I was lucky enough to see the midnight session with some buds. We had mixed feelings towards it.

I'm keen to hear what others thought. Loved it? Liked it? Found it lacking?

What observations did you make? What theories do you have?

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Seeing it tomorrow night at the local premiere. I'll share.

I just saw it. I liked it. Some very interesting things happen. But still so many unanswered questions.

My son's and I just went and saw it.

We all agree for us it is the worst of all the Star Wars movies. No trolling, not trying to be negative, it is just a bad movie. I'm incredibly disappointed.

I went to see it at the midnight premiere in Germany with my wife. And I'm not ashamed to say that I'm so very disappointed I could cry. Well, obviously, I'm not gonna, because it is , after all, just a movie. Let me explain one thing right at the start: this is no unreflected hatred, no "Disney sucks" point of view. Actually, I enjoyed both TFA and Rogue One immensely, for what it's worth. I really hoped this to be a deep, emotional Star Wars story. And parts of it were. The scenes with Luke, Rey, Kylo were almost all magnificent. But there was just so much unnecessary 'humor' , if you can call it that. I'm not talking about wisecracks and little quips. I'm talking full-on slapstick, hit-the-audience-with-a-hammer-right-between-the-eyes dumb jokes and sight gags. The worst one reduced General Hux, whom I loved in TFA, to a complete buffoon. And they kept on and on and on humiliating him whenever he was on screen. Why? This guy is a joke now, not a threat. I also didn't dislike the Porgs initially when I first saw one in the trailer. But there is one scene with Chewie, his dinner, and the Porgs which almost had me leaving the theater, it was that bad and forced. I could go on about the humor, because it feels like there are no five minutes that go by without being interrupted by some stupid, completely unneccessary joke. Any tension and emotional investment I felt were completely done away with because of horrible jackassery. There were many moments when I sat there thinking: "Ok, now it picks up, now you got me. You have me on the hook, just reel me in!" Followed by "Oh look, Hux tripped over his own feet. Now THAT'S comedy!" This made it impossible for me to feel anything for the characters or the situation they were in. There was a complete lack of urgency which brings me to the pacing. The whole sequence about Finn and Rose could have been done away with and the movie would have been better for it. This whole sideplot was the lowest point by far and completely took me out of the movie. And the effort to draw me back in was never strong enough. It all felt so... pointless and unremarkable.

Anyway, I'm sure that as I let the experience sink in a little, I'll be able to rememeber a bit more about it. Because there were good, even great scenes. But right now, I'm utterly heartbroken. Which I never thought could be possible after seeing a Star Wars movie for the first time.

debiler has addressed a lot of my issues.

Anyway, saw it after midnight and left confused and ultimately underwhelmed by a lacklustre and tepid story that was doggedly pulled along by, what I consider, either pointless new characters or butchered existing characters.

SPOILERS again, I know there's tags but the thread carries a warning.

Poe was Leia's most trusted agent/pilot in TFA sent to retrieve the map that would lead to Luke. TLJ Poe apparently doesn't take orders and is content losing battalions of ships in the process. We know you're a good pilot Poe, not everyone else is you clown.

About that map: this will lead us to the last Jedi! However, Luke apparently never wanted to be found anyway so why would he leave any sort of trail? Why did R2-D2 have the remainder?

Snoke: who cares at this point? Powerful, evil, cunning. Also dead.

Leia being Jedi Supergirl was actually laughable. Still a solid turn for CF's last role in which she was playing a confident and competent leader.

Rey. Yeah, ok, whatever. She's STILL amazing at everything and the only being in the universe that showed any potential of being stronger than her is now in literal pieces. And dead. Oh and she overpowered Luke Skywalker. Swearing's filtered on the boards. I was lukewarm to the character originally but TLJ didn't give me any sympathy, empathy or care for her. Daisy's cute though.

Finn takes a backseat for the most part. Rose, like Rey before her, carries him through a lot of the film before he takes up a melee weapon against the bad guy at the end and blah blah blah we seen this two years ago. Except he wins this time I suppose.

Phasma utterly pointless again. Finns final fight would've been more interesting against "TRAITOR" guy.

Benicio Del Toro, I liked the character. A true scoundrel, it would be stupid of me to complain about how he exited the movie but at the same time don't give us a pretty cool character played by a great actor then drag him away without so much as a glance back.

