If you want to be a film maker, you should seriously rethink things. You can try to justify decisions made all you want, this was not a stand alone movie, this was part two of a trilogy and part 8 of a saga. It is also tied to a Cartoon show. So, maybe it could have worked as a stand alone flick, except it wasn't and therefore failed in epic ways.
People say that there are only seven story lines to tell. TLJ failed all seven: Bad romance, bad hero journey/quest, lame comedy, drama-less tragedy, and there was no rebirth/redemption. Did we vanquish the monster? Snoke died so quickly it wasn't much anything. How about Rag to Riches? Well, not in this movie.
So there is a strong element of surprise throughout the move. Clearly Rian Johnson wanted to go for the unexpected. It was surprising but ultimately extremely dissatisfying. The characters went for the least likely option every time, but also the most nonsensical ones. Shock value but at the expense of the story and plot.
So, what are we looking at? The follow-up to the sequel to The Return Of The Jedi. After waiting 25 year for more Luke Skywalker, we are given a erratic quest to find the beloved hero, led by shallow new characters. This only leads to a two year cliffhanger. Frustrating to say the least, but the fans play along.
After two years of waiting, the big prize is a gigantic let down. The shallow characters get even more shallow, the hero is sort of failed trail park Mr Miyagi, drunk on Sea Cow milk. When it comes time to rise to the occasion (rebirth!) there is nothing to be found. A major Hollywood movie with a showdown resolving 25 years of wait and a two year cliffhanger and not Hollywood showdown. Worse, the guy was teleworking it and then dies.
Rey is a quest-less hero (with her little dog Chewie); Finn, the janitor who needs courage, is a purpose-less hero; Kylo, the brat who needs a heart, is aimless; Poe, the leader who needs a brain, as zero leadership or sense. General Hux was reduced to a comic relief puppet (how did he become a general while being so dumb?) ... and then there is Rose, the 3rd rate character that needed 90 seconds of screen time but forgets to leave.
I won't go into the slow chase non-sense, the jeopardizing of the mission to save horses, Leia's multi near-death experiences, and other non-sense.
The very worst of this movie is that it disappointed so many. All that people wanted was a big epic western in space. It did not have to be clever or sophisticated, it could have been mostly predictable as long as the visuals were there. Big laser-sword fights, big space ship battles ... TLJ teased a lot of those things but never delivered them just to "surprise" you. Well, I was surprised alright. Rian Johnson managed the impossible: to put a huge dent in the Golden Goose.
I have very mixed feeling about the Han Solo movie, there is little left of interest for Episode IX. In a perfect world Disney would spend $15 million re-cutting the movie and re-releasing it at Christmas with an apology to the fans (we heard you customers!!) ... but it won't happen. Instead things will wonder into strange directions trying to re-candle a sparked Rian Johnson deliberately squashed. At this point it would take a miracle to bring back the excitement that existed before Episode VIII. Disney is better-off trying to create stories in the old universe (a la Rogue One), this one could have been great but instead is very lame.
~ Them Fuzzy Monsters |