Moon, Stars and Beyond   A Chronicle of Fact, Fiction and Fantasy

Meme, “Terrible Snoke Theories Daily”

WARNING: THERE ARE A FEW SPOILERS HERE. DON’T READ UNLESS YOU WANT TO…

My, my. Whoever thought that a film that takes place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away could generate such controversy?

I’m talking about “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” of course. And if you’ve been paying attention to all of the back-ended reviews, you’ll either see lofty praise or vitriolic rants. Check out Rotten Tomatoes, for example. There you’ll find a 93% critics rating, but a 54% audience disapproval rate. I’ve read quite a few and one thing is certain: many of the Star Warriors want their characters and plots to remain static and predictable. Or incapable of growing and changing. God forbid if you’re a new character added into the plot and worse if you’re a female (that would seem to go for Kathleen Kennedy too, according to one audience reviewer).

I can’t even quote some of the quotes I read from RT, but for simplicity’s sake, here a brief negative review which sums up some of those who went on for thousands of words:

This is not a Star Wars movie. If you are a Star Wars fan who liked the previous movies for their themes and messages, and not simply the explosions and spacecraft, you will not like this movie. Rian Johnson has little or no understanding of, or simply does not care about, what made Star Wars special. This movie was a non-descript space action movie with the depth of a Transformers movie. – One star review, Adam D

And here’s a positive review that sums it all up:

I’m seeing a lot of crybabies on here who’s preconceived notion of what they thought should happen in Star Wars 30+ years ABY was shattered in TLJ. It was a good movie. Without nitpicking every scene it was good and entertaining. The account between the main protagonists Rey and Kylo was on point and Luke was great as well. I agree I was a little bit bagels by the casino scene and was really disappointed that we regressed back to full FYI scenes, but it didn’t ruin the whole movie. The fact that the movie was unpredictable was a good thing. After seeing Snoke’s identity revealed theory videos on my YouTube news feed for the past 2 years, to see him get killed off without explanation was kind of funny to me in a good way. If they came out and said he was Darth Plagues it would have been completely anti climatic. The fact is, this movie has stirred up raw emotions of anger and sadness amongst viewers and that is a good thing. A movie that makes us feel human is good in my book. – Four star view, Nik M

I can’t agree with Nik M’s assessment more, especially the last two highlighted lines.

Of course I saw “The Last Jedi” on opening weekend – I’d never miss it! I totally geeked out at New York Comic Con and visited the amazing exhibition presented there. Been watching trailers and keeping up with theories and more. My take? I loved it. And while I agree the casino scene wasn’t entirely necessary, it didn’t exactly ruin the movie, either. Nor did I mind the mild info dump scenes either – they served as illustrations to the plot. What really grabbed me was the attention to detail that didn’t seem to be present in other SW films. And yes, there was inside humor that either went ignored or unappreciated by the nay-sayers who pooh-poohed this film. My favorite goes something like this:

Luke: You look different…

Leia: Yes. I changed my hair.

Luke: I like it.

(not verbatim, but close enough)

I laughed out loud during that exchange. If you looked closely at Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher, especially their eyes, you’ll catch a twinkle in there, almost as if it were ad libbed.

And if the negative reviewers want to get all bent out of shape over plot details, let them. Why aren’t they complaining over past film plot incredulities such as Leia handling the complete obliteration of her planet with barely a sigh, or Darth Vader, a person who’s supposed to feel the force so strong yet he has no idea he has a daughter (or seems to, anyway) who also possesses said force or can’t find either kid. Darth doesn’t even feel Leia’s force when she’s captured and standing right next to him! Why would he keep something like that secret? And if Kylo Ren and Rey project and touch each other’s hands, why didn’t that ever happen with Darth and his kids? Clearly when the original stories were written, those plot developments weren’t even taken into consideration and stuck with the bigger story.

Look, “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” and all of the others are STORIES. Episodes I, II & III were an aberration, a weak attempt on constructing an origin story. These films/stories spawned a giant empire that all of us Star Warriors support. And I certainly don’t believe anyone who says they’re through with the franchise aren’t waiting for the next episode and/or won’t see it. So get over yourselves, have some popcorn and watch the film over again. You know you will.