Apart from subverting the predictable, what parts did you particularly like in the film?
J
Well, let's see.
Visually, I enjoy the opening sequence with the mega-super-duper-ooper Star Destroyer and the bombing raid. I also enjoy that the costs of that raid are made clear to Poe as an effort to mature him, which is a process he undergoes throughout the film. I like where (I hope) they're going with him, going from brash, cocky pilot to seasoned campaigner. Taking him from a guy who thinks tactically to a guy who thinks operationally.
I LOVE Carrie Fisher's stuff. All of it. While I think it would've been neater/cleaner to off Leia during the film at the most obvious point (blown out into space), what came after that at each step was just gold, and I'm glad it survived on film. It's a fitting final film for her.
I LOVE Mark's work in this. Mark was, unfortunately, not a "marquee" face the way Harrison is. He didn't get the kind of roles that Harrison got. Now, he certainly doesn't seem bothered by that, and I can imagine that it allowed him to have a kind of life that let him continue pursuing his chosen path of acting and creativity in general, while also affording him much more of a family life, but I think this film cements that he likely had WAY more acting talent than he was given credit for. Whether you like the direction of Luke's story or not, you cannot deny that Mark knocked it the hell out of the park with his scenes. Put another way, Mark's performance itself completely sells and makes believable what the character is doing and feeling in the moment. It's grounded, it's emotionally very, very real, and it never comes across as "fake" or "just pretending" or whathaveyou. That's all separate from whether you think the character arc as written makes sense; the behavior of the character on the screen comes through as real the entire way, and it's a really nuanced, fully realized performance. I've thought Mark is way more talented than he's been given credit for for ages, but this film really brings that point home. The man can
act.
I love the notion of the debate about our relationship with the past. Do we burn it all down to move forward? Or do we take care in setting some of it aside without forgetting the lessons of history? That conflict also plays out against the overarching threat of an older generation dictating the future in the form of Snoke, but it shows that merely defeating that threat does not mean all threats are defeated. Where do we go from here? What is the path forward? I think those are incredibly relevant questions for us at this time, and I love watching it play out within the film.
I love Rey's "origin" story for what it means for her character. Rey is nobody. Rey could be anybody. Therefore anybody could be a hero. Anybody can rise to the challenge if they take it up. It's not a question of destiny or birthright. Anyone can rise from nothing to make their universe a better place. That message is further reinforced with Rose's journey, and with Finn's. And with the Canto Bight stable boy. Everyone in this story is a nobody who has no business being a hero, but who rises -- or may rise -- to that challenge. Moreover, I love that the idea of turning to the heroes of the past to save us again is set aside. Rey goes to find Luke so he can save the Resistance and the galaxy, but Luke isn't up to it. So, who will save us? WE will save us. That's one of the key messages of the film: your heroes will not save you. You must save yourself and be your own hero. Again, I think that's incredibly powerful and meaningful at this point in time.
I really enjoyed the Rose character, in that, as I said, she rises from nothing and finds a match in Finn. I also like that Rose is not "movie pretty" like her sister was. Normally, you'd expect the casting to be flipped, with the "hero" character being "movie pretty" and their sacrificial sibling being...well, not "movie pretty." To be clear, I think she's attractive, but she's not what you'd expect in a big-budget Hollywood film.
I enjoyed Yoda's cameo a ton, especially his line about how "We are what they grow beyond." As a parent, that statement hit me right in the gut. It's at once bittersweet and hopeful. You want your kids to grow beyond you. You want them to have a better life than you had. But that also means that at a certain point, they have to leave you behind and go on without you, and there's some sadness in that. Not just in terms of facing your own mortality, but in terms of not being there to help them, to protect them. But as Yoda says, we are what they grow beyond.
I liked much of Luke's own analysis of the Force. I've liked the idea of a "Grey Jedi" for a while now, or at least a less doctrinaire view of the Force as being PURELY good or PURELY evil. I like the idea that Jedi vs. Sith is ultimately a conflict that must be left behind, and that a kind of balance must be struck.
I loved the hyperspace ramming sequence in terms of how visceral it was. How it was shot, how the sound dropped out, and just the "Oh
****" quality of it. The theater went dead silent when that happened. You could've heard a pin drop. It was great.
I liked some of the Canto Bight stuff, in the sense of providing us a wider view of the galaxy and the forces that influence it. The corruption, the double-dealing, the notion that the war profiteers don't care who they sell to, as long as someone's buying.
