The Last Jedi

It's been two weeks since I saw The Last Jedi. Normally by this time I would have seen the movie at least one more time, but this is the rare time where I have only seen it once. Not because it was terrible; an opportunity to see it again just hasn't come up.

And, honestly, I didn't love it. It's probably in that "Good, not great" category.

First of all, it didn't feel like a Star Wars movie to me. Sure, there were the same characters, and the well-know phrases, and the galaxy we have come to know over forty years. But it never really came together for me in a way that made me feel like I was seeing a Star Wars movie.

I'm still not on board with Poe's apparent humor, and it still feels out of place to me for the Star Wars universe. Star Wars movies definitely have humor in them, but not like this.

The talk about being low on fuel took me completely out of the movie. Fuel has never been an issue in the Star Wars universe and it all of a sudden being the reason the Resistance and their ships can't escape seemed like it was there just as a plot device - "Hmm, how can we create tension??? Let's make it so they don't have enough fuel to go into hyperspace so they will have to sit around and figure out a plan. Then we can send Finn and Rose on a mission that doesn't matter, have Poe act like a petulant child, and then have Holdo sacrifice herself! Genius!"

I don't care at all for the character of Finn. His story was boring to me. Even Poe annoyed me. Snoke is SO ridiculous and not scary at all like the Emperor or Darth Vader. He wears a ridiculous gold outfit and then is quite easily killed.

I still do not believe Luke would abandon everything because of the one miscommunication with Kylo Ren. They just had that weird moment, and then instead of even talking about it, they decide to fight and kill people?! Really?! Luke fought to save freakin' Darth Vader because he knew there was good in him. No way he runs away from his family and the Jedis and the Republic after one incident.

Parts of it I really liked though. The mind melding of Rey and Kylo was fantastic! I loved the play of good and bad between them. I even liked that Rey ended up being a nobody. They're fight scene where they joined forces was pretty fantastic. I think it would have been a better story choice to have Kylo choose to be good and join with Rey, since that would have been unexpected. But I suspect the filmmakers and Disney want to tease that out through the third film.

Also, Yoda. Dude is awesome.

The Force Awakens got by on the sheer nostalgia of having Star Wars back in my life. But it does obliterate the happy ending of Return of the Jedi. A part of me just wishes we had left well enough alone.

I was disappointed there wasn't a trailer for the upcoming Han Solo film!