Many valid points, but I have to vehemently disagree about Dan's assessment of the Kylo / Rey teamup / breakup. They were both thinking "This is it! I'm breaking through! He/she is coming over to my side!". It was a brief moment of hopeful euphoria, but when the dust settled they immediately realised that they misread the other and that it's not going to be that easy. I thought it was a great and natural conclusion.

i was hoping Lando showed up at the casino

One of the worst scenes was Rose saving Finn. It ruined the scene. Then she kissed him, and it just didn't work.

Rey and Kylo Ren teamed up because they each thought the other would turn to their side. Kylo believed Rey would turn dark and Rey believed Kylo would turn to the light. That's why they teamed up to fight the Praetorian guard.

Am I the only one who actually GOT the scene where Rey and Kylo fought together??? It's right after Kylo had just murdered Snoke, and 2 things were happening simultaneously!! 1) Rey was probably thinking that Kylo was now going to turn 2) Kylo was trying to win Rey and get her to side with him ...It was so great to watch a fight with so much complicated emotion around it. Probably one of the best scenes in the movie.

One sentence from the movie describes the movie perfectly - "This isn't going to go the way you think". Personally I loved The Last Jedi, but if you expecting something specific based on your experience of star wars, you'll probably be disappointed.

There's a difference between subverting audience expectations and wasteful audience misdirect for the sake of unfulfilling drama

I think Dan hit the nail on the head- as a fan who cares about canon, story moments, little details and their implications, I felt very frustrated and maybe even betrayed by a lot of TLJ.The high points (Kylo, Rey, Luke) made it worth it for me. But, as a fan of the whole universe, it sucks that I felt the need to jump through mental hoops to justify the story decisions Rian made, especially considering the “rules” set by TFA, the other saga movies, even the books, tv shows etc. Even independent of those, a lot of things still felt unnatural (the pacing probably didnt help.) Part of me does hope that JJ does do some resets to the story to connect the arcs- otherwise Im worried I wont see the value of the trilogy as a whole. The thematic stuff is fine, but the storytelling shouldnt suffer for it.

I feel the bringing Rey and Kylo together and then splitting them apart was amazing. It helped them both grow as characters and truely understand what side they are each on. It was so needed.

Here’s where I disagree with you Dan. When Rey and Kylo join together for that fight and then immediately split up, it’s not contradictory to the narrative, in fact it IS the narrative. Notice that both Rey and Kylo strongly believe that the other will turn. It’s because they each saw the other’s future (I.E. them uniting to to take down Snoke). In Kylo‘s mind, Rey joining him in killing the Supreme Leader and his guards is her giving in to the dark and joining him in ruling the galaxy. In Rey’s mind, Kylo is turning his back on the First Order by killing the Supreme Leader and killing the guards. It makes perfect sense that after the fight they both expect what they have believed, only to realize that they were mis reading the other’s feelings and intentions. It makes perfect sense.

I think you guys hit the nail on the head for a lot of the issues this movie had, and I agree with pretty much every point Dan made. This was not a well written movie at all, completely disregarded a lot of what was established in Force Awakens, and felt like a giant middle finger to the fans who really love and care about this universe. I care about who Rey's parents are, I care about where Snoke came from, I DON'T care about about the poor treatment of bad CGI alien horses or where the Resistance is getting their X-wings from.

17:52 when dan inhales lmao he obviously hated that moment

Spoilers R.I.P Admerial Ackbar the best star wars character period

First impressions for me after seeing it tonight: some of the greatest and worst scenes in any Star Wars movie were in The Last Jedi. I am completely on board with Dan's sentiment about being split down the middle on this one. So many great moments undercut by so many silly, boring, or otherwise flawed moments. I hate that I have such a mixed opinion about it.

When a movie tells you It doesn't matter...believe them! Light and Dark are equally stupid. Everything is grey and nothing matters. So why watch???

