Star Wars Episode the Last

[sholio]

We finally got around to watching Episode Whatever Most Recent tonight, and -- this is probably the best thing about not really being associated with Star Wars-y parts of the internet anymore -- I really enjoyed it, much more than the last one and about as much as The Force Awakens. It wasn't grand cinema, but it was fun and exciting and beautiful, and emotionally satisfying.

I do have to share Orion's crack theory about the last third of the movie, namely that Kylo Ren never actually had any kind of a come-to-Jedi moment, and everything he did and said after Leia making telepathic contact with him was actually Leia force-puppeting his body.

Thanks for making it weird, dude.

I got genuinely emotional over an awful lot of things in the back half of the movie: not really Leia's weirdly anticlimactic death (at this point it feels like we already said goodbye a long time ago) so much as all the cameos from the old characters, the scene where all the reinforcements show up, Kylo Ren and Rey lightsabering up together (I guess it's okay to kill as many people as you want without going darkside as long as they're not Palpatine ...), and Rey burying the lightsabers and calling herself a Skywalker at the end. From what I'd caught of the fringes of dissatisfaction on the internet, I wasn't expecting this to feel as Star Wars-y as it did, but ... it did though; I felt like it nailed the feeling of the old movies better than almost any of the post-1980s movies have managed to do. It felt just right -- simultaneously hopeful and tragic, epic and down to earth, a little bit incoherent and bonkers. I liked the way it came full circle back to Tattooine at the end, where it all began.

I really wish we'd seen Han with Luke and Leia at the end. That's the only thing I would have wanted that I didn't get.

Comments

[rmc28]

I saw it in a triple-bill concluding with a midnight showing, with my teenager, which was an excellent way to see it.

It was absolutely a bit bonkers and a lot emotional ("they win by making you think you're alone" hit me *hard*, in a good way) and I had a great time watching it.

[sholio]

Yessss. One reason why I enjoyed the movie so much is because it really did nail those emotional beats - characters standing up and moving forward and supporting each other and being their best selves. I forgot to mention in my list of things I loved how much I enjoyed the Rey-Palpatine fight ("I am all the Sith"/"I am all the Jedi"). It was absolutely what I want out of a Star Wars movie.

[xparrot]

Ahahah to that crack theory! It...could definitely work? ^^;;

Also aww I'm glad you enjoyed it! I saw it when it came out, and I liked a lot about it; I had some issues, but it was fun in a way that the one before had completely missed the mark on, at least for me.

(I think Timothy Zahn's trilogy is always going to be the "Real" what-came-next for me, but this was an entertaining AU!)

[sholio]

Ahahah to that crack theory! It...could definitely work? ^^;;

There's literally nothing in the movie to contradict it! At least not that I noticed. Okay, maybe a few bits where Leia would be acting a little out of character if she's actually the one acting as Kylo Ren, especially when he's more-or-less alone. But on the whole it does fit. It's not my headcanon but I can see where he's coming from with that. XD

it was fun in a way that the one before had completely missed the mark on, at least for me.

Yes, this, exactly! There were aspects of the 2nd movie I liked, but I have no desire to go back and rewatch it, whereas I could see myself happily rewatching this one, and in fact want to rewatch some of the scenes right away. I think it helps that this movie kept the focus so thoroughly on the core characters, whereas the previous one was very scattered.

And yeah ... I don't think this is precisely the future that I'm going to be envisioning when I rewatch the original movies, but I did really enjoy it as a future.

[princessofgeeks]

Somewhere in the middle of the second movie of the trilogy I realized that for me, the plots were getting so ridiculous that I was not going to think about them and was going to focus on the character moments and the production design and the lightsabre duels.

So I went away happy.

Not being a Kylo/Rey shipper, that was the best path for me.

I really loved The Force Awakens and the Han Solo backstory movie, myself. The others were good and I'm glad I saw them but for me they pretty much stopped making any sense.

[leesa_perrie]

I loved all of these three movies, though hubby wasn't as keen I think on the other two, but he did seem to like this one a lot more! This one certainly had that old SW feeling to it, and it's left me wanting more - though, obviously, in the form of movies like Rebel One and Solo (a sequel to Solo would make me very happy actually).

[schneefink]

As long as I did not think about the plot at all (which was hard, because it started in the prologue with "why would they even believe that the recording is from the real Palpatine instead of a forgery/an imposter/etc.") it was very entertaining :)

[lunabee34]

Oh that's too funny; I love that theory.

[kore]

I thought it was very fun! A bit of a hot mess, but fun. I was there for REEEEEEEEY, and Oscar Isaac and John Boyega eye candy and I was just so happy with her journey and self-confidence. I really enjoyed all three sequel movies. This surprised me a little, as I'm usually really picky, but they did capture some of the feelings I had watching the originals way back when.

[musesfool]

I enjoyed it a lot as well, and I am officially adopting that headcanon because why wouldn't you want to make it weird and creepy? That's right up in SW's wheelhouse! Plus it basically made the OT3 canon, so what's not to like? It's best not to think too hard about any plot stuff. The Force did it!

[rose_griffes]

...Kylo Ren never actually had any kind of a come-to-Jedi moment, and everything he did and said after Leia making telepathic contact with him was actually Leia force-puppeting his body.

YES. I'll take it. Seriously, this is the BEST headcanon.

[cofax7]

I like that theory!

I thought the movie was a hot mess but it felt like SW in a lot of ways, and that's about all I took away from it. If I start thinking about plot logic and logistics my head explodes.

[sheron]

I still haven't seen this one! Glad you liked it, now I look forward to it a little more.

[grav_ity]

...i have seen a lot of wacky takes (ugh), but Kyle Ron, the Leia Force Puppet is my favourite and I will be adopting it going forward.

[sgatazmy]

Yay someone else who likes it. I felt it was fun. I didn’t over think it :)