Kylo for me WAS the most interesting character the new series had. Now that's offically gone. He's just another bad guy. The film LITERALLY closes the door on him at the end, left to his evil devices. Also he's no real threat now because Rey is just as powerful as he is despite, you know, lack of training and experience. Whatever. If they wanted to hammer home the Vader wannabe he is, mission accomplished I suppose. Also, Ben Solo is shown as trained enough to build a sleek and stylish lightsaber, I think it makes his iconic saber look a bit too jarring. (I know it's something to do with an unstable crystal but it bothered me all the same).

Luke. I can't yet articulate my issue with how very poorly Luke was implemented in this movie. He's not powerful, he's readily powerful, then he's apparently awesomely powerful. His final act carried no weight for me whatsoever, despite it's inspiration for the surviving mob of Resista, sorry, REBELS. We could've had a renewed and powerful Luke in the film far earlier.

I'm tired. I didn't outright hate the film but I don't have any love for it. Please don't take this post as some vile vitriolic vomit, I went in spoiler-free and ready for a good Star Wars romp, I just never got it. It's a shame.

EDIT: Just two more things - how did Rey escape from Kylo and the ruined destroyer onto the Falcon? Pretty big gap that doesn't quite get filled by "escape pod" for me. Also, this entire movie takes place over the span of less than a day.

I loved it. Apart from the forced humour. It was barely funny and didn't do it for me.

17 hours ago, Procastination said:

debiler has addressed a lot of my issues.

Anyway, saw it after midnight and left confused and ultimately underwhelmed by a lacklustre and tepid story that was doggedly pulled along by, what I consider, either pointless new characters or butchered existing characters.

SPOILERS again, I know there's tags but the thread carries a warning.

Poe was Leia's most trusted agent/pilot in TFA sent to retrieve the map that would lead to Luke. TLJ Poe apparently doesn't take orders and is content losing battalions of ships in the process. We know you're a good pilot Poe, not everyone else is you clown.

About that map: this will lead us to the last Jedi! However, Luke apparently never wanted to be found anyway so why would he leave any sort of trail? Why did R2-D2 have the remainder?

Snoke: who cares at this point? Powerful, evil, cunning. Also dead.

Leia being Jedi Supergirl was actually laughable. Still a solid turn for CF's last role in which she was playing a confident and competent leader.

Rey. Yeah, ok, whatever. She's STILL amazing at everything and the only being in the universe that showed any potential of being stronger than her is now in literal pieces. And dead. Oh and she overpowered Luke Skywalker. Swearing's filtered on the boards. I was lukewarm to the character originally but TLJ didn't give me any sympathy, empathy or care for her. Daisy's cute though.

Finn takes a backseat for the most part. Rose, like Rey before her, carries him through a lot of the film before he takes up a melee weapon against the bad guy at the end and blah blah blah we seen this two years ago. Except he wins this time I suppose.

Phasma utterly pointless again. Finns final fight would've been more interesting against "TRAITOR" guy.

Benicio Del Toro, I liked the character. A true scoundrel, it would be stupid of me to complain about how he exited the movie but at the same time don't give us a pretty cool character played by a great actor then drag him away without so much as a glance back.

Kylo for me WAS the most interesting character the new series had. Now that's offically gone. He's just another bad guy. The film LITERALLY closes the door on him at the end, left to his evil devices. Also he's no real threat now because Rey is just as powerful as he is despite, you know, lack of training and experience. Whatever. If they wanted to hammer home the Vader wannabe he is, mission accomplished I suppose. Also, Ben Solo is shown as trained enough to build a sleek and stylish lightsaber, I think it makes his iconic saber look a bit too jarring. (I know it's something to do with an unstable crystal but it bothered me all the same).

Luke. I can't yet articulate my issue with how very poorly Luke was implemented in this movie. He's not powerful, he's readily powerful, then he's apparently awesomely powerful. His final act carried no weight for me whatsoever, despite it's inspiration for the surviving mob of Resista, sorry, REBELS. We could've had a renewed and powerful Luke in the film far earlier.

I'm tired. I didn't outright hate the film but I don't have any love for it. Please don't take this post as some vile vitriolic vomit, I went in spoiler-free and ready for a good Star Wars romp, I just never got it. It's a shame.

EDIT: Just two more things - how did Rey escape from Kylo and the ruined destroyer onto the Falcon? Pretty big gap that doesn't quite get filled by "escape pod" for me. Also, this entire movie takes place over the span of less than a day.

It seemed to me that Ben had Anakin's lightsaber in the flashback...or am I just focused too much on the fact it was blue bladed?

Not sure I can sit through it again. You nailed it with the text I bolded above. The stuff in red is what is currently got me really frustrated with this series.

