#john boyega? wonderful. adam driver? you do you i guess.

[creepyjirachi]

every day i thank god that none of my mutuals thirstpost about oscar isaac because that guy looks fcking exactly like my uncle

[o0-snowdrop-0o]

The JB drama and the truth

The way JB takes advantage of the current situation and manipulates the audience, trying to portray himself as a victim he never truly was...only, because his ego wasn't stroked enough... it's just unbelievable.

I planned to post these later on, but this is the level of hypocrisy I can't and won't let go this time.

Please, stop with this " muh Finn was sidelined" bullshit! It's not true! On the contrary! He got MOST of the screentime, right after Daisy, against the fact that he played a supportive role! Meanwhile Adam had barely any screentime against the fact he played the leading male character! The other protagonist! The only people who were mistreated are Adam Driver and Kelly Marie Tran!

Finn was a SIDE character, a SUPPORTIVE role in the sequel trilogy which was about the Skywalker family drama. And there's nothing wrong with it. A side character could be amazing and memorable as well if the actor is a talented one, who cares about the storyline. But that's not the case here...

Boyega was extremely jealous and his huge ego couldn't accept this fact and now he uses his race card to gain attention, to get roles...even throws his fellow cast members under the bus out of jealousy...since Kelly Marie Tran, whom he disrespected several times, is now cool and mainstream and got fine roles, he uses her to make you feel guilty about him.

Guess, who suggested JJ Abrams, to erase the Finn-Rose romance from the last episode? 

He never supported for Kelly Marie Tran..on the contrary!

Him and Ridley had a long discussion with JJ about their own ideas. He told it how much he disliked the Finn-Rose romance line... I hope everyone knows, Naomi Ackie's character, Finn's new love interest , was the black replacement of Rose Tico to apply John Boyega's taste? But that's okay, right? The way he harassed children and gays? Harassing children, sharing their private informations so his fans could cyber bully these minors? Just because they dared to support Ben Solo and the canon reylo romance? The way he disrespected Adam Driver? That he still keeps hating on Rian Johnson? That his toxic fandom kept harassing Kelly Marie Tran and he did nothing, even encouraged them to do so by supporting for the FinnRey bullshit on twitter? 

He can get away with everything :)

( his background right after TLJ )

His opinion of JJ Abrams in his recent interview:

So desperate for attention, that he even shared informations about DR's private life...

His fans harassed not only Kelly, but they were constantly making fun of Adam Driver and wished him to die. In 2017, after the Vmagazine interview between Adam and Daisy, his fans wanted Daisy to get raped and killed for being friends with a "white man" aka Adam Driver.

Against the fact that he played a SIDE character, who didn't even have any bond, relationship to the Solo Skywalker family members ( Ben, Leia, Han, Lando, Luke ) Boyega got MOST OF THE SCREENTIME RIGHT AFTER DAISY RIDLEY! 

" Poor, sidelined victim and his screentimes " :

Adam Driver was completely sidelined, humiliated and barely got any screentime against the fact that Driver played the only child of Han Solo and Leia, the leading male, the main character alongside Daisy Ridley!

Why is it such a fucking problem that in a fucking Saga which is about the Skywalker-Solo family, the actual Skywalker-Solo dares to be the leading male?!

I don't remember Samuel, Ewan hating on Hayden for being paired up with Natalie Portman, for playing Anakin Skywalker? Billy Dee Williams? They never did such things!

Episode 9 is what exactly he wanted, what he requested, suggested to JJ! In his imagination him, Ridley and Oscar were the leading characters and nobody else mattered! Stop victimizing him!!!!!!!@@

Read these interviews:

https://hypebeast.com/2019/12/john-boyega-star-wars-rise-of-skywalker-interview-cover

https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/culture/2019/12/27/21034725/star-wars-the-rise-of-skywalker-last-jedi-j-j-abrams-rian-johnson

https://amp.cinemablend.com/news/2487153/what-john-boyega-really-wanted-to-emphasize-with-finn-for-star-wars-the-rise-of-skywalker

The talented, wonderful Lupita Amondi Nyong'o or Michael B. Jordan should have played the ex-stormtrooper's role...it would have been amazing and remarkable.

I'm tired of this shit!

Please, stop victimizing this narcissistic man already!

[the-wondrous-imaginator]

Rise of the Skywalker Thoughts...

So... I saw the movie. It was a movie. I saw the stuff about John Boyega on Twitter. That’s a thing. Adam Driver is literally done with this franchise, which I’m kind of happy about, not gonna lie. He deserves better. He totally carried the entire movie on his back, and it’s kinda sad that Ben Solo didn’t get the ending that many of us had hoped for. I guess that’s just a rushed, unplanned writing at its finest.

Some stuff to say:

- Despite really, really hating the fact that JJ completely ignored all the character development that Rey had in TLJ, I’m still really happy with Daisy’s performance. I used to not like Rey and take it out on Daisy before I rewatched the movies and realized that she did the absolute best she could with the writing she was given. And that’s enough. She seems like the least toxic person in this whole mess, seems like a nice gal. Planning on watching some more of her movies so I can see what she does with writing that’s actually decent. Best of wishes to her.

- The only thing that was actually consistently wonderful in this trilogy was Kylo/Ben’s character arch. It was like JJ and Rian totally ignored all the other set up they gave each other but were both like “yeah, this redemption arch is gonna be sweet. We can agree on that at least”. And the reason I love Adam Driver so much is that he completely went with it. He worked hard to make it amazing. He didn’t waste it and ended up not only redeeming Ben Solo, but also a piece of the sequels. These movies WOULD NOT have been close to good without him. And the fact that he added so much flavour to Rey’s character- the hecking protagonist- make her so much more likeable to me. They had so much chemistry. Whether you ship Reylo or not, you’ve gotta agree that their characters worked so darn well together. I do wish that Ben hadn’t died, but I’ve listened to both sides of the argument- some say that it’s good that he died, some hate it- and I’m at peace with it at this point (AKA I’ve been miraculous healed by the power of fix-it-fics).

-John Boyega more or less broke my heart. He was this sweet, friendly guy in my mind that was actually a lovely part of the StarWars cast until I read all that stuff he put on Twitter. That sucks, guys. That really sucks. It made me realize how huge this fandom is and how big it really is in pop culture, to affect the cast like this. So negative, so disappointing. I was really starting to like him. I really hope he apologizes for his actions- what he said was very rude and disrespectful.

-The writing just makes me so darn angry. I just give up at this point. How does a franchise that’s made millions upon millions of dollars not understand that you have to MAKE A PLAN AT THE BEGINNING OF THE WRITING PROCESS AND STICK WITH IT. It doesn’t matter what fans think- if the team had just understood exactly where they were going from the start, everything would have made sense. I haven’t read up a ton on the whole Rian Johnson vs JJ thing, but I do know that JJ gave us movies that were basically aspiring to be copies of the original triology, and nothing could have been less interesting than that. At least The Last Jedi was interesting to watch, despite having its ups and downs. The Rise of Skywalker was downright boring most of the time. I guess this is just a testament to how NOT to make a movie.

