In Defense of The Last Jedi

I've  been kicking around the idea of re-launching this blog for a bit.  While I was getting a surprising
amount of traffic, it wasn't enough to really justify paying for hosting to have a nice Wordpress site when what really matters are the words.  So I'm blowing the dust off the original incarnation of this site for 2018.  If you are here reading this... then I most humbly thank you.

I spent a lot of time blogging about film, so why not kick off with a discussion of the biggest film of 2017, Rian Johnson's epic Star Wars: The Last Jedi? 

Guess what..?   There are going to be a ton of spoilers here, so if you go any further...  it's on you.

Let me also start by saying... I thought this film was great.   Perfect.... no.   The best Star Wars film?   No.   But a great, thrilling, beautiful, emotionally satisfying film.  Let me also say I am deeply invested in the "new" canon Star Wars universe.  Read all the books.  Some of the comics.  I watch Rebels.  Some of this will inform my opinions.

To be clear. there are some things in the movie that did not work for me.  Maybe we should kick off with those so you don't get the idea I am some kind of Rian Johnson apologist:

• The whole Canto Bight subplot for me was a waste, and thus, most of Finn's arc was a waste. In the first place, it necessitated the whole super slow chase sequence.  (While I get that it is probably the most scientifically accurate version of a space chase in Star Wars history, it is also not what you normally see in this universe.  And why couldn't Hux have a star destroyer jump ahead of the Resistance fleet and cut them off? )   The casino sequence was not particularly visually stunning, the fathiers (horse-things) were among the worst of Star Wars CGI creatures, and the whole thing could have been wrapped up with about five minutes of screen time.  (Imagine Mas Kanata had sent Finn to a shady cantina on Tatooine to find a shady codepick named DJ, who then turns on them.)    I loved Kelly Marie Tran as Rose, but the the whole thing just killed the pacing of the second act.
• Some of the humor - while great - was taken a bit too far, or lasted to long.  Case in point, Poe's initial interaction with Hux.   I thought that after Hux gives one of his pompous windbag speeches, Poe's line was brilliant and fitting in with his character.   But they took the joke a beat too long.    Beat 1:  "I'm holding for General Hux." Hysterical.  Beat 2: " Is Hux there?"  Humorous.  Beat 3: "Can you hear me?"  Let's move along, Rian. 
• Rian, have you ever seen Game of Thrones?  Do you know how amazing Gwendoline Christie is?   Why do you guys keep doing this to Phasma?  
• The most egregious sin here is Leia's whole Mary Poppins routine.  I think it would be better to have had her sucked out into space and then grab the ship with the Force reflexively, as part of an action beat.  

But I am not complaining about the same things a lot of people are:  the lack of information about Snoke and Rey's backgrounds.  Let's start with Snoke:  I am perfectly fine with Snoke being dead and not being the final boss, so to speak.  The "decoy antagonist" is a completely acceptable movie trope.  (Think Talia Al-Ghul instead of Bane in The Dark Knight Rises or Killian instead of the Mandarin in Iron Man 3.  Or Barzini instead of Tattaglia in The Godfather.)  Get this: The protagonist in ANH was Tarkin, Vader in ESB and Palpatine in RTJ. 

 And you are also assuming that he is actually dead.  There is a certain logic to thinking he is not.  

As far as his "backstory" I offer this:  so what?   One of the things a writer needs to be aware of in sequels is answering the questions of the first part.   And here is the thing... while us fans may have many questions regarding Snoke following The Force Awakens,  the fact is that movie never even ASKS those questions.  No one in TFA is like "Hmmm...  who IS this Snoke guy, anyway?"    In-universe, Snoke is a known quantity, so there is not a need to explain who he is.    When you ask questions that don't really need to be answered, you wind up with the prequels. Whether you find them good or not, my point is the entire Original Trilogy never, ever asks the question "Who is the Emperor, anyway, and why is he so powerful?"  Snoke is just what he appears to be.... and evil guy who wants to rule the galaxy and who is strong in the Dark Side.  Sound familiar?

Which brings us to another point [cue whiny voice] "It's just a remake of Empire!!    No, Carol, it's not.   But what it is, like Empire, is a sequel, and it has the same needs:  to expand the world, develop the characters, and position the main players for the end game.  I could spend an hour telling you how The Two Towers is actually The Empire Strikes Back because it has to be.  Also, George Lucas has always maintained that Star Wars is poetry.   And poetry has symmetry to it, and rhyme.  So yes, you take the Battle of Hoth and you bookend it with the Battle of Crait...  and you have symmetry. 

And as far as Rey's parentage goes, again, so what?  Literally the entire point of the film is that someone is special because of who they are, not where they come from.  And again,  you are making the assumption that Kylo is being completely honest with Rey when he tells her that her parents are nobody. Only in Bond movies are evil dudes that honest. 

But, yo.... that throne room fight?  Is that the most epic thing ever?  Amirite?