I absolutely loved it. I also finished my last final exam for the semester like an hour before seeing it, so maybe I'm a little biased here, but still. Awesome movie. Not sure I get all the hate, honestly. They did literally everything I wanted.

1 hour ago, Kieransi said:

I absolutely loved it. I also finished my last final exam for the semester like an hour before seeing it, so maybe I'm a little biased here, but still. Awesome movie. Not sure I get all the hate, honestly. They did literally everything I wanted.

although part of me would've liked it if Hux had just shot Kylo in the back in that one scene. For some reason I find him the scariest of all the villains. He's definitely the only one who is actually a World War II German (the rest remind me more of World War I Germans).

How could you find Hux scary in this? I would agree if you were talking about TFA. In TFA, he exuded an aura of fanatic devotion. But as I said before - in TLJ, whenever he was on screen, he was mocked, humiliated and used for cheap jokes which totally took away every sense of tension and sincerity.

Let's take the scene you mentioned, for example. I also liked that he wanted to seize his chance when he saw Ren lying unconscious on the floor. It was a great character moment and totally consistent with what we knew about him up to that point. But then, the filmmakers once more opted to end the scene with a cheap joke. It was a very tense moment in the movie and I simply can't understand how anybody who had anything to say about this project would be fine with putting a laugh in there. For example: If Hux had drawn his gun, hesitated for a moment with a quick cut to his face and THEN put it away as Ren started to move, the tone of the whole sequence would have changed. It would have shown Hux' determination to seize power and would have shown that ultimately, he is a pathetic coward without without being comical. As it was, however, what we saw on screen was: "I'MA KILL HIM! WHOOPS, BETTER NOT..." - cue audience laughing, because deadpan humor is so funny and we totally don't want to be emotionally invested in a movie anyway.

If it would have been this one scene, it also wouldn't have been as much of a problem. What frustrated me so much was that there was no balance, no feeling for funny moments. It seemed like whenever they had the chance to do something funny, they went for it with no regard to situation or scene, without second thought.

At the beginning, there were moments that had me laughing. Because they were well executed and timed correctly. For example: when Leia told Threepio to wipe that sarcastic (was it 'sarcastic'? don't remember exactly) look from his face, that was hilarious. When Finn tried to hide the fact that he was trying to sneak away, that was ok, because it fit what we know about him and Boyega nailed the scene. However, what I don't need is

- a Porg flying against the Falcon windshield

- the caretakers' wheelbarrow taken out by a rock (or the caretakers AT ALL)

- Poe stepping through the floor panel of his junk speeder (at least not in that moment, when tension and excitement are high)

- Rey telling Kylo to put on a shirt

- The opening exchange between Hux and Poe. Again, this could have been funny and served its purpose to stall the First Order attack. But the way the executed it, it was just a cheap laugh that was beaten to death for way too long which made Hux weaker as a character and took me right out of the situation.

- that little critter trying to put a coin into BB-8

- BB-8 'puffing' his guns

- Luke dusting himself off after the AT-AT (or whatever they're called now) barrage. No.

and many, many, MANY more.

*note: for anyone else reading, this kind of goes without saying, but this post contains massive spoilers*

I do agree that they could've done more with Hux, and all I said was that he's the scariest of all the villains, not that he was neccesarily really scary. I'd probably rather he was the main bad guy in Episode IX than Kylo (although Kylo is probably inevitable).

Like I said, due to other unrelated stuff I'm just in a good mood anyway, but I really think the movie did everything I wanted. I'll just copy what I had in the other thread. These were what I wanted from the movie and how I interpreted the movie. Maybe you saw it differently, but I really thought all of these things happened on screen and that's what I wanted. I think Star Wars in general is kinda corny and humorous, and I'm glad they're not making it too serious.

24 minutes ago, Kieransi said:

*note: for anyone else reading, this kind of goes without saying, but this post contains massive spoilers*

I do agree that they could've done more with Hux, and all I said was that he's the scariest of all the villains, not that he was neccesarily really scary. I'd probably rather he was the main bad guy in Episode IX than Kylo (although Kylo is probably inevitable).

Like I said, due to other unrelated stuff I'm just in a good mood anyway, but I really think the movie did everything I wanted. I'll just copy what I had in the other thread. These were what I wanted from the movie and how I interpreted the movie. Maybe you saw it differently, but I really thought all of these things happened on screen and that's what I wanted. I think Star Wars in general is kinda corny and humorous, and I'm glad they're not making it too serious.

-Snoke died quickly and loserishly.

-Rey was really cool, believable, and likeable the whole movie and never turned to the Dark Side.