-Lastly, let me just say that the costume design, ventriloquism, makeup, special effects and ALL the stuff under the general *style* umbrella was A M A Z I N G. Props to the background guys and gals. Like... wow. Even it Disney may have not hired the best writers, these people working in the background were obviously so darn talented. Don’t know what else to say about that. Just... wow. Love you guys.

Alright, that’s that. If I got details wrong in this post or you wanna share your opinion, go ahead and tell me. I’m totally down for a healthy conversation. Fingers crossed that TWtCW season 7 will be great. Gonna survive off of Mandalorian content till then. As always, may the force be with you.

[youknowjustfandomstuff]

TRoS: A Spoiler Review

Quick note: I just got back from seeing the film, so I’m sorry if this review comes off as overdramatic or harsh. My emotions are running high at the moment. So please view my thoughts knowing that!

Pros

Daisy Ridley’s performance was particularly phenomenal, as was Adam Driver’s and John Boyega’s. I wish the latter two were given more weighted scenes to work with.

The Leia scenes felt very believable in the story and were incorporated well.

Ben and Rey kiss. Basically all their scenes together were engaging and entertaining, but I credit that to the actors.

Naomi Ackie. I really liked what little we got of Jannah.

Cons

I’m not going to tag any of the writers, actors, or crew in my opinions, but TRoS was just so...stupid. As shown above, there were a few scenes I loved. But the rest made the hope inside me crumble to pieces. Let’s start at the beginning: the scroll.

Instead of giving us context of where the galaxy stands, the normally succinct but holistic scroll info dumps about Palpatine and the supposedly huge threat he poses to everyone, despite him being absent in the first two movies. 

Then our first shots reveal Kylo, and subsequently our heroes, looking for Sith wayfinders. Which every character takes in total stride. I get that there was a time jump, but the stakes aren’t just higher or lower than in the previous two films - they’re entirely new stakes, foreign to the plot of the sequel trilogy. 

Rose was side-lined to random generic one-liners, Finn spends half the movie hammering it into the audience’s skulls how worried he is about Rey (which like - fine, sure, we got that I guess from the 50,000 times you scream “REY!” but that’s mostly it. 

Poe at this point feels like a character who's been reconstructed about half a dozen times given all the different traits and histories pasted into him throughout this trilogy. I like his relationship with Finn, but part of me wonders guiltily if maybe he should’ve died in TFA. We spend wasted time in TRoS learning more about his past, which I can’t imagine anyone cares too deeply about at this point...I mean, it’s the final film. 

Besides, we’re too busy learning all the answers to Rey’s lineage. They couldn’t have just let it rest. I’m not against exploring more of her history with her family, but the way Rey gets bludgeoned over with questions about her “family name” and the painfully-constructed concern the movie crafts for learning just who Rey’s parents are was tiresome and irritating.

- Pause for quick spoiler-y rant, possibly with swearing:

I fucking hate that they turned Rey’s parents into parents who loved her and only left her on Jakku to spare her life. Like, it couldn’t possibly be that any parents would abandon their child on a desert planet and have her fend for herself. Rey just wouldn’t have been able to come back from that, they had to have loved her. There was so much potential for her character to be someone who overcame parental neglect, a really relatable struggle that I don’t think is explored enough. To me, this swerve took something important away from her character. I kinda burn with grief when I think about it too much.

Rey Palpatine. I’m sorry, but that was the most ridiculous theory I’d ever heard of. I’m pretty sure it was even joked about by the actors during TLJ press. I have no words, only laughable disbelief.

All the fake “deaths” - except for when it mattered. In this film, we see Chewie get exploded in a ship and are led to believe that Threepio’s memory gets wiped for good. Both are cheerfully explained away with dubious excuses. And yet, you’re telling me you can’t come up with a Force reason to resurrect Ben Solo who shares a powerful force bond with Rey? There’s not Force power that can bring him back? If nothing else, they could at least have had the decency to show him as a force ghost in the end, or show Rey looking for a way to bring him back. I understood Vader dying. He’d gotten his trilogy as Anakin. But Ben Solo was a young man who’d just found redemption and love. I hate this message of redemption = death. It’s bullish*t. He already “died” when Rey stabbed him on the waterfront - there are such things as metaphorical deaths in stories. Killing him off felt wrong and utterly hopeless. This was not Star Wars.

Overall, the writers basically abandoned the sequel trilogy in favor of resurrecting already resolved plots from the OG trilogy, and then re-finished them off in confusing and pathetic ways. In doing so, this movie rendered so many actions of the past films weightless. And I’m not even talking about killing Ben, which is what personally hurt me the most. TRoS is jarring in how it screams “this is the end!” with every scene, somehow attempting to provoke nostalgia but warping the feel of the whole saga in the process. I wasn’t even buying what I was watching by the end. 

I’m sure there’s more I’ll think of later, but my brain is too overwhelmed. A disappointing conclusion that I will likely rewrite/finish in my head.

[clairen45]

what do you think about the theme of masculinity in the ST through Kylo, Poe and Finn’s characters and their relationship with women ? And why does Kylo appeals to the female audience ? I remember receiving a bit of hate when I spoke about my love for the character with my entourage and guys in general... I mean yes Kylo is attractive but it’s the depth of his personality, psychology that compels me the most, more than other male characters in the sequel

Join the club, dear anon, and bask in the gorgeousness and intricacy of that beautifully crafted character.

We have all met (talked, lived, slept, whatever) with people who tell you how much they hate the character and felt super alone. The hate, mind you, deep down, really comes from misunderstanding completely the character and the creators’ intent about the creator and the whole point of the ST.

But you are not alone and should rejoice with the ton of Kylo love you see on the Internet. Also, Kylo is truly a favorite among the cast (carefully listen to the interviews, or look at Kylo’s number 1 fan, John Boyega), and among kids. It has to mean something. So don’t let a few naysayers and party poopers spoil all the fun for you. Just think you are very astute to the message that is “subtly” conveyed. And again, you can talk about how Kylo is attractive, but it is obviously not such shallow and skin-deep. They didn’t pick, for obvious reasons, your average Abercrombie and Fitch male model. Think Hayden Christensen. They went, from the getgo, for Adam Driver who is often super akwardly labelled as “unconventionally attractive”. Let’s say they went for super talented actor, oozing charisma, and endowed with the very unique and amazing ability to transform any “on paper” unlikable character into someone you end up cheering and rooting for. I, for one, like an angry mama bear, would fight to death to protect Kylo. Which is also what Rey did after just one finger tippity touch… With Luke… and with Snoke… Just saying…

So, yea, this is a great character. Served by a wonderful actor. And with a beautiful arc. My favorite fictional character ever. Male or female.

About what I think of masculinity in the ST, I wrote three posts that you might want to check out. That one, for obvious reasons, might be just what you are looking for: Kylo Ren And Masculinity: the King, the Warrior, the Magician, and the Lover. This is the intro. The post itself is a study of Kylo’s character as seen through Robert Moore and Doug Gillette’s book on male archetypes called King, Warrior, Magician, Lover. 

