Unlike the previous film, The Force Awakens, where I had actually decided to never see it but ended up being paid to see it; I was not paid to see The Last Jedi. However, I didn't pay to see it either.
I have actually now seen the film twice, both times for free. The first time was in a Japanese language theater so I could only understand about half of the film. There was no jack for English audio for my headphones in that theater. I was actually very upset at this since I felt like they were wasting my time. Under such circumstances, I would have liked to have been paid, preferably up front.
I was invited to come see the film again at a different theater and this one had English audio and Japanese subtitles.
How was it that I was able to see the film for free, twice no less, while not being paid to see it and not being paid to publish my thoughts on it? OOH, a mystery.
Anyway, I do have some thoughts on the film. I did like it more than The Force Awakens. However, whereas I disliked almost everything in The Force Awakens, I was only able to dislike about half of this film.
Right off, I have to say that Carrie Fisher gave a MUCH better performance in his film than she did in The Force Awakens. However, where as Fishers acting was much better, Leia's commanding was terrible. What a bad leader. No wonder the resistance is about to be wiped out. There is a Leia replacement during part of the film and that woman is awful in both her command and her acting. So Po, a good character with a good actor playing him, has to share screen time with a bad actor who makes no sense as a character.
It sort of goes that way for the whole movie. Every scene has a good actor and a bad actor. A good character that makes sense and a bad character that never should have been in the movie. Fin goes to do a thing but instead of going alone like he should have, he has to take Rose with him and she drags him and that whole plot line down. Ren is doing well in his story but then Hux comes in and ruins the scene. Luke is awesome on his island but then Rey is this annoying brat who doesn't deserve either a lightsaber or Fin's affections.
Let's be clear, the film isn't all bad, just half bad. For every positive thing I could say about the film, there is an equal and opposite thing that is terrible. New force powers are shown in action and they don't need to be explained. That's great. That feels like Star Wars. Rose giving us SJW exposition is not great and doesn't belong in a Star Wars film.
One thing that was amazing in the film was when Luke told Rey, the Jedi don't own the force. That was so very Star Wars. The Force is again for everyone and I can at least say I am thankful for that. now there should be NOTHING stopping Fin from getting his hands on some of those Jedi books that Rey swiped from Luke, and unlocking his inner Jedi the way IT WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN FROM THE START!!
I will say this, The Last Jedi is a much more honest film than The Force Awakens. No more mystery about Rey's parents. They were just trailer trash. But even if they weren't, there was no reason to make it a mystery like they were going to be important later. The Force Awakens was a dishonest film and anyone with two brain cells should have been able to see that.
So as of right now, we have it set up where Rey will be the Jedi and Ren will be the bad guy and they will have their final show down in the next film. Fine, but I likely won't see the next film. The Last Jedi does feel like the last Star Wars film I will ever see. I no longer care about the rebels now that I've seen how their commanders behave. We know the First Order is doomed. The only thing that might get me to see the next Star Wars film would be if Fin finally became a Jedi. Let Rey teach him if they have to insist on her being a Jedi. Fine. But let Fin be a Jedi. Without that, I'm really not interested in another Star Wars outing.
But they aren't going to do that. I only hope, for the sake of the audience that will watch the next Star Wars, that they finally make Rey interesting. They probably won't but even if they do, I'm not watching unless Fin becomes a Jedi sans midiclorians.
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