OK, I've been totally lurking in the corners reading the responses in this thread. As is perfectly clear in my review on this here site of The Last Jedi, I liked it, a lot, despite its very present flaws in places, and am happy to be its Devil's Advocate. A couple things:
kgbelliveau wrote: Indeed the fault does fall with the person who gave him the job in the first place. That same person also had to probably approve the final draft of the script. I wish that person would explain why the saw this as the best product for Star Wars.
That would be Kathleen Kennedy. I heard Rian Johnson speak on the script and approval process in person at a Q&A, and while all of this is clearly second-hand, what I heard and saw directly from Rian is an honest, lifelong fan of Star Wars who had the chance to steer the franchise toward what he believed would be its next logical era, and was given unprecedented opportunity to do so. The question that was constantly asked by the audience - indeed, because it seems to defy belief - is that Rian had complete creative control. This is something he asserts, believe him or not (I kinda do - the film is too refreshing and radical in foundational ways to be drafted by corporate). But ultimately the buck stops with Kennedy, and the go-ahead was given to Rian's draft (the final movie still gives him solo writing credit). Interestingly - because of the way the production and pre-production timeline worked out - the draft was written
before Force Awakens was finished. Rian was only provided a script of Force Awakens while planning this second installment, and had to guess what characters would behave like based on this script. This could also have influenced the distinct personality of Last Jedi. Characters were subsequently tweaked nearer to production once Force Awakens was nearing its final stage.
livelove wrote:The space force scene was the first time in my life where majority of the theatre laughed openly at Star Wars because of how bad it was
My audience cheered. And
let's be honest. I do not disagree on its computerized artificiality. But thematically - I think it hits something very deep at the new Star Wars being proposed in Last Jedi. I truly believe Luke's words to Rey - that The "Force does not belong to the Jedi. To say that if the Jedi die, the light dies, is vanity." - is probably as important or more so than Kylo's "Let the past die. Kill it" mantra. The unknown little Dickensian orphan who can use the force at the end of the film? Finn's unspoken connection to Kylo at the very beginning of the Force Awakens? There are subtleties, getting stronger, alluding to a more unified Force than we’ve seen in previous installments. It’s almost a call to Jurassic Park’s original “life finds a way” theme. Without Jedi and Sith as we've known them, where does The Force go? There’s a good case to be had that each of the main characters has some level of passive Force power resonate in the film – from Rose’s affinity to animals, to her sister’s brief remote catch during the first bombing raid. This theme begins with this Leia “Superman” move and has its coda in the orphan’s broom catch in the film’s last shot. In the middle, Rey finds out she is gifted despite (in spite) of her lineage, which simply doesn’t matter. This is as shocking as Luke originally finding out his Dad is the series’ Big Bad. And this answer holds much more power for me than if she were a clone of Palpatine or Obi Wan’s great niece twice removed. Where before in Star Wars the Force seemed reserved for an elite caste of Sith and Jedi,
this Force appears to be distributing itself more evenly across the Galaxy. This is a bold direction.
kgbelliveau wrote: It took a while to accept what I had just seen, but once I was over it, I felt relieved that she survived and got a second chance to shine in the film ... except that she didn't. I don't really remember any particularly important moment she had during the rest of the film — nothing of real importance or consequence.
Unfortunately, Rian said she was supposed to be very important in the last episode and this had to be scrapped. This kinda makes sense: [spoiler]Han in Force Awakens, Luke in Last Jedi, Leia in Episode IX. I would find it more cynical to kill two twins in one movie[/spoiler] Plus, she acted as a foil, a counter to Holdo, for Poe's character arc, and this seems like a valid reason to not kill her early on in the film. As a matter of fact [spoiler]her shooting Poe[/spoiler] is a huge moment for Poe's character and forces him to reconsider what allegiance means.