I loved the throne room duel and the visual flair of it. It felt genuinely tense, and I wasn't sure how it would play out.
I loved that Snoke was handily dispatched, and especially that the punk didn't see it coming. And I loved the emotion of the sequence that followed, for both actors. Adam Driver and Daisy Ridley totally sold that scene, really conveying how each is so desperate to have the other come along, and then the dawning realization that, no, they really do have to start fighting again...for now. We don't know what'll come after, though.
Lastly, I loved how open ended the film left things. By burning the playbook, the field is left wide open. I have NO IDEA what will happen in the next film, and I love that. I haven't been able to say that about a Star Wars film....well, ever! With the PT, I knew roughly where it was headed. The Jedi would fall, the Empire would rise, Anakin would become Darth Vader, Obi-Wan would go into hiding, yadda yadda yadda. With ROTJ, even at age 5, I knew what would happen basically. The bad guys would lose, and the good guys would win. I didn't know the exact details, of course, but I knew this. With Ep. IX, the sky's the limit. The story may not conclude, although I suspect it'll end on a happy note. Or at least a happier note. But will the First Order be destroyed utterly? Will it survive? Will we simply set the stage for its dismantling over future films? Will the Jedi rise? Will they be the same kind of Jedi as before? What will that all look like? Will Ben be redeemed? CAN he be redeemed? Will we see Luke again as a Force ghost? Will Rey follow a similar path, or will she remain present in the galaxy after all is said and done? What kind of leader will a more sober (in thought) Poe be? How will Leia's absence be explained? What will become of the stable hand, if anything?
Where will things go from here? I don't know, and I'm eager to find out.
When I went into the new series of films, I was cautiously optimistic. Star Wars had a chance again to be something really amazing. It could still be pretty good by just aping the past, but we had an opportunity here to fully realize the potential scope of stories that can be told in this galaxy. It's an incredibly rich setting, and makes for a fantastic backdrop for all kinds of storytelling. But what I really hoped was that we would NOT simply rehash the old hits anew. I did NOT want to see yet another empire, yet another batch of Rebels, and yet another predictable lot of heroes who win the day through their plucky underdog tactics.
One of the most difficult things to do in storytelling is to tell a story that feels both new and familiar. "Make it like before, but make it fresh and interesting." It's an almost impossible task, but I think TLJ accomplishes that task nicely. If you're looking for the same old feel, then yeah, it's going to disappoint you mightily. But for me, I felt like TFA played it
too safe, and felt
too familiar. It was a nice way to hit the "reset" button, but it wasn't enough of what I wanted. Rogue One showed me that the franchise owners know they can do more with the franchise, and TLJ showed me that they're willing to thumb their nose at tradition, while still retaining the overall feel of the films. They're willing to take big risks with these films and tell stories that are VERY different, albeit in a familiar setting. I'm glad for that.
Lastly, I really enjoy the continued inclusiveness of the casting in these films. I know people like to **** on "PC culture" and whatnot, but representation on film matters, and it's not something easily understood when you haven't been on the sharp end of that stick. The new trilogy is part of a trend in filmmaking that expands films so that they are "for" a wider audience than they have been in the past. They're still "available" to all, but they are decidedly "for" a whole new range of people. In the past, I could "be" Luke, or Han, or Wedge, or Obi-Wan. I had a whole range of characters I could choose to "be" while watching the film. I could map myself into any number of different people. I can't really do that in the new films. There aren't a lot of characters into whom I can map myself. Luke and Han would be good candidates, buuuuut they're dead now. Poe is an option, but it's tougher for me to relate to him, and he's been more of a secondary character in recent films. He's somewhere between a Wedge and a Han, I guess. Finn? Nope. Rey? Nope. Rose? Nope. Can't map myself into any of them.
But you know who can? My wife. My little girl. The kids who live down the block from us. And they couldn't do that before, really. Certainly, they couldn't do it as easily as they can now. These films are much more "for" them than they are "for" me, even though they're absolutely still "available" to me. And that's great!! There'll be plenty of other films in the Star Wars franchise "for" me. And there already have been plenty. So I'm delighted that now I can share Star Wars even more with the people around me whom I love, and that Star Wars can be even better appreciated by an ever-widening audience.