Kylo is supposed to fail all previous expectations. Of course he will disappoint as a villain, because he isn’t supposed to be Vader. He is not the evil bad guy. And he will disappoint as a hero because he isn’t supposed to be Luke… or Han.  And all these guys were the golden standards in terms of what masculinity was for so many boys -and girls- who grew up with Star Wars, how men are portrayed, and the types, archetypes, boys and men are supposed to identify with… and women to fall in love with, or identify with… (…) Also, the ST has pitched two highly likable male characters that are supposed to be everything Kylo is not: so guys will root for Finn and Poe, but not so much for Kylo, because hell they are cool and he is not. Poe and Finn are reassuring because they evoke Han and Luke. And Kylo is, well,unpredictable and unchartered territory…But we’ll see later about that.

Kylo is confusing, I guess, to many men. Yet, he has probably the most amazing potential for a male hero we have ever had in Star Wars. And maybe it is why he is confusing. In the Star Wars universe, our heroes are usually limited to one or two specific archetypes, easily readable from the start. One man=one clear, identified function (though on clearer inspection, this is not as true as it seems). Kylo eschews that because he starts super clear as a villain but then gets more and more blurred. Which to me reads as a great sign that he has the potential to effectively blend many archetypes of masculinity while other characters had more linear development, and frankly very little room for growth or evolution. No one expected Luke to be anything but the hero and we knew from the start about poor Anakin. In this ST all about balance, Kylo is designed to not just bring balance to the Force but to a certain portrayal of masculinity

There is also that one on the parallels between Finn and Kylo. And finally, there was that one on Poe, that I wrote early on in 2018 and had to revise and review somehow: Three is Company? A love triangle between Rey, Poe, and Kylo.

Hope that will answer your questions. Thanks again so much for asking. And proudly keep on cheering for Kylo. He’s a great character!

[itshansolo]

my review of the last jedi

spoilers, very much so

It’s easy to understand why the critics love this film. It’s very different from The Empire Strikes Back, it’s got some excellent acting, surprising moments and good action scenes. For people who get paid to analyze films as their own entities and do so countless times a year - and as such probably don’t remember much about The Force Awakens aside from “Han was killed as Luke showed up in the last few seconds” - that’s all it takes for a 10/10 experience.

The film ends on a high note, so you walk away from the theater in ecstasy and still absorbing what you just saw. But the euphoria doesn’t resist 10 minutes of critical thinking. For a film that praises itself for digging deep into its characters, The Last Jedi is surprisingly superficial. Presumably, one of the first questions Rian Johnson asked himself was “what is Luke Skywalker doing on that island?”. Turns out he feels guilty about what happened to Ben Solo and the Jedi order he was building. Wait, you might say, I thought the previous movie had already made that clear? That’s because it did. The Last Jedi was supposed to be Luke’s movie and we get no insight whatsoever into his character that we didn’t already know or make educated guesses about.

Except for one thing. Turns out he tried to kill his nephew when he sensed the darkness inside him. Yeah. Exactly. He didn’t give up on Darth Vader of all people, but he was ready to slaughter his teenage nephew. There is no plausible explanation for this. That was before shit hit the fan in the Skywalker household, so any psychological trouble that might excuse his odd behaviour when Rey finds him does not excuse this.

That’s not the full extent of Luke’s iffy characterization. We all remember how he went against his masters’ teachings and faced Darth Vader with nothing but compassion under his sleeve. So tell me how does it make sense for a Force Ghost Yoda to appear and lecture him on all that was wrong about the old ways of the Jedi? It doesn’t. Their respective beliefs were flipped.

In the last few months, the powers that be have repeatedly stated in interviews - as a weird badge of pride - that each director is entirely free to come up with the story of each film, with nothing but the previous instalment as a starting point. Long story short, the trilogy is being written as they go along. And it shows. Snoke was nothing but a plot device. The Knights of Ren are nowhere to be seen. There’s no explanation for how and why the Skywalker lightsaber ended up in Maz Kanata’s possession. Maz, by the way, has the most inorganic introduction I’ve ever had the displeasure to watch. I just have to presume it was in Lupita Nyong’o’s contract to be in at least two films.

If Lupita’s contract might explain Maz’s atrocious cameo, Benicio Del Toro can only be a close friend of Rian Johnson’s with a lifelong dream to be in a Star Wars movie. The character, whose name we do not learn, is completely useless and badly portrayed. The necessary skills that he has could have been easily transfered to Rose. As a side effect, the whole Canto Bight detour - also a waste of time - could have been thrown out altogether.

Speaking of Rose, she’s one of the few elements that actually work in this film. Kelly Marie Tran is excellent and the character is immediately likable. We learn more about her than we learned about Rey in two goddamn movies. Her storyline with Finn, as mentioned above, could have used a little trimming, but I have to disagree with critics who claim it’s the biggest/only weakness of the film. The sheer charisma of Kelly and John Boyega carries the storyline. 

The truth is there a lot of weakness and they are spread out. Case in point, the dynamic between Amilyn Holdo and Poe, my least favorite part by far. Rian Johnson came up with the character of Amilyn and Claudia Gray borrowed the name to write a different character in her novel Princess of Alderaan. Those who have read this book know that she’s the Luna Lovegood of Star Wars and her charming personality completely vanishes in the film. She’s virtually a different woman. Did the story group of Lucasfilm and their supposed responsibility for continuity in a galaxy far far away take a vacation while Claudia was writing the book?

It’s clear that Holdo was introduced in the movie to prop up Poe Dameron’s character development, but the trouble is that such development is not necessarily welcome or well done. I don’t know how a movie that lasts two and a half hours can feel rushed, but here it did. Poe and Holdo’s altercation is truncated, confusing, almost impossible to get invested in.

Did you notice how I failed to mention Rey until now? You may think Daisy Ridley was just being humble when she kept saying in the press tour that Rey is not necessarily the main character. She wasn’t though. Rey does not feel like the main character at all. As a matter of fact, Poe feels more like a protagonist this time around. And that’s saying something, considering his character was supposed to die early on in The Force Awakens.

I’m not gonna ramble at length about the godforsaken topic of Rey’s parentage. I’m just gonna say that, aside from being almost comical how The Force Awakens missed the mark when introducing the child of literal nobodies, The Last Jedi takes its sweet time to settle the debate once and for all, as it continues to tag people along like Lucasfilm and Disney have been doing for two years. As soon as Rey and Kylo have their first bizarre Sense8-esque Force meeting, my seatmate whispered to his friend “wait, are they siblings?” and I wanted to take a bullet to the brain right the fuck there. BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT WOULD HAVE MADE SENSE. Mere seconds after one of their Force connections, Luke has a similar scene with Leia. You know… Leia. HIS SISTER. At some point, Kylo tells Rey that he knows she’s gonna join him eventually… because he’s seen who her parents are. Geez, Louise. I wonder why the identity of her parents would compel her to get closer to Kylo. Maybe because they are HIS PARENTS TOO?? No, that would have just been too good.

And it doesn’t end there! Remember that teaser in which something sinister is calling to Rey and Luke yells “RESIST IT”?. That was awesome, wasn’t it? Who was calling to her? Snoke? Kylo? Turns out it was… a cave. A cave in which Rey has a borderline psychodelic experience that involves mirrors. She asks to be shown the face of her parents and the music intensifies until… we see Rey staring at her own reflection. That’s brilliant, Rian. Keep building up the mystery only to reveal later on that her parents were alcoholic junkers that may or may not remain nameless for eternity (and Rey shall remain just “Rey” forever).