-Rey and Kylo really developed their weird frenemy relationship, and Kylo really had me going! I thought for sure that he'd turn to the light side, but now we know for sure that he's irredeemable. (Or do we?!?)

-Hux was the only villain who knew what he was doing.

-Poe was an awesome pilot and learned a ton about how to work on a team (great character growth).

-Finn finally got his battle to the death with Phasma.

-Rose! Man, I had no idea that she'd be such a likeable character!

-Chewbacca ate all the porgs! He was literally cooking one the first time they showed up, and then the ship was full of them when they left but there was only one left at the end! (I mean this for realsies, I was rooting for this to happen ever since those ugly little porg toys showed up on Black Friday).

I also love Star Wars for not being too sincere and always sneaking in some clever, lighthearted moments here and there. For instance, There's not a single funny bit in TFA, Rogue One or the OT that I disliked. Because they didn't affect the tone of the movie. TLJ however crossed the line so many times that it just destroyed the experience for me. Did you never feel just a little annoyed? Man, I wish I could say the same.

I also liked almost all of the things you listed above. Except for Rose. Maybe it was that the whole bit with her and Finn was compeletly unnecessary and felt totally off, whenever she had a scene, she just annoyed me.

Good catch about Chewie and the Porgs in the cockpit. I didn't realize their numbers were shrinking. That's awesome - Go Chewie!

I agree with a lot of the points above.

I have some questions for you all: How awesome was the first Matrix move? How fun was the first Pirates of the Caribbean film? Wasn't the first Transformers film fun? I think most of would answer yes to these questions.

But what happened to their sequels? The 2nd and 3rd instalment of these franchises was just 5 hours of stuff happening. No strong narrative, just an excuse for action sequences. TLJ falls into this category. It was just 'stuff' for 2 hours.

My next question to you all: Did you, at any point, feel the rebels were in any real danger? I certainly did not. I don't watch Avengers because I know that no matter what threat presents itself, Iron man, Thor, etc will overcome it, win and look awesome doing it.

Transformers wasn't fun it was painfully unfunny and racist with ugly robots and bad acting.

On 12/15/2017 at 4:53 AM, Conandoodle said:

I have some questions for you all: How awesome was the first Matrix move? How fun was the first Pirates of the Caribbean film? Wasn't the first Transformers film fun?

Matrix - awesome cinematography disguising a mediocre storyline that left way to many questions unanswered.

Pirates - amazingly fun movie

transformers - an abomination of filmmaking that totally missed the point and tried to compensate with explosions.

Sequels

matrix - reloaded was an amazing film that managed to salvage the first and satisfactorily answer all the questions raised by the first, a feat I hadn’t thought possible. Sadly, it only set up part 3 which was nothing but a 2 hour fight scene that ignore all the implications set up by part 2

pirates - part 2 was actually way better the second time I watched it. The main problem I had with it in the theatre was the mill wheel sword fight, but once you get past the preposterousness of the concept, it’s actually a brilliantly excuted bit of comedy. Not as good as the first, but still a lot of fun.

transformers - second one wasn’t any worse than the first. Not surprising, it really would have had to try to sink that low.

Chewie’s Cooked porg was a little stiff. Otherwise I loved it.

I’m weirded out by everyone disliking Leia in space. We already know that space in Star Wars isn’t space like ours and that we actually can survive brief exposures even in our version. And she’s a magic wizard. What unwritten rule did it break?

On 12/15/2017 at 3:12 AM, debiler said:

Luke dusting himself off after the AT-AT (or whatever they're called now) barrage. No.

One of the most badass moments in all of Star Wars? Come on, that was godamm cool!

2 hours ago, TasteTheRainbow said:

I’m weirded out by everyone disliking Leia in space. We already know that space in Star Wars isn’t space like ours and that we actually can survive brief exposures even in our version. And she’s a magic wizard. What unwritten rule did it break?

This!

I loved space Leia, and it showed her considerable force powers.

20 minutes ago, Celestial Lizards said:

One of the most badass moments in all of Star Wars? Come on, that was godamm cool!

Yup it was fantastic.

23 minutes ago, Celestial Lizards said:

One of the most badass moments in all of Star Wars? Come on, that was godamm cool!

Yea I loved it. Most of the comments seem to be from people who think Total Recall decompression is what legit happens instantly in space.

“This isn’t going to go the way you think!”

I’ve been ruminating on this movie for the past 24 hours. In a word this movie was fantastic. TLJ was a worthy addition to the saga, and I can’t wait to own it so I can watch it many more times.

