Nerds have got it wrong!!
Here’s the thing, geeks, nerds and fans of Star Wars have gone into a nerdgasm meltdown over TLJ saying that it’s a bad film. Some gave even said that it should be struck from the Star Wars cannon (groan). This is in stark contrast to the overwhelming majority of professional critics who have given it an average 85% approval rating on Metacritic. Have they all been paid off by Disney? Can they all be wrong??
NO! The ‘fans’ have got it wrong. What were they expecting?? I’m a fan. Here’s what I didn’t like:
The survival of Leia. This makes no sense given that Carrie Fisher is dead. It would have made more narrative sense if Ren had fired the killing shot and destroyed the rebel’s base ship, especially since he is so conflicted and has decided to rule himself as revealed later in the film.
The terrible fight scenes although that is a problem with all the films. A creditable choreographer needs to be hired to create exciting fight scenes and a unique Jedi way of fighting. It can’t be that hard since the lightsabers are essentially long swords. The whirling and twirling of Snokes bedecked henchmen was laughable as was Rey’s kicks and flicks hitting mid air - embarrassing.
The lack of a mad, bad and most importantly dangerous iconic henchman like Darth Maul who can actually kill Jedi.
Captain Phasma - a non role created to capitalise on her success in Game of Thrones. A pity that a proper role wasn’t fleshed out for her.
BUT, here’s what’s good about TLJ:
It’s better than TFA!
The film is fast paced and maintains constant interest with its cutting away into the multiple plots, the story moves events along in an exciting way and transitions logically into the final film.
I like the idea of an all powerful figure a la Sauron in LOTR manipulating events in the Star Wars universe, but the ‘twist’ that a conflicted Ren would want to destroy both the Light and Dark side of the Force in order to rule himself makes perfect sense. What were fans expecting? Fantasy literature has a tradition that both the light and dark sides of magic have to be destroyed in order to restore universal balance and for the Age of Man to reign. TLJ is hunting at the same coda - to prevent the eternal battle between good and evil continuing, destroy both sides of the Force to create a true balance. After all, isn’t it a pseudo religion??
Fanboys have had a meltdown over the lack of clarity about Rey’s parentage. They surely don’t believe what Ren said to her do they? I assume this potboiler will be properly revealed in the final film. It’s clear that Rey and Ren are related but how - brother and sister? I agree, if the scriptwriters brought this to a close with Ren’s exposition, that would be disappointing indeed but I think JJ will put this right in the light of all the criticism.
It makes perfect sense that Luke is a broken, tired, cynical old man rather than the leading light of the Force. His failure with Ben Solo provides the logical rationale for this.
It also makes sense that Luke died at the end after his exertions projecting his astral self for so long across the universe. He’ll no doubt reappear in the final film a la Obi Wan and Yoda to give Rey guidance at a critical juncture.
And finally, the Resustance is all but destroyed. The allies that TLJ was hinting at will have to come to the fore in the last film, otherwise I think four films are hinted at rather than three. There will clearly be two plot strands to resolve - a thrilling last stand between the Empire and the resistance and their allies on a grand contextual scale with the empire closing in for the kill ( a race against time plot boiler) and a pivotal sub plot surrounding Rey’s attempts to kill Ren which will bring the film and trilogy to a close. Within that sub plot, Rey’s parentage should be revealed and the Force should be ‘destroyed’.
Overall 9/10 or four stars out of five. Needs a couple of iconic moments and a WOW factor to elevate it to greatness.