I’m still trying to figure out the purpose of that cave scene. This goes back to how disappointingly shallow the movie was. We were supposed to learn some pretty interesting lore about the Force and what did we actually get? We learned that the Force doesn’t belong to the Jedi (duh)… and that’s it. Are you serious?

Let me get into what I did like about the film. Like I said, John Boyega and Kelly Marie Tran are a tour de force of charisma. They’re the most endearing pair and just plain fun to watch. Although Finn has been criminally demoted from his leading man status, his confrontation with Phasma (who’s Phasma again?) brought nice closure to his arc as a former stormtrooper.

I know many of my mutuals and followers cannot stand Adam Driver. I have side-eyed some of the things he said recently myself. But the guy is phenomenal in this movie. I caught myself looking forward to his appearences, because he is simply magnetic. I have no idea what’s gonna happen to Kylo, but I’m invested either way. The one thing The Last Jedi taught me is that speculation is pointless, because fans put way more thought into the story than the powers that be. That’s depressing, but it’s the reality of the situation.

I think my favorite scene in the whole movie is Kylo and Rey in Snoke’s throne room. The tension was palpable. The way Kylo ended Snoke had everyone in the room on the edge of their seats and the battle against the Praetorian Guards right afterwards was simply breathtaking.

Carrie Fisher is so Leia in her last appearence. I’m pretty happy with her send off, all things considered. She felt way more at ease in the role when compared to The Force Awakens and we gotta give Johnson some credit here, even if I want to strangle him most of the time. The infamous Superman scene is pretty awkward, but it was about time she showed some badass Force powers. The old hologram from A New Hope being what motivates Luke to finally help Rey was a stroke of genius. Such a simple plot development, but literally no one saw it coming. There wasn’t a single dry eye in the audience.

LUKE AND LEIA REUNITE! Well, sort of. But it was enough for me. Which brings me to Luke projecting himself across the galaxy. It sounds cartoonish on paper, but boy did it work! If you didn’t get goosebumps when he became one with the Force to the sound of Binary Sunset, something is wrong with you. The shoulder wipe was LEGENDARY. Some of the humor didn’t work in this film, but most certainly did, especially Chewie and the porgs (which are adorable and thankfully not overused) and Luke hitting Rey in the hand with a stick when he asks her to reach out.

As a standalone film, I give The Last Jedi an 8 out of 10. But as a follow-up to a seven-part saga, it’s a 6/10 with a pinch of generosity.

[truffulaslut]

Long post about me being fed up.

I’m fucking done with these Zutarians, and the Reylos for that matter. You know what both Katara and Rey are to these shippers? A place holder. They’re a place holder for themselves because they want to be with Zuko and Kylo.

They don’t even care about the full year of torment and abuse Katara had to face from Zuko and the fire nation. They ignore the fact that Katara had an anger towards the fire nation after they had killed her mother.

All they see is: “OMG! KATARA AND ZUKO ARE OPPOSITES! RED AND BLUE FIRE AND WATER! THE CAVE OF TWO LOVERS!! OMG IT’S MENT TO BE!! NICKELODEON SAID THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO BE TOGETHER! IT WAS MENT TO BE!!!”

Katara on “The Western Air temple” even made a death threat directly at Zuko. She said if he hurt Aang, or even gave her the implication that he was going to betray Aang, she’d basically kill him. And…that’s love?? Wow. I wonder what your relationships look like.

By the end of “The Southern Raiders” Katara and Zuko were on good terms, but that doesn’t mean romance. It honestly didn’t even feel like a friendship it actually just felt like “yo…I don’t wanna kill you anymore, man.” To Katara, Zuko was just there as Aang’s bending teacher.

And…guess what? The last episode that they share together with their “friendship” is entirely about 2 days. Yup, they are most likely “friends” for about 2 days, and if you count the time between “The Southern Raiders” and the four Sozin’s Comet episodes it’s honestly probably about a week. A week and two days…is enough to build an entire relationship on where Katara becomes fire lady at age 15??? Yeah…no keep dreaming.

You can’t deny Zuko’s attempted murder towards Aang and his friends wasn’t abusive. Dude…the whole Fire Nation tries killing them multiple times…and that’s not…youre just going to look over Katara’s trauma and war torn family??? I bet she’d love all of you.

Okay! Now for the Reylos.

Reylos…hmm. You too also like to deny that Kylo has tried to kill both Rey and her friends. He basically mind raped her in the interrogation scene and tortured both Poe and Finn.

Speaking of which Poor Finn, he had to grow up as a child soldier. Being trained to kill, never knowing his family…and now you’re just going to push him out of the story because he’s not a fucking whitey?? Honestly fuck you. John Boyega is a gift to this God forsaken fandom. He truly is a gift. We’ve never seen a poc in star wars besides being aliens and already that’s fucking insulting.

Poc get representation and you Reylos and that dumb ass writer have the nerve to call Kylo the fucking…PROTAGONIST??? Do you even know the definition of protagonist??? The good guy? Since when do good guys kill younglings at the jedi temple? Since when do they turn to the dark side? When do good guys kill their fathers? Umm…never.

Anyways back to Reylos: Why do you think Rey a sweet, strong, driven woman would ever want to be with Kylo Ren? Do you remember “You still want to kill me.” As a line from the movie…or no? She wanted to fucking murder him, not only for him stalking her in the forest like an animal, but also for her intense force visions of him killing people, and also fucking with her friends.

Rey is powerful. She’s damn impressive. And y'all are trying to make her the reason Kylo’s redemption? Smh. Good redemptions happen when the bad guy decides things need to change. But I don’t see that happening with Kylo anytime soon. In fact, from what Adam Driver has said, I think he might die or something. Lol. That’ll be fun to watch.

[robedisimo]

Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi [SPOILER-FREE REVIEW]

[Disclaimer: this review is based on the Italian dub of the film. As such, all opinions on the quality of dialogues and acting are subjective and partial.]

If you were to ask me which franchises I consider myself a fan of, it would take some time for Star Wars to cross my mind. Not because I’m not a fan – trust me, I am – but because loving Star Wars just goes without saying. If you’re asked what your defining personal skills are, you don’t reply that you’re able to articulate sounds in such a way as to form meaning. It’s an incredibly specific skill and only 0.00001% of animal species on Earth possess it, but it’s kinda implicit in the fact that you’re having the interview, isn’t it?

My point is, if you’re a “fan” of any kind, you’re a fan of Star Wars. Call yourself nerd, geek or pop-culture freak, for those of us worshipping at the altar of fiction there’s probably no more widely beloved embodiment of what makes telling ourselves stories so damn enjoyable. It’s been the foundational myth of modern geekdom for three generations now, and I doubt it’s going away anytime soon.

Two years ago, writer/director J.J. Abrams tried to recapture that magic in The Force Awakens, a long-awaited seventh episode which – in my opinion – got a little more praise than it actually deserved... mostly out of everyone’s desire for it to succeed, if I had to hazard a guess. It was an entertaining nostalgia-filled romp and a fantastic technical feat of filmmaking, but it left us wondering: was there anything more to the saga’s future than just a warm cup of yesterday’s excitement, served in a shiny new packaging?

