25 minutes ago, RebelProfundity said:I really like the Marvel movies they have been making, even though they deviate from even the recent comics pretty heavily. Maybe the difference is that comics fans have become used to constant resets, retcons, and changes. They do what they want in the comics and have to make up for past artists that did the same. Maybe superhero fans just roll with the changes a little bit better by now?
Luke : So, it is time for the Jedi Order to end?
Yoda : Time, it is...hmm, for you to look past a pile of old books, hmm?
Luke : The sacred Jedi texts!
Yoda : Oh? Read them, have you?
Luke : Well, I...
Yoda : Page-turners, they were not. Yes, yes, yes. Wisdom, they held, but that library contained nothing that the girl Rey does not already possess. Ah, Skywalker...still looking to the horizon. Never here! [pokes Luke with his walking stick] Now, hmm? The need in front of your nose!
Luke : I was weak. Unwise.
Yoda : Lost Ben Solo, you did. Lose Rey, you must not.
Luke : I can't be what she needs me to be!
Yoda : Heeded my words not, did you? "Pass on what you have learned." Strength, mastery, hmm...but weakness, folly, failure , also. Yes, failure, most of all. The greatest teacher, failure is. Luke, we are what they grow beyond. That is the true burden of all masters.
If what you get from this is "completely forget the past", would you please try reading it again? This is a pretty central point to the movie and many of the important, main characters phrase it on their own way. Sure, Kylo has the message slightly skewed to the dark side, but well, he is supposed to be a villain. They say lots of things that are not what we want to teach children. I think the message is that you can't be afraid to admit weakness and fault in yourself or your lessons to your students will ring hollow in the end, when they realize you are just a fallible person under those Jedi robes. If Kylo knew a little more about how the story of Vader really ended things could be very different.
Well, Kylo was the one who "betrayed" his plan. He didn't really want the First Order to go away after Snoke was dead. His idea of "let the past die" really meant:
Kill the rebels and Luke, and train Rey in the dark side, while ruling over the galaxy with a gigantic army.
That doesn't sound like letting the past die. Rey sees this, and leaves him.
The Dark Side has a slippery slope quality to it, and Ben is a bit too far down.
The problem with the Last Jedi, is that the core message (let the past die), is not a bad one, and it uses most of the runtime to establish that as an idea, both by Luke and Kylo.
And then, there comes a turn, which wasn't really well done, and it feels off.
At the end, we have a film that discusses the possibility of letting the past die, and in the last 30 minutes every major character doubles down on the old status quo.
Luke becomes the symbol of Hope.
Kylo becomes the evil emperor of an oppressive regime.
Rey escapes with a handful of rebels, to lead the cause against her personal enemy
This isn't a bad message, necessarily, but there are a few crucial mistakes about it.
A, they really shouldn't try to equate "the past" with the original trilogy... Which they had. It's very on the nose... its one thing that the final message of the film is the "past" being revived, but given the lack of respect the ST treats it's source material makes it problematic. Every achievement of the OT heroes is systematically erased. I fully blame J.J. for that, so he can go suck a fat one, but the point remains. You can't really expect people to buy your final message when these new movies were the ones that killed the spirit of the OT in the first place.
B, Again, the film establishes the "letting the past die" idea and plays with it for a long time. The pacing is off, and people can't really get invested in the newfound ideas of Luke and Rey. It's a very quick change from "let the past die" to "long live the past".
I think TLJ is an almost great movie. It had potential, but it had the unfortunate situation of following a film made by JJ "Mysterybox" Abrahms, and some poor decisions were made during it.