choices - a lot of them. The nitty gritty of existence and life and living and living with people who are likewise messy and gritty and nit-like in that you just want to scratch them.
I like that we unpacked a lot more of the younger characters this time - Rey and the darkness in her (which still needs to be explored, I think), Kylo Ren and what turned him, Finn and the heroism (occasionally quite reckless) that he has within him, Poe and his 'flyboy loyalty', and Rose and the reasons people fight, as well as the bitter social strata of the universe (not just the Empire, the universe).
I liked that the cast was so diverse - not just Rey and Rose and Finn and Poe - but the pilots, the officers, the techs, the security - and aliens, too. Like an urban reality, with people of all types and kinds, and the mixes in between.
Suck it, whitebois and anti-SJW.
I liked that there was difficulty and strife in the rebel ranks. That Poe disagreed with his superiors, and they shot him down (metaphorically) for it. That it's clear that Leia loves Poe very much (doesn't have to be sexual, although I can see the interpretation) but that she understands the way command works - has to work.
(Okay, this 'things I like' is actually getting easier as I go along, but mostly because it's making me think.)
I liked the twists and turns of the story - that tropes were flipped about and flipped about again. Luke takes the lightsaber...and throws it away. He won't teach Rey, and then when he does and she promptly reaches for the dark side, he freaks out. He wants to burn the Jedi tree, but when Yoda does, he tries to run in to save stuff. (Oh, and I just-as-i-am-typing-this realised the significance of the scene in the Millenium Falcon where someone's hand drifts across the Jedi texts. AHA!)
Also, I liked the 'how Ben turned into Kylo' story - it's not just Luke, it's Ben as well. Luke gave in to his fear and thought he could deal with Ben, and Ben reacted with fear and wouldn't listen. Plus, the massacre of the students? That's all on Kylo. He could have just cut and run from Luke; but, no, he stopped to kill and burn everything Luke had created. It's equivalent to the argument made against Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption
Admiral Holdo: firstly, an older woman. HALLELUJAH! And then one who is focused on preservation. One whose history we are told but don't have to see and everyone (except the hotshot younger male pilot and his cohorts) respects that (well, he respects it at first). My only issue with her was that I wish they'd dressed her military rather than 'elegant'. And she did get a killer last line before she suicide-hyperspaced straight through Snoke's mothership.
I liked Rose. Even though she made me grimace with the initial fangirly angle. And yes, I struggled with a female character who isn't reed slim with a sharply-defined, all-cheekbones and jaw model-like look. But I loved her pluck, the experience she brought to the table - her knowledge of how it is down at the ground, and that family connection she had with her sister.
I even liked Benicio del Toro's character, and that he wasn't a Han Solo type character. He really was in it for the money, and both sides are the same. (Oh, man, I just realised how that call hearkens to the "indifferents" of American politics: Dems and Republicans are the same, and he's portrayed as a traitor and a bad guy.)
There's a lot more: Luke and Leia's 'reunion', Rose and her 'saving what we love' line, oh and Poe and Rey finally meeting. :D
--
Things I struggled with:
The pacing seemed off. Nothing happened the way I expected. It had all the quirks of Thor: Ragnarok, without the gaudy flash-and-twinkle which allowed me to just ride with it.
That's not unforgivable, given my enjoyment of the rest of it, but I can see how it would be.
--
In short, I think it can be summed up that I loved the themes, the characters, the story we were given, the building of the world (including the darker underbelly of it), but the framework and execution of it were not what I was expecting and that made me come out of it feeling...weirdly dissatisfied.
Things I did like?
Well, I liked that it wasn't just 'heroism'. It was tough choices - a lot of them. The nitty gritty of existence and life and living and living with people who are likewise messy and gritty and nit-like in that you just want to scratch them.
I like that we unpacked a lot more of the younger characters this time - Rey and the darkness in her (which still needs to be explored, I think), Kylo Ren and what turned him, Finn and the heroism (occasionally quite reckless) that he has within him, Poe and his 'flyboy loyalty', and Rose and the reasons people fight, as well as the bitter social strata of the universe (not just the Empire, the universe).
I liked that the cast was so diverse - not just Rey and Rose and Finn and Poe - but the pilots, the officers, the techs, the security - and aliens, too. Like an urban reality, with people of all types and kinds, and the mixes in between.
Suck it, whitebois and anti-SJW.
I liked that there was difficulty and strife in the rebel ranks. That Poe disagreed with his superiors, and they shot him down (metaphorically) for it. That it's clear that Leia loves Poe very much (doesn't have to be sexual, although I can see the interpretation) but that she understands the way command works - has to work.
(Okay, this 'things I like' is actually getting easier as I go along, but mostly because it's making me think.)
I liked the twists and turns of the story - that tropes were flipped about and flipped about again. Luke takes the lightsaber...and throws it away. He won't teach Rey, and then when he does and she promptly reaches for the dark side, he freaks out. He wants to burn the Jedi tree, but when Yoda does, he tries to run in to save stuff. (Oh, and I just-as-i-am-typing-this realised the significance of the scene in the Millenium Falcon where someone's hand drifts across the Jedi texts. AHA!)
Also, I liked the 'how Ben turned into Kylo' story - it's not just Luke, it's Ben as well. Luke gave in to his fear and thought he could deal with Ben, and Ben reacted with fear and wouldn't listen. Plus, the massacre of the students? That's all on Kylo. He could have just cut and run from Luke; but, no, he stopped to kill and burn everything Luke had created. It's equivalent to the argument made against Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption
"A revolver holds six bullets, not eight. I submit that this was not a hot-blooded crime of passion. That, at least, could be understood if not condoned. No - this was revenge of a much more brutal and cold blooded nature. Consider this. Four bullets per victim. Not six shots fired but eight. That means he fired the gun empty...and then stopped to reload so he could shoot each of them again! An extra bullet per lover…right in the head."Sorry, Kylo fans. But I got a whole bucket of NOPE right here.
Admiral Holdo: firstly, an older woman. HALLELUJAH! And then one who is focused on preservation. One whose history we are told but don't have to see and everyone (except the hotshot younger male pilot and his cohorts) respects that (well, he respects it at first). My only issue with her was that I wish they'd dressed her military rather than 'elegant'. And she did get a killer last line before she suicide-hyperspaced straight through Snoke's mothership.
I liked Rose. Even though she made me grimace with the initial fangirly angle. And yes, I struggled with a female character who isn't reed slim with a sharply-defined, all-cheekbones and jaw model-like look. But I loved her pluck, the experience she brought to the table - her knowledge of how it is down at the ground, and that family connection she had with her sister.
I even liked Benicio del Toro's character, and that he wasn't a Han Solo type character. He really was in it for the money, and both sides are the same. (Oh, man, I just realised how that call hearkens to the "indifferents" of American politics: Dems and Republicans are the same, and he's portrayed as a traitor and a bad guy.)
There's a lot more: Luke and Leia's 'reunion', Rose and her 'saving what we love' line, oh and Poe and Rey finally meeting. :D
--
Things I struggled with:
The pacing seemed off. Nothing happened the way I expected. It had all the quirks of Thor: Ragnarok, without the gaudy flash-and-twinkle which allowed me to just ride with it.
That's not unforgivable, given my enjoyment of the rest of it, but I can see how it would be.
--
In short, I think it can be summed up that I loved the themes, the characters, the story we were given, the building of the world (including the darker underbelly of it), but the framework and execution of it were not what I was expecting and that made me come out of it feeling...weirdly dissatisfied.