As it turns out, yes. Yes there was.

Holy crap.

Enter writer/director Rian Johnson, best known so far for the 2012 critical hit – and moderate box-office success – Looper, picking up where Abrams had left, grabbing the wheel with both hands, and leaning on the gas pedal as hard as he can. Handing what was supposed to be a cohesive trilogy arc over to a completely different author could’ve easily ended in a tailspin, but the franchise’s engines come out of it roaring. For the first time in a really long while, Star Wars is back, both narratively and creatively. And, most importantly, it’s back at the top, setting the high mark for the rest of the blockbuster field.

There’s too much to say about The Last Jedi and too little one can really touch upon without indulging in spoilers, so let’s get past the technical aspects first. Johnson’s film is a feast for the eyes, and I honestly can’t recall another Star Wars instalment so absurdly rife with stunningly iconic moments of visual creativity. I can guarantee that at least five scenes from this movie will be permanently seared into your personal mental library of great franchise-defining moments on visual merits alone, without even starting on those that are equally memorable from a narrative standpoint. Meanwhile John Williams’s score, it goes without saying, is as majestic as ever, and helps keeping things familiar even when they occasionally breach into surprisingly new territory for the franchise.

Indeed, Johnson’s almost alarming confidence in steering the ship leads to an episode that’s structured in a very unusual way for a Star Wars film. Rather than a sequence of events, The Last Jedi feels more like one single, prolonged scenario fracturing into an elaborate series of subplots, not unlike what you’d expect from an especially expansive episode of today’s long-form television. It’s an odd approach and it does result in occasionally uneven pacing, but the upside is that Episode VIII just doesn’t let up, ever: it’s a breakneck rollercoaster run from beginning to end, containing the full spectrum of what viewers can get from the Star Wars brand. It’s tense, it’s action-packed – the space battles and lightsabre fights are absolutely amazing –, it’s emotional... and often surprisingly hilarious, too.

As other reviewers have noted, The Last Jedi hits a number of comedic notes of a sort that’s pretty unfamiliar for the franchise, but the great news is that it works. All jokes land, and some of them land really hard. As a matter of fact, here’s the one “spoiler” I’m willing to throw your way: you know those “Porg” creatures we watched fill our holiday toy aisles, threatening to turn the galaxy far, far away into a Minions cartoon? Forget about those: they’re not a concern. Johnson’s Star Wars isn’t afraid to indulge in the more kid-friendly aspects of the saga, but – and here’s the catch – there’s balance to it.

A balance which seems to pervade all elements of this sprawling new chapter, 152 minutes – now the longest Star Wars ever, beating Attack of the Clones by a good ten minutes – encompassing everything about the franchise: the classic narrative archetypes and the surprise plot twists, the epic drama and the silly creatures, the practical effects and the all-you-can-eat CGI buffet. Where Abrams seemed to be looking firmly backwards to the Original Trilogy, Johnson appears to look both ways: to the old and the new, keeping the best of the classics while moving ahead at full steam.

Perhaps the most trivial but telling sign of that attitude is the almost total abandonment of classic Star Wars wipe transitions, here at the franchise’s lowest in a numbered episode – Rogue One dispensed with them entirely, along with the traditional opening crawl. This mixture of old and new breathes through every single one of the film’s structural elements, carrying forward Abrams’s work especially when it comes to the use of practical sets and – were possible – practical effects. One scene in particular – I won’t say anything more, it’s absurdly good – is actually pretty shocking in how much it serves as a defiant middle finger to Lucas’s CGI overdose in the Prequel Trilogy.

Okay, well, maybe not a middle finger per se, but certainly a conscious effort to fix what hadn’t been done so greatly before: an effort which Johnson actually delivers towards Abrams’s treatment of characters as well, retroactively making a couple of The Force Awakens’s weakest aspects more interesting for fans. There definitely is a certain desire to be in charge reflected here, culminating in the fact that The Last Jedi, long and story-packed as it is, feels more like two episodes in one... or one and a half, at worst. In a way, it’s as if this film wanted to be its own end to the trilogy, tying things up in such a way as to render future developments irrelevant to Episode VIII’s narrative.

And if you ask me? That’s a good thing. Will the next Star Wars be just an Ewok-filled appendix to a spectacular second chapter, or will it actually surprise us all with an explosive epilogue once Abrams hits us with Episode IX: Return of the J.J.? As far as I’m concerned, that not longer matters: the Sequel Trilogy has already delivered, and delivered in spades.

But I’ve kept you waiting long enough. What about the cast? Well, I’m happy to report that Daisy Ridley is a lot more convincing – and noticeably at ease – in her role as Rey than the first time around. John Boyega’s Finn is entertaining as ever, and Oscar Isaac’s Poe finally gets a lot to do in this new instalment, which is great because that man deserves a leading role in a franchise all his own. Everyone else does great in their respective roles – keep an eye out for Laura Dern in an especially hard-to-forget new addition to the saga – and both Adam Driver and motion-capture veteran Andy Serkis rise to new heights of villainy, finally freeing the Sequels from the gaping void left by Vader.

It’s the returning cast, however, that truly allows The Last Jedi to shine. I couldn’t have dreamed of a better return to major-league acting for Mark Hamill, nor of a better return to pop-culture prominence for Luke Skywalker, a legend reinvented for a whole new generation of adoring fans. Yet for all that Episode VIII devotes so much time and love to the aging Jedi Master, it finds enough in its story not to leave Carrie Fisher’s beloved Princess behind. Leia is perhaps the biggest surprise in Johnson’s film; if this is how we were fated to see her for one last time... well, what a send-off. What a wonderful send-off.

In a year that already gave us War for the Planet of the Apes and Blade Runner 2049, this is incredibly the most satisfied I’ve been upon exiting a theatre over the past twelve months. Go see The Last Jedi as soon as you can: it’s fun, it’s huge, it’s a new generation-defining classic. It’s warmly nostalgic, yet boldly new. Above all, it’s a work of love of the highest order. It’s the best Star Wars film ever made, even if it can never hope to recreate the groundbreaking impact of The Empire Strikes Back’s small-budget wizardry. If your inner child has been good this year, this is the gift it deserves for the holidays.

[Verdict: EXTREMELY POSITIVE]

[mystupidlittlelife]

Jonathan’s Best Films of 2019

I’m always happy when I can say that a year was a good year for movies, and 2019 was!  I’m also calling 2019 The Year of Better Endings because so many films improved in the second half or in the finale, among them Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood, Jojo Rabbit, Knives Out, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and Booksmart.  Now, to my thoughts...

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was lifeless in the first half but then, after the twists in the middle, I enjoyed the second half, even though the film frustratingly didn’t resolve some notable threads, like John Boyega’s love triangle.  The Irishman, yet another film with a poignant ending, was a good film that should have been a miniseries.  Ford v Ferrari’s final race, another exciting ending, was awesome but the film was by-the-numbers and the coda scenes were odd.  Between Two Ferns: The Movie was pretty funny.  The best thing about Booksmart was Billie Lourd.  I actually mostly enjoyed Murder Mystery, particularly the delightful callback to kill the villain in the, yes, satisfying end.  Wine Country was a complete wash.  Always Be My Maybe started horribly and was underwhelming afterward.  (I’m excluding Spies in Diguise from this post because my name is in the credits.)

