The Last Jedi: Our Reviews and Reactions

Piper Maru wrote:I actually loved the first Reylo scene, when they first discover the bond. It's hilarious and simultaneously cute.

They run around like two lovers playing in period-pieces.

nonesuch wrote:I adored the movie and feel ready to write up my thoughts on it at greater length now. I'm saddened that so many people here were disappointed, but I loved it. It was unexpected but in all the best ways.

Rey and Kylo are the beating heart of The Last Jedi, and their mutual journey is the main through-line throughout the film. They are bound together through the Force, and their early scenes together are all about how they negotiate this and are forced to confront each other as people rather than enemies. They come closer and closer through scenes that are brimming over with intimacy, tension and tenderness, their encounters culminating with a lovely tableau where they extend their hands to touch each other. This is a moment of profound vulnerability and sensuality - Kylo deliberately removes his glove so they can touch skin-to-skin, and they gaze directly into each other’s eyes with the firelight between them, oblivious to everything except each other. It’s framed something like a pre-Raphaelite painting of forbidden lovers touching for the first time, and it is intensely romantic and beautiful. Later, we learn that this is the moment when they both had visions of a future together - Rey saw Ben returning to the light with her help, and Kylo saw Rey coming to his side to join him. These visions inform most of their subsequent behaviour and give them purpose.

Luke, still filled with fear and afraid of allowing Rey to slip into darkness, bursts in and stops them by exploding the hut where the would-be lovers are connecting (a parody version where Luke comes in screaming “NO SEXY TIMES IN MY HUT!” is surely incoming). Rey, however, has been swayed by her interactions with Kylo and her new appreciation of his origins - she considers him wronged in the worst possible way by the uncle who was meant to be guiding and caring for him, having had the truth of Ben’s turn to the dark side revealed to her by Kylo. Convinced that there is still hope for Ben, Rey leaves the island to go to him in the hope of turning him and bringing him to the side of the Resistance. Kylo, however, seems to betray her and takes her to Snoke. Snoke proceeds to torture Rey and is puffed up with pride over his apprentice’s achievement - he orders Kylo to murder Rey, reading his thoughts and revelling in Kylo’s new resolve. But Snoke, in a stunning moment, is actually reading Kylo’s resolve to murder him, not Rey, and is sliced in half by the sudden ignition of a craftily turned lightsaber.

Rey and Kylo fight Snoke’s Praetorian guards together in a gorgeous, virtuous fight scene that is easily the greatest setpiece in the film - they are completely in sync to the point that they fight back to back, with Rey leaning to rest against Kylo’s back in order to better launch an attack. It is a fight scene founded on their innate connection and trust in one another, and it is their high point together - it embodies everything they can achieve when they are at their best.

It has taken a while for me to get here, but this is the point at which failure comes into it. At the end of the fight, Rey appeals to Ben to stop the attack on the Resistance fleet. He refuses and reveals his ambition to rule the galaxy as the new Supreme Leader - he interpreted his vision of the future as proof that he was destined to rule with Rey besides him, and appeals to her to join him. Kylo makes the offer with desperate sincerity and longing, and clearly sees no evil in his dream - instead, he envisages a future where he and Rey will rule side-by-side to give order to a chaotic galaxy torn apart by factionalism and warfare. He considers it a question of destiny and responsibility - the most apt use for their remarkable and unique power. He tries to appeal to Rey by highlighting the awful truth of her background - in particular, her abandonment by uncaring and drunken parents - and telling her how important she is to him.

But Rey, of course, is horrified. She realises that killing Snoke did not restore Ben Solo, and that going to him was not enough to trigger the change. She reaches for the Skywalker saber - which she had passed to Ben in the battle - and she and Kylo battle for it through the Force, straining for control until the moment the saber breaks in two, exploding into a dazzling blast of light that knocks them both unconscious.