I disagree vehemently on the Kylo/Rey thing. Their coming together made sense, and Kylo got partway there, realizing Snoke was the enemy, but the thing is that it wasn't at all like Vader turning on the Emperor. He wasn't doing it for his family. Kylo Ren is still essentially the same person and he as a character clearly felt like he was bringing Rey to -his- side of things by betraying Snoke. It's why he clearly expected her to join him afterwards, he isn't redeemed because he never has that point where he feels like his worldview is wrong, he realizes Snoke sees him as expendable. It made perfect sense for them to fight off the guards together because Rey thought she had reached Kylo, Kylo thought he would bring Rey around to his way of thinking, and it wasn't 'til the danger of the fight was over that they realized "Oh, wait, we are not on the same page at all." Which is what Luke was telling her to begin with.

Everybody forgets.... RIP admiral ackbar. We love you

Luke Skywalker says “laser sword” in this film. And that concludes my review of The Last Jedi.

In summary, we can say that this movie is the most different in the saga, first, we were used to expect to success, victory and the perfect plan that was always fulfilled and we all celebrated at the end with fireworks. But this time the main theme is the opposite ... the failure, because as we all could appreciate in the end, the resistance ends in the most absolute failure, now they are only a small group of people in the Millennium Falcon, escaping in order to save their lives. That aspect of failure is present throughout the film, in its characters, in the futile plan that turned out to go to that casino planet, the ambiguous character that turned out to be DJ and that in a way let us know and perhaps share his philosophy. In any case, the main lesson is how we face failure to move forward, process and overcome it, and as Master Drunk Yoda said -“The greatest teacher failure is.”- because hope always arises.

The thing I hated most about it was the writing, like how stupid the whole chase thing was, surely if the rebels ship is faster they would have out run the chasing ships, or if the chasing ships are able to keep up with the rebel ship when its just out of range, why didn't they keep up before it was out of range, or the rebels were out numbered so some of the First Order ships could have cut them off Also Poe's plan wasn't wrong, it was poorly executed, if Finn/Rose knew how to park they'd have got the right code breaker, and it would have worked, in fact the parking issue can be blamed for both Poes plan and Holdos stupid "lets hope no one is looking at any scanners" plan going wrong The best part for me though was definitely was Mark Hamill, he played the character so well despite apparently hating the way he was written so much

Dan I could not disagree more about the throne room scene, they establish in the elevator scene that they both fully believe to there core that they can turn each other. so the fight scene happens they both truly believe that the other is on there side.

I have to disagree with Dan. For the first time. Kylo and Rey get together but the each have a different agenda which is unknown to the other. When they each find out the other's agenda, they part ways again. This worked for me amazingly. This happens in real life. It was brilliant story telling.

Here’s one question nobody seems to be asking about tho. Luke said that Ben took with him a handful of his other students and then killed the rest. Clearly this handful of students becomes the passively mentioned “Knights of Ren” but where the hell are these force sensitive former jedi turned dark side knights during all this? The First Order high command and even their Supreme Leader are all present for the battle in this movie but those guys aren’t involved? Why haven’t we seen any of them thus far save for that brief appearance in Rey’s vision?

I am crushed that the Finn character wasn't developed. He was so adorable in Force Awakens. :'(

I don't think Kylo was lying. He hasn't lie to Rey about anything, not even in the first film. Besides she's the one who says it first "They were nobody", not Kylo. I'm happy she's not connected by blood to any of them. Since Kylo is the last Skywalker I really hope they don't kill him.

I don't understand why Dan Murrell is so upset over Rey's parents. They were revealed. The fact they were nobodies is really important and the key message of this film, as seen in the last shot. Anyone can be a hero.

This was a highly loyal adaptation on Luke's character. Look at him throughout the Classic trilogy, it parallels and fits.

I hate hearing how Rian Johnson was so brilliant because he "subverted everyones expectations". What's the point in surprising everyone, if the surprises suck & add nothing to the story? Rian Johnson told a crappy story that made no sense, & gave very little character development to the cast (with the exception of Reylo). He also treated beloved classic characters with no respect by turning Leia into Mary Popins, & Luke into a coward that likes to milk 4 breasted alien jugs. At least let Luke die with some dignity, geez.

