I’ve just seen it.
Hoo boy, what a mess. I can think of things I liked about the film, but for every one thing I can think of that I liked, about three other things I didn’t like supersedes it - the weird editing, the bizarre pacing, the cheesy dialogue, etc. There’s bits of this film that I guess kind of work in isolation, but in the context of everything else that’s going on, they end up falling flat. At least we didn’t have to pay for the tickets (we got them using a gift voucher someone gave us).
I will say it feels like JJ sincerely tried to make something that would make people happy, and I’ll grant him a little respect for that, but that’s as generous as I get. I’m not angry, I’m not even disappointed, I just feel cold.
I don’t have much to say about this that hasn’t been said already. When the Disney sale went ahead, I basically took the attitude that even if the films were bad, it would just be the latest nail in a big pile of nails that used to be the
Star Wars coffin, and I still stand by that now. I know Prequel Trilogy and George Lucas apologia is the in thing right now, but personally I don’t think he would’ve done a significantly better job had he kept hold of the franchise. The Original Trilogy is still a timeless masterpiece, so I think the best thing to do is just move on, remember the good times and wait for the Plinkett review (I have the Half in the Bag review cued up for my next car journey - can’t wait!).
Actually, since a few people have been asking me about it, I’ll address
that question. Yes, this film was spookily similar to Rufus’s
Episode IX script. I said in an earlier post that I don’t know if it’s the case that Rufus read the leaks and hypocritically decided to “borrow” some material, or it was just a coincidence. On reflection, I think the latter is slightly more likely since Rufus was specifically ripping off
Endgame and other random films with his script, which is hilarious because it means Disney’s finest are on par with a mentally unstable manchild, and said mentally unstable manchild can’t produce a
Star Wars story any better than the people he hates. Everybody loses!
The parallels were downright unnerving at times though. I almost laughed out loud when Palpatine said “I am all of the Sith”, only for Rey to respond “And I am all of the Jedi”, strike him down, die, then get resurrected. I half-expected Spandau Ballet to start playing at that point. That’s not even to mention the other parallels - Death Star Destroyers, Scavenger Hunt plot, Force resurrection, a golden lightsaber, Boba Fett-style chick, a ship getting blown up by having its own weapon turned on it during the final battle while the commander watches helplessly from the bridge, an ending at the Lars homestead on Tatooine, the list goes on.
0/10. No Spandau Ballet during the lightsaber duels and no Oedipal slave Leia bikini sex scene. Booooo!
Incidentally, if you’re wondering what the fuck I’ve been rambling on about for the last few paragraphs, here’s
some context.