I loved the stakes in this installment. It was existential without having to resort to the super weapon star base trope. There was a lot of tension with the flight of the Raddus (which is a kick *** name btw, I loved the nod to Rogue One).

Luke was played by Hamill’s best performance of his life (ok the cock-knocker was pretty close jk). Old Man Skywalker was the character I was most interested in, and I had such high hopes for him. (Yes I did expect him to take on the entire FO with his laser sword!) I think I’ve never been so happy to have been let down. Super Awesome ***-Kicking Luke would have been a cop out and pandering fan service in the worst way.

The cranky hermit part was fun to watch (green walrus-monster milk!) He’s done with it all, and for good reason: he failed. Which brings me to the great message of the film as brought to us by Yoda “Failure is the best teacher.”

Luke’s journey was perfect in retrospect. His force projection, deceiving Kylo (and the audience) was total ultimate Jedi badassery. His end was satisfying, if a little saddening, but I thought his vision of the twin suns was beautiful and touching. I’m really hoping to see him again as a force ghost in EP 9 to impart lesson number 3 to Rey, and to torment Kylo.

Kylo: At first the communication between him and Rey bothered me, but then I accepted it, and I actually thought it was cool. Adam Driver put on the best performance of his career so far. He really brought a lot of depth and was able to show the conflicted nature of Kylo. I was really invested in his performance and bought all of it.

Rey: her journey as a character progressed. I thought the reveal that she’s from nothing was a brilliant move by Rian Johnson. It shows that as Luke said: “the Force belongs to everyone.” Daisy Ridley has really taken on the mantle of the role and has such charisma that she commanded my attention whenever she was on screen.

Rey + Kylo scene:

Kylo killing Snoke was very satisfying. He was a bloviating over confident *** who got a fitting end. I loved seeing him get sliced in twain. Then that incredible battle against the praetorian guards! I think now, the only better lightsaber scene was Luke v Vader in EP5. I was thoroughly entertained and dazzled by the choreography and the sumptuous cinematography.

Leia: When she was blown out of the bridge I blurted out “What?!” (Just like Leia in EP 4, I was filled with disbelief.) The space Leia scene seems to have really bothered a lot of people, but I absolutely loved it. She’s a Skywalker with massive force powers that I was glad to finally see. It was very bittersweet to watch Carrie Fisher’s final performance but I thought she really delivered. When she shot Poe, I loved that detail of her using the same type of Pistol she had in EP4. And when R2-D2 played the holo recording I’m not at all ashamed to admit I dropped a couple of tears.

Holdo (HODOR???) really bothered me at first but her final act was jaw dropping and a fantastic spectacle to see in IMAX 3D. Why didn’t she advertise her secret plan? Because she either knew or had good reason to know that the FO had an informant on board. Laura Dern is a first class actor and despite her small role, really fleshed out the character for me.

Poe Dameron: his character arc was well done I thought. His stupid decision to attack the dreadnaught showed where he came from, his wise decision to abort the attack on the ground cannon showed where he went. He became a real leader, and I am really looking forward to seeing where he goes in EP9. Oscar Isaac is charming and fun to watch. I don’t get the issue with his trolling of Hux, it was funny.

Finn and Rose: ok this side arc probably was unnecessary. But I don’t care. I got to keep spending time in a galaxy far far away.

Chewie: not enough of him. I love that Wookie and can’t get enough of him. I think he was more awesome in TFA, but seeing him pilot the Millennium Falcon brought a smile to my face. I love that ship. It is hands down the coolest thing in the Star Wars universe. Would I rather have a lightsaber or the Falcon? No brainer give me the Falcon every time.

Were there flaws? Yes. Do I care? Not. one. bit.

None of the movies are perfect, but they’re all awesome (I don’t consider 1-3 ever in this calculus though. In my head canon, they never happened).

I got pretty upset by all the negative reactions, especially on this board. But As someone in the mega thread gave me good advice: “don’t hate the haters, pity them.” They are unable for whatever reason to find joy in this incredible piece of the Star Wars saga. Sad!

In closing, I will say I’m an OT kid. I grew up flying the Falcon (which I still have!), Luke was my Hero, I loved Leia, and I probably wanted to be Darth Vader. I feel like the new direction isn’t a bad thing, it’s necessary.

Enjoyed the movie as well, Poe continues to be my favorite new character, found the porgs hilarious, and I hope we get some new unique resistance ships out of the next movie with this clean state. Also at least Niem Numb survived!(or was it him, I mean what other Sullustan could it be?)