For Rey, Kylo’s offer to her represents the fact that she has failed - but there is also a lesson in it. She fails to bring Ben Solo back but the lesson is that he must be left to find a way forward alone - at least for now. She recognises the sincerity of his feelings and the conflict that stirs within him, but cannot share in his dream for two of them. She flees The Supremacy while Kylo is still unconscious, re-joining the Resistance and taking up the mantle of the last Jedi, inspired by Luke’s teachings and her own experiences with the Force. In a magical moment that embodies what Rey stands to become, she lifts the rocks that block the exit from the cave complex that the few surviving members of the Resistance were using to escape. They behold her as if she’s a miracle. By the end of the film, Rey has new resolve and confidence in her ability to represent hope for the galaxy and continue to propagate the light side of the Force. She may be a nobody born to scavengers from Jakku callous enough to sell their own child for drinking money, but the humble nature of her birth makes her a greater inspiration and heightens her achievements.

Kylo’s failure, naturally, has a different form. For him, the failure lies in the loss of Rey. He awakens to find her gone and is furious, immediately charging into what he wants to be a final battle against the Resistance. He is determined to destroy anything and everything that reminds him of his past - the weakness he had earlier told Rey to “kill” if she had to - and goes about in a chaotic and senseless fashion. Hux attempts to reign in his more outrageous and childish tactics, but Kylo is rendered stupid and short-sighted by his blind rage - when he sees the Falcon, he screams for “that piece of junk” to be blasted out of the sky. When he sees Luke, he orders every gun to fire on him before finally going out to face his uncle himself. When he fights Luke, he fights sloppily and in anger, intensely frustrated by his uncle’s ability to evade his blows. He ultimately realises that Luke is nothing but a projection, a distraction that worked all too well and allowed the Resistance the time they needed to escape. While Rey ends the film on a note of achievement, purpose and belonging, Kylo ends it solitary and acutely aware that he hasn’t got what he craved - he may be the de facto Supreme Leader of the galaxy, but it’s a hollow title and a hollow victory. The dice from the Falcon - which Luke had projected across the galaxy with him - vanish from his fingers, and he has to look up in despair as Rey gazes down at him sternly and closes the door on their connection. There is a lesson for Kylo in this - IX will be where we see what he takes from it.

Little_Boots wrote:Shirtless Kylo!!! Caution wet floor hehehe

rawpowah wrote:The Luke vs Kylo faceoff was great, but damn did it hit me just how little Ben's family cared for him in that moment. Could have done with less Poe. BB8 scenes were pure fanservice and ridiculous at times, but I can't hate lmao.

[...]

Long live the Renperor!

KrazyForKylo wrote:After all the spoilers, anxiety, back and forth here and elsewhere, I feared I might hate TLJ... I’m glad to say I loved it, all of it.

To say Renperor wasn’t a favourite theory of mine is an understatement, although I’ve read a few good Reylo fanfics with Emperor/Supreme Leader Kylo. I’m still not crazy about it but I’m OK with what happened in TLJ because it was a case of ‘careful what you wish for’ for Kylo. Nothing about his situation in the latter part of the film suggested he had found his true calling or that the conflict inside him was gone/resolved. Also, I LOVE Kylo and Hux together, not in a Kylux way but the way they hate each other so much. Hux is so gonna stage (or at least attempt) a coup against Supreme Leader Ren, and I can’t wait!

I loved the Resistance plot, Leia was magnificent (so sad Carrie isn’t here to enjoy all the acclaim from TLJ). I LOVED Finn and Rose together. Their scenes were some of my favourites in the whole movie. Holdo And DJ weren’t much more than cameos but I liked them both. I’m sad Holdo died and I do think she helped teach Poe a vital lesson in leadership.

I strongly disagree with criticisms that the main characters didn’t evolve at all in TLJ, I saw progression in Poe, Finn and Rey. It’s more complex with Kylo/Ben but he didn’t exactly end where he started. If Luke makes good his threat to haunt him and his force bond with Rey is still open, maybe he won’t be left with only Vader’s helmet for company. Plus, there’s potentially The Knights of Ren in Ep IX. If he’s known them since Luke’s Jedi training days, there must be some kinship there.