THE BEST!

1917

By every metric, 1917 is easily the best film of the year.  I may never need to watch it again, but, still, it’s superb.  See it now.

(The Finale of) Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood

I love Tarantino.  I’ve disliked some of his films and I haven’t loved every second of the ones that I do love, but, overall, he’s terrific and a master.  However, for the first two hours of Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood I was rolling my eyes.  The film was long, tedious, indulgent, and it desperately needed an editor.  I wrote off the film relatively quickly and I instead tended to my more enjoyably indulgent Alamo Drafthouse Cinema dinner.  As the film neared the end, though, I remembered that, right, Tarantino would eventually address the murders and I genuinely wondered how exactly he would.

How he did was the most exhilarating cinema that I saw this year.  I realized two things during that finale: that the whole film, tedious as it was, was one of those wonderful cinematic magic tricks where everything was setup and also that Brad Pitt and his character were absolutely fantastic and heartbreaking.  So I may just need to rewatch those first two hours someday to enjoy that ending again.  Damn it.

Marriage Story

Marriage Story is the anomaly in The Year of Better Endings.  This film started fantastically and then it generally cruised at a good level until the end, which was nice.  I’m not sure why everyone is raving about Laura Dern’s performance.  It’s fine and I still love her best in Blue Velvet, in which she’s sterling.  Adam Driver, though, is our finest young actor.

Jojo Rabbit

This film was pretty funny and mostly charming from the start.  Some of the setup and start of the second act could have been streamlined and a little more directional than they were.  After a while, I decided that I would ultimately like the film okay.  However, from the moment where Jojo hugs his mother’s dangling feet, the film really coalesced and I liked it immensely.  Sam Rockwell’s character was lovely and I’m predicting that Scarlett Johansson wins the Oscar for her supporting role over Laura Dern.

Knives Out

Knives Out was clunky in the beginning.  Then, the film slowly and gradually clicked.  Knives Out ultimately worked because the climax satisfied and Ana de Armas, who was great in Bladerunner 2049, was dynamite.

Bombshell

Bombshell was super entertaining and a few of the scenes were super moving.  For what more could you ask?

Away

Away is an independent animated film that you’ve neither seen nor heard of, but you should watch it because it’s super.  Here.  I’ll help you.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Parasite

Parasite is a lot like...

Joker

...in that I respected both of these films but I just didn’t connect with them.  Thus, they’re not listed among my favorites.  Parasite is masterfully directed, shot, and acted.  Joker is the same -- Joaquin undoubtedly deserves the Oscar -- and I liked Joker’s only actually clear message, which was its sympathy for the mentally ill and how our society does not care for them.  I also dug the unresolved hint about Joker’s relationship to Bruce Wayne.

The Aeronauts

This film’s aerial scenes were so palm-sweating-ly suspenseful that they carried literally everything else about the film.  See this movie just for that aspect because those scenes are amazing.

DISHONORABLE MENTION

Long Shot

The trailer for this film excited me so much.  Then, I saw the film.  In the first few minutes, I knew that Long Shot was bad.  The first half was terrible and the film improved only marginally in the second half.  (Hey, The Year of Better Endings, I guess?)  Overall, the film was horrendously shot, edited, and directed.

THE WORST!

Frozn II

Literally worthless.

Abominable

Though only a scintilla better than my above worst-film-of-the-year, Abominable was also atrocious and brainless.  The worst storytelling by a marathon that I saw all year was in studio animated films (Away was an independent animated film) that were products of the worst kind of storytelling incompetence: incompetence that doesn’t know that it’s incompetent.  (Actually, the creatives behind the wintry billion-dollar-dud maybe seemed to know that they were making something worthless.)  Is this criticism maliciously harsh?  No, because the writers and directors earn ungodly paychecks for their embarrassing bumbling, and when you watch a film like 1917, a paragon of filmmaking and storytelling ability, you realize that you the viewer deserve two hours of a least basic competence.

[allison221b]

I just saw a post about why the new Star Wars canon (particularly in The Force Awakens) does not align with the original trilogy and its characters. (I’m curious what their thoughts are about Rogue One, but that’s another post for another time)

and part of me gets it; I do struggle with accepting new characters and not constantly seeing the old, beloved characters and their story because I love the original trilogy so, so much.

but here’s a few things I want to say:

sometimes life doesn’t pan out the way we think. For our characters, for everything to have turned out perfect, and to not have conflict in TFA wouldn’t have made a good story.

Moreover, we DID see quite a bit of Han and Leia in TFA. Yes, it’s sad they aren’t together, and of course I would’ve changed that. But I’m grateful that they weren’t at each other’s throats. Ben’s problems (which were contributed to by Snoke) were one reason his parents broke up (not his fault at all, but it is a factor). We never knew what either one would be like as parents, and I’m guessing that parenthood can bring out the good and the flaws in you.

Also, they both interacted with the new characters; a passing of the torch, if you will.

we don’t know the whole story of why Luke left. There is so much we don’t know.

but after many were disappointed with the prequels (not everyone, like me for instance who recognizes the flaws, but ultimately loves them still), there needed to be better Star Wars movies in the world.

I know it’s hard; I know that it’s not perfect. We barely saw Luke, a much loved character. Regarding new people, we didn’t see much of the much hyped Captain Phasma either.

Furthermore, I think John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver, and the rest, are phenomenal actors, and will successfully bring the next movies to life.

I thought TFA was pretty wonderful. and I have faith that Rian Johnson (and the rest of the crew), will make us a new, amazing trilogy.

thank you and goodnight.

[justjimedits]

“B-B-B-BUT self proclaimed star & leader of his own show Tyler Posey has been abused and harassed by ungrateful critics and Teen Wolf fans for years!”

https://princeescaluswords.tumblr.com/post/190145319975/john-boyega-didnt-say-anything-that-daisey#notes

https://bigskydreaming.tumblr.com/post/190145271981/john-boyega-didnt-say-anything-that-daisey#notes

Anonymous: “John Boyega didn’t say anything that Daisey Ridley or Adam Driver didn’t say about Reylo…which mirrors when Tyler Hoechlin and Dylan O'Brien said negative things about Sterek” You know the difference? Daisy’s and Adam’s characters are part of the ship. Dylan’s and Hoechlin’s characters are part of the ship. They have right to criticize their own ships. But John and Tyler Posey had nothing to do with Reylo and Sterek. Nothing. So their opinion of THE OTHER ACTORS’ ships don’t matter.

@thehollowprince:

I would live to love in whatever little fantasy world you seem to live in where it’s that simple.

