I came from this movie a little underwhelmed. The movie is obviously well made, and the music, the cinematography, the CG is great in this film. However the story and the way the story is told is what ruins it a bit for me. I'm fascinated that people were surprised with anything that happened in the story. Nothing truly interesting happens, and is ultimately formulaic and cliche as any other Hollywood production.
The opening scene where the First Order is about to annihilate the rebels, starts off with a fighter pilot crank calling the top general of the First Order. This was funny, I laughed out loud, but it was too funny. The tension is broken from the very start and the menace of the First Order is reduced to comic relief, and mockery. I never felt like the rebels were in trouble after that.
The most interesting part of the Rey and Luke story was Luke explaining the Force to Rey. I thought this added some depth to the lore of the universe. This part of the film also presents some fun comedic moments with the creatures on the island, and watching Luke's daily hunting/gathering routine. The rest was unfortunately predictable "old grumpy guy rejects young hope"-stuff. I don't understand how people didn't see that coming either. Some seem shocked that Luke would toss aside the lightsaber Rey gives him.
The "Force-bridge" between Rey and Kylo was a nice new entry that fit the story well, and having Rey and Kylo fight side by side for a bit was fun. Kylo even suggests that they should "let old things die", and forget about the Jedi and the Sith altogether. I was hoping that Rey would take him up on his offer as this would have taken the story in a new direction. Perhaps we then wouldn't have gotten the eternal red vs green conflict that seems never ending and cyclic. Kylo even tells Ren that there is nothing for her to fight for as her parents' were junk traders that sold her for drinking money. This is another reveal that I see people liking, but too me seems like a tall tale from Kylo to get Ren to join him. Rey's parents' identities is still in the air as far as I can tell.
The B-plot to the casino was a bit strange, but I thought it was fine because it gave us a couple of things that deepen the story. The code breaker bursts our red vs green bubble a bit by showing that arms dealers are not just helping the First Order, they are also producing weapons for the rebels. This adds some much needed nuance to the whole universe, and diverts from the "good vs evil" trench this series is dug into. This section also ends up with the codebreaker betraying the rebels for money, and basically results in the deaths of hundreds of rebels. This subverts the idea that going on hero missions always succeeds, and Poe should never have doubted his commanding officer. This last message is there but is not conveyed effectively in my opinion, and falls a little flat in the end.
The last battle is visually stunning and presents a Helms Deep type scenario for the rebels. There is a super cheesy moment where Rose slams her ship into Finn's, saving him from sacrificing himself, serving up a Hollywood-line, kissing Finn, and then fainting awkwardly. That sequence soured me on the whole scene. The showdown between Kylo and Luke is a dupe that actually surprised me, but in my opinion it would have been cooler if Luke had pulled an Obi-wan and become one with the force right in front of Kylo. I guess I don't know what I want, new or old....
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