I really love Luke in TLJ. The journey he takes is just wonderful. Star Wars always boils the mystical (and the influences from eastern philosophy and such) down to its essentials. Some of Luke and Rey moments, and the lovely and funny scene with Luke and Yoda, reminded me of stories I’ve read in books about Zen Buddhism. The teachers pass on their lessons in ways the student doesn’t expect, and I think Rian captured that simply and effectively in TLJ. The deep stuff was there but most people don’t look past the surface anyway. As with Zen or the force (or anything spiritual) it’s not about seeking wisdom in dusty old books, it’s about embodying it. You don’t think you become. Luke was able to let go of the fear, anger, guilt, everything that had been weighing him down from the past, and entirely give himself over to the force. The Jedi are free to forge a new path now with Rey.

I liked some of the Rey and Kylo scenes more than others and wasn’t as wowed by the Throne Room scene as some have been, but I thought Rian did a good job of getting Reylo to a place where more people would at least see the potential, if nothing else.

I didn’t personally see FinnRey just two people with deep friendship reuniting. I didn’t see Damerey either, just two people saying hello with a respect behind it for who they are. It won’t stop shipping speculation and there’s no reason why it should. Rey and Kylo have clearly been positioned as potential lovers with connection and destiny, however it eventually plays out in Ep IX.

There is so much more I could say, but I’ll let it settle a bit and I’m seeing it again on Monday.

Anakin Skywalker wrote:I think it was perfect!

Reylo + RenPeror! all I wanted!

plz someone tall me where can I find those videos from movie, which thread? I cant go to sleep without watching scenes again,

Videos:

Atenais wrote:Yes, I needed to see some videos too, and I saw some on Tumblr, but looks like they are being taken down. Let me see if I find some...

Videos:

Piper Maru wrote:Watched it again. I really admire all of you who saw something inherently beautiful and poetic about this film. To me, this movie is one of the following:

a) A terrible movie with terrible cuts edited last minute.

b) A movie "deliberately" meant to be "bad", make fun of fandom (while offending everyone at the same time) and invoke tropes, giving the sense of parody/meta but failing in providing any conclusion of its thousands of deconstructions.

The first thing I noticed is that this movie has no arcs and is an "inverse" of all the Star Wars movies. You have the same scenes played almost straight but in complete opposite minutes/themes. Rey disappears and reappears in the third act just like Poe in TFA, Poe and Rey meet just like Finn and Rey in TFA, Kylo pulls a ROTS-Anakin and AOTC-Anakin and TPM-Anakin simultaneously (a revenge machine, a lover, a lonely child). It all sounds fine and poetic on paper, but on screen it's a complete mess. Why? Because it doesn't really go anywhere and what was probably a funny commentary of the fandom habit of applying the Ring Theory, becomes... nothing.

There's also a lot of inappropriate jokes. Like. A lot. This movie is really dirty (or my mind is).

There seems to be a whole lot of "bad guys do good stuff", "good guys can be bad" poetic dialogue that doesn't match the tone of the movie at all. This movie, to me, was bordering on Black and Black Morality. I constantly felt like I was a child being chastised by my old grandpa, and the "heart of the story" (Rey and Kylo), are too. Is it deliberate? Who the hell knows.

The movie always feels the need to wax poetics about the "Light" and the "Resistance" while simultaneously making them absolutely dumb/pointless on screen. The Resistance (or Rebellion) is basically a bunch of people with zero resources who fight because... it's right. It's time for the Jedi to end but also not because Kylo Ren is evil but he can be turned but not because he is evil but not so because his Uncle Jedi tried to killed him and when he tried to kill the Jedi order a Jedi projected himself through a hologram and basically said the equivalent of "f**** you" on screen. Is it deliberate? It doesn't even matter.

There's also an overtly "biblical" tone all over the story. Everything feels rigid and controlled. People are idolized for being martyrs for no good reason (Resistence), punished for being weak (Kylo), poor (Rey)  or villified for giving in to passion (Reylo). Like, I'm alright with moral lessons, but when they don't get anywhere and the characters just screw up because the plot said so... I don't know what you're trying to do.