For years, we watched as fans harassed Tyler Posey (and the entire cast) about Sterek. Interviews and cons and tweets: “What about Sterek? Is Sterek gonna be canon? How does Scott feel about Sterek? Is Scott jealous of Stiles and Derek?” Over and over and over again until Tyler Posey said the very simple “if you’re watching for that (Sterek), you’re watching for the wrong reasons.” He didn’t say anything disparaging about the crack ship (because that’s what it was). He didn’t slander either Hoechlin or O'Brien (or their characters) he just said something that indicated he was both tired of be asked that question (something that didn’t involve his character at all) and an indication that it wasn’t going to happen on the show.

And for that, we also watched as he was sent death threats and horrible remarks about his mother as she battle cancer and died, all because he didn’t cow tail to a bunch of rabid shippers who had nothing better to do than harass an actor over a crack ship.

@bigskydreaming:

You guys can’t say these ships have nothing to do with them when you’re the ones who insisted on making them have something to do with ships that didn’t even involve them.

They both - and countless other actors of color - tried to stay away from your bullshit ships and just do their own thing.

YOU WOULDN’T LET THEM.

So guess what?

When you consistently, repeatedly, rabidly make people who want to take pride in their own work, talk about their own characters, their own ships, talk 24/7 about ships that have absolutely nothing to do with them or their characters….. eventually, they get fed up! And that’s even without the constant harassment they’re bombarded with under the flimsiest of excuses.

And lol, if ‘their opinions don’t matter’ because it doesn’t involve them then why would any of you care at all what they said about your beloved ships in the first place?

Own the fact that your shit stinks, it doesn’t follow any consistent logic because its not based in logic, its based in racism.

@princeescaluswords:

To be more specific, Tyler Posey’s quote came the week after Riddled (3x18) premiered, one of the most powerful episodes in the series. This episode focused on Stiles’ relationship with his father and Stiles’ relationship with Lydia and, most of important of all, Stiles’ relationship with Scott McCall. People talk about the scene in the MRI room in that episode all the time. People talk about Dylan O’Brien’s amazing acting in that episode all the time.

Yet, the question Tyler Posey was asked was about Stiles and Derek’s romance, a pair of characters who hadn’t had a scene together all that season.

Yeah, that’s weird. Tyler Posey wasn’t asked this question by an over-excited fan, but by a professional interviewer. That interviewer either didn’t know what he was talking about or didn’t care.

Yeah, that’s bizarre. It was like asking John Boyega about Dameron Poe’s romantic intentions toward Kylo Ren.

Yeah, that’s twisted. This ship had dominated, was dominating, and continues to dominate the fandom, but – and this display the absolute lack of empathy on the part of fandom – it was never part of the show.

Ship Sterek all you want. Ship it well, ship it poorly, have it inscribed on your grave. But if you can’t tell how annoyed a professional actor might be to find out that a number of viewers have fixated on something that didn’t exist, then I think you were watching for the wrong reasons.

~•~

Antis’ blatant lies and infamous racism aside, (trying to compare talented A-list actor who respects women John Boyega to talentless D-list celebrity who uses the racist “hood rats” slur on social media and violates women’s privacy, boundaries and consent just for shits and giggles Tyler Posey, really? That’s a huge disservice to Boyega as a man and as a professional actor)

Ever noticed that both Tyler Posey/Scott McCall and his stans are literally OBSESSED with Dylan O’Brien/Stiles Stilinski & Tyler Hoechlin/Derek Hale and have the creepy habit of speaking on other people’s behalf in an attempt to validate their own pathological jealousy, entitlement and self-important temper tantrums? ________________________________________________________________ I’ve said before that I don’t like to go behind the scenes of Teen Wolf, that I prefer to discuss the story and not the actors. Because we don’t know them, we know them through Social Media, which can be manipulated and changed so often that it’s no longer the truth. It’s why I won’t blacklist TP, I don’t like to speculate on things I don’t know anything about.  What I do know, I’ve watched the interview, is that he said more than the Hollow prince claims he said. His exact words were: “I think that Sterek is a bizarre, weird, twisted thing. And I think that anyone who pays more attention to Sterek than the show isn't watching the show for the right reasons. And that's all I have to say about that.” It wasn’t smart to say. He had every reason to dislike a ship made by fans but to call them out on it, his own fans, and make them feel ashamed about it, was the wrong thing. The guy was barely an adult though and I think people forget teens of that particular generation are just like most teens on Tumblr. Self absorbed, quick to be triggered, quick to kick something down hard. If I see the questions actors are asked on comic cons, like Supernatural and pretty much all Fandoms, I often wonder where the respect is. TP shouldn’t have been asked about Sterek repeatedly, nobody should have been so insistent and TP shouldn’t have said what he said.  It was in season 3, so it’s been many years ago. Let it go. Would you like it if you’d be constantly blamed for a mistake you made when you were a stupid kid just because the evidence is there?

[ramialkarmi]

'The Last Jedi' is a super-sized 'Star Wars' movie that will make you laugh and cry

"The Last Jedi" is a powerful "Star Wars" movie because it breaks all the usual sequel rules.

Writer-director Rian Johnson has created a story that is worthy of the saga, but also has the feel of a powerful standalone movie.

If you are wondering why director Rian Johnson has been handed the keys to the “Star Wars” franchise, and been allowed to create a whole new trilogy, look no further than what he’s accomplished in “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.”

After J.J. Abrams helmed the first “Star Wars” movie beyond "Return of the Jedi" 32 years ago with 2015's “Episode VII: The Force Awakens” — an entry that featured new characters but also included many familiar hallmarks from the original three movies — Johnson has essentially delivered a sequel that forges a new path in the “Star Wars” saga, as it extends the mythology without using the original three as a crutch.

“The Last Jedi” (opening in theaters on Friday) breaks the usual rules sequels live by. Put simply: It doesn't just take the things the audience loves about the previous movies and amplify them.

Unfortunately, going into detail on how “The Last Jedi” breaks these rules would divulge things about the movie that would spoil it for you, but what I will say is that all the fan theories that sprung from “The Force Awakens” mean very little.

Johnson, who also wrote the screenplay, proves there are greater things to explore — more complex and fascinating subplots. And to get to those he gives us a movie with the kind of moments you usually never see in the second film of a trilogy.

Adam Driver's multi-layered performance as Kylo Ren is a highlight of the movie

We left off in “The Force Awakens” with the Resistance destroying the First Order’s Starkiller Base and Rey (Daisy Ridley) going off to track down Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). At the start of “The Last Jedi,” Rey is still on the island Skywalker has purposely used to hide from the universe, and the First Order has tracked down the Resistance and is looking to wipe them out.

This is the foundation of “The Last Jedi,” as both settings are where we stay for most of the movie. But thanks to multiple characters we care about and a surprising amount of lightheartedness, the 2.5-hour running time never gets boring or stagnant.

We follow Rey delving deeper into the power of the force, under the reluctant guidance of Skywalker. Poe (Oscar Isaac) and General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) are together for most of the movie, with the legendary Resistance leader trying to make the talented fighter pilot understand the difference between heroism and leadership. Finn (John Boyega) finds a new girl to go on adventures with, Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran). But out of the new crop of characters, the most fascinating is Kylo Ren (Adam Driver).

Ren is still trying to prove to Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) that he can be as evil as Darth Vader. But more importantly, Johnson further explores the mysterious connection Ren has with Rey. This is done using a heightened way of the force that has never been fully fleshed out in the saga before.