Luke literally beats Rey while she's training, Poe screams to Holdo and undermines her authority, Finn acts like a complete jerkass sometimes.. but Kylo, the tender guy who saves the girl is the SNAAAAAKE - when you think he's decent, he says you're literally garbage. Oh. Okay, you're trying to subvert some Nice Guys Finish Last cliché, right? No, you're not, because it doesn't really go anywhere. Oh, you're also trying to imply that women should be stronger. Except that by the end, Rey still is trying to save everyone but herself, she cries all the time, Holdo kills herself for the greater good (that nobody knows what it is), Rose is a Manic Pixie Dream Girl who likes space horses or whatever because they're captured by the FO etc. Leia? She flies with the Force and suspends all suspension of disbelief in the Galaxy Far Far Away and ours. This kind of EDGY statement for the sake of art/shock/fun/trolling really makes no sense to me and I hated how the female characters were treated on screen. I don't need to be lectured when I'm on the theater and I certainly don't pay 20 bucks for it.

Also, I think this movie openly mocks fandom culture and insults every single faction of the fandom. At the beginning, you think "oh, hahaha, it's a running gag" and then all of a sudden the movie is telling you that your favorite stuffed animal/ship/Snoke theory is garbage and that you're an idiot. And then it leaves it at that and the joke falls flat, because there's nothing more to it. The movie constantly tries to be smarter than its audience and it fails completely.

Maybe the statement of this movie is "stop fighting each other in fandom because Star Wars is about hope and not war and extremes blablablaba" or "this is a proof that there's no way to surprise an audience in SW" or "we tried to manipulate you into the mindset/mood of the character who is the POV - and changes all the time - so you can feel completely hopeless and find a light in Episode IX", but if this was the motivation of this movie, I don't even know what to say.

I may appear salty, but I'm actually laughing out loud. Maybe I'm a a cynic. Maybe I'm going to pull a Kylo Random Roaring Rampage of Revenge for the lulz. Maybe I'm just trolling at this point because everyone else is.

PS: Reylo is canon and it was the most beautiful thing in the movie, because it was the only thing that made sense and people cared about. I don't even remember what happened in 2/3 of the movie because nothing makes sense and the movie tries so hard to be a "critical piece" that critiques absolutely nothing and makes you completely bored.

shii405 wrote:

Atenais wrote:Yes, I needed to see some videos too, and I saw some on Tumblr, but looks like they are being taken down. Let me see if I find some...

Videos:

@Atenais

Thank you so much!! I was looking for this!  

Ahh... the reason he killed Han WAS conversed on the shirtless scene... no wonder I don't remember anything from there

shii405 wrote:

Atenais wrote:Yes, I needed to see some videos too, and I saw some on Tumblr, but looks like they are being taken down. Let me see if I find some...

Videos:

@Atenais

Thank you so much!! I was looking for this!  

Ahh... the reason he killed Han WAS conversed on the shirtless scene... no wonder I don't remember anything from there

Rei of Sunshine wrote:@Atenais beautiful review! Thanks for reminding us of the positive side of this movie. It left me asking a lot of questions, but I agree that the movie answered the important points and didn't linger on them too long, especially the Force. Sometimes I wonder why I and some of us here saw the movie in a negative way, yet the critics are raving so much about it. Then again we did spend 2 years just speculating and discussing indepth. It sorta feels like studying for an exam, reading 20 books cover to cover, but the exam only includes a few chapters.

I guess I'm satisfied by the way it makes me feel so uneasy? Because here's to hoping that Ep 9 resolves all this romantic drama!

motherofpearl1 wrote:Okay....I am playing devils advocate here,but am I the only one who was mad at Rey for reaching for the lightsabre after Kylo made his offer? She could have simply said no, but instead she reaches for the lightsabre! Why oh why didnt she just talk to him!

motherofpearl1 wrote:Okay....I am playing devils advocate here,but am I the only one who was mad at Rey for reaching for the lightsabre after Kylo made his offer? She could have simply said no, but instead she reaches for the  lightsabre! Why oh why didnt she just talk to him!