The complexities, anger, and manipulation that Driver gives Ren are a major highlight of the movie. It’s far from the only thing that’s impressive, but it’s just refreshing to see a fleshed out villain in this era of blockbusters and superhero movies where the bad guy character feels hastily put together.

Mark Hamill gives Luke Skywalker an aging samurai feel

Hamill’s return as Skywalker does not disappoint, either. The master Jedi has tried to block himself entirely from the legendary life he once lived, and the tipping point was Skywalker's failure to train Ren (aka Ben Solo). This is explained to Rey by both Skywalker and Ren, with Johnson cleverly using a “Rashomon”-like storytelling style to do it.

And this isn’t the only time in the movie when Johnson uses the feel of classic Asian cinema to influence his storytelling. The sections that involve Skywalker’s story have the feel of old samurai movies, with Luke as the elderly teacher who has nothing left in his life but the past, and the knowledge of his craft, neither of which he wants anymore. Johnson also shows this visually with a striking shot of Skywalker’s X-Wing resting at the bottom of the shallow water by the cliffs where he lives.

That's another thing "The Last Jedi" has a lot of: beautiful wide lens shots.

Another great part of “The Last Jedi” is that Johnson pulls off the difficult task of giving solid screen time to the ensemble, and including the new characters. Rose Tico is a spark plug of energy. Benicio Del Toro was born to be in a “Star Wars” movie, and he pulls off another unique speaking style for his role as the code breaker, DJ. And Laura Dern as Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo has one of the biggest WOW! moments in the movie.

Yes, and the Porgs are fantastic!

Then there’s Leia. “The Last Jedi” marks the final performance in the iconic career of Carrie Fisher. She gets a good amount of screen time, including one scene that will certainly spark some major internet chatter.

If there’s one knock I have on the film it’s that, once again, Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie) is given very little screen time. Guess we can only hope that will be rectified in “Episode IX.”

It certainly looks like Disney/Lucasfilm has found the filmmaker who it can use to extend the saga beyond just rehashing the greatness of the original three movies.

That’s perhaps the best part of “The Last Jedi.” Johnson has made something that isn’t just a worthy addition to one of the most fan obsessed franchises ever, but is also a powerful standalone story.

A rare feat for any sequel.

SEE ALSO: After burning out writing blockbuster rom-coms, this screenwriter reinvented himself by tracking down infamous figure skater Tonya Harding

Join the conversation about this story »

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[ramialkarmi]

'The Last Jedi' is an emotionally powerful 'Star Wars' movie because it breaks all the usual sequel rules

"The Last Jedi" is a super-sized "Star Wars" movie that will make you laugh and cry.

Writer-director Rian Johnson has created a story that is worthy of the saga, but also has the feel of a powerful standalone movie.

If you are wondering why director Rian Johnson has been handed the keys to the “Star Wars” franchise, and been allowed to create a whole new trilogy, look no further than what he’s accomplished in “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.”

After J.J. Abrams helmed the first “Star Wars” movie in 32 years with “Episode VII: The Force Awakens” — an entry that featured new characters but also included many familiar hallmarks from the original three movies — Johnson has essentially delivered a sequel that forges a new path in the “Star Wars” saga, as it extends the mythology without using the original three as a crutch.

“The Last Jedi” (opening in theaters on Friday) breaks the usual rules sequels live by. Put simply: It doesn't just take the things the audience loves about the previous movies and amplify them.

Unfortunately, going into detail on how “The Last Jedi” breaks these rules would divulge things about the movie that would spoil it for you, but what I will say is that all the fan theories that sprung from “The Force Awakens” mean very little.

Johnson, who also wrote the screenplay, proves there are greater things to explore — more complex and fascinating subplots. And to get to those he gives us a movie with the kind of moments you usually never see in the second film of a trilogy.

Adam Driver's multi-layered performance as Kylo Ren is a highlight of the movie

We left off in “The Force Awakens” with the Resistance destroying the First Order’s Starkiller Base and Rey (Daisy Ridley) going off to track down Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). At the start of “The Last Jedi,” Rey is still on the island Skywalker has purposely used to hide from the universe, and the First Order has tracked down the Resistance and is looking to wipe them out.

This is the foundation of “The Last Jedi,” as both settings are where we stay for most of the movie. But thanks to multiple characters we care about and a surprising amount of lightheartedness, the 2.5-hour running time never gets boring or stagnant.

We follow Rey delving deeper into the power of the force, under the reluctant guidance of Skywalker. Poe (Oscar Isaac) and General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) are together for most of the movie, with the legendary Resistance leader trying to make the talented fighter pilot understand the difference between heroism and leadership. Finn (John Boyega) finds a new girl to go on adventures with, Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran). But out of the new crop of characters, the most fascinating is Kylo Ren (Adam Driver).

Ren is still trying to prove to Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) that he can be as evil as Darth Vader. But more importantly, Johnson further explores the mysterious connection Ren has with Rey. This is done using a heightened way of the force that has never been fully fleshed out in the saga before.

The complexities, anger, and manipulation that Driver gives Ren are a major highlight of the movie. It’s far from the only thing that’s impressive, but it’s just refreshing to see a fleshed out villain in this era of blockbusters and superhero movies where the bad guy character feels hastily put together.

Mark Hamill gives Luke Skywalker an aging samurai feel

Hamill’s return as Skywalker does not disappoint, either. The master Jedi has tried to block himself entirely from the legendary life he once lived, and the tipping point was Skywalker's failure to train Ren (aka Ben Solo). This is explained to Rey by both Skywalker and Ren, with Johnson cleverly using a “Rashomon”-like storytelling style to do it.

And this isn’t the only time in the movie when Johnson uses the feel of classic Asian cinema to influence his storytelling. The sections that involve Skywalker’s story have the feel of old samurai movies, with Luke as the elderly teacher who has nothing left in his life but the past, and the knowledge of his craft, neither of which he wants anymore. Johnson also shows this visually with a striking shot of Skywalker’s X-Wing resting at the bottom of the shallow water by the cliffs where he lives.

That's another thing "The Last Jedi" has a lot of: beautiful wide lens shots.

Another great part of “The Last Jedi” is that Johnson pulls off the difficult task of giving solid screen time to the ensemble, and including the new characters. Rose Tico is a spark plug of energy. Benicio Del Toro was born to be in a “Star Wars” movie, and he pulls off another unique speaking style for his role as the code breaker, DJ. And Laura Dern as Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo has one of the biggest WOW! moments in the movie.

Yes, and the Porgs are fantastic!

Then there’s Leia. “The Last Jedi” marks the final performance in the iconic career of Carrie Fisher. She gets a good amount of screen time, including one scene that will certainly spark some major internet chatter.

If there’s one knock I have on the film it’s that, once again, Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie) is given very little screen time. Guess we can only hope that will be rectified in “Episode IX.”

It certainly looks like Disney/Lucasfilm has found the filmmaker who it can use to extend the saga beyond just rehashing the greatness of the original three movies.

That’s perhaps the best part of “The Last Jedi.” Johnson has made something that isn’t just a worthy addition to one of the most fan obsessed franchises ever, but is also a powerful standalone story.

A rare feat for any sequel.

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