Admiral Ackbar SHOULD have been the one that light speeded the ship into snoke's ship

Rian Johnson definitely subverted my expectations, I was expecting an enjoyable movie. It's not what I got.

I agree with most of the criticisms despite believing the moving was absolutely incredible. I do disagree with Dan's analysis on the throne room scene. One of my favorite parts of the movie was how often they pulled the rug from under expectations and this was one of the big ones. And I think it added complexity to their relationship in that they did team up and were drawn together, but they both had differing expectations in what that would end up being like. It wasn't simple, which is what was the key for me.

In my opinion, it's far better than FA, but the story has some serious problems. The Casino arc is boring and really not necessary, the conflict between Holdo and Poe is artificial (she just could have told him what was the plan, and then to f**k off), and there's an obvious problem with Snoke and Phasma. First one turned out to be a huge red herring, and the other one was developed only to sell toys. It's almost like they were trying to troll fans. Also - scene with "flying" Leia looks silly.

Let's be honest, aside from Rogue One, there is actually a war in this Star Wars movie. Actual stakes, the rebellion being decimated, exploring and explaining the Force in a simple way: all things I appreciated. Some things clearly didn't work (as with all movies), but to say it sucks probably means you had unrealistic expectations...

Luke would not have tried to murder his nephew, he would have tried to save him like he saved his own father. Even Leia shocked me when she gave up in this film on Ben, dumb

I think the key theme in this movie is the last words of Rose: ' that's how we'll win, not by destroying what we hate, but by saving what we love ' Therefore each time Fin, Poe, Kylo, Rey, etc met with failure, they were trying to destroy something they hate, and each success because they were trying to save something they love. I.e. Kylo and Rey individually failed against Snoke because they were trying to destroy him, but Rey and Kylo succeeded because they were trying to save each other.

Overall I liked the film, but it had a lot of problems. Snoke's character was completely wasted. Casino scenes were not needed. Rose stopping Finn's sacrifice really annoyed me, she risked the lives of everybody left in the resistance doing it, came across as a selfish act more than a selfless act to me. It also had WAY to many jokes, Domhnall Gleeson was completely wasted in this movie, every scene General Hux was in, he got turned into the butt of a joke, I enjoyed it in the opening scene, but it became really old really fast. Really disappointed with how Phasma's character was treated, they clearly didn't learn their lesson from episode 7. Hamill, Fischer and Driver gave amazing performances in my opinion, the fight scenes were amazing, especially the red soil shooting up from blaster shots on Crait, very visually pleasing. Loved Yoda's scene, that could have gone very wrong but they nailed it. Really liked the flashbacks to Luke contemplating the assassination of Ben, and the different perspectives of the story. Holdo's crash was breathtaking, never heard a theater so silent. Overall I would rate it a generous 7/10, but that could change upon re-watching it.

As much as I liked it as a standalone movie.. I'm really upset at the amount of Star Wars lore they just threw out the window. And that lore is rlly what hooked hardcore fans into the universe. Would like to add that Mark Hamil's performance was incredible, even if I was not thrilled with some of the story and character choices Riann made

George Lucas has always been extremely clear that "balance" in the force is NOT a situation where there are good guys and evil guys. The Jedi are, he says people who bring balance to the force. The sith are people who unbalance the force. The whole prophecy about Annakin bringing balance to the force was a reference, according to Lucas, to the fact that in Return of the Jedi Annakin would kill the Emperor and sacrifice himself in the process, thus wiping out the Sith and bringing balance to the force. So yeah... this idea that the balance is between equal Jedi and Sith isn't what Lucas meant. And he did invent it, after all.

The Elite Praetorian Guard (Red) kick ass. Too bad Supreme Leader Snoke isn't so ' Supreme '

Dan, you said Finn's mission was a complete faliure. But the greatest teacher faliure is.

I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO USE LIGHT SPEED TO DESTROY ANOTHER SHIP!!! Loved that moment!

Completely agree about the manufactured tension of Dern's character not communicating with Po. Cheap tension.

Ray is not going to turn, EVER you know why ? Disney that’s why They have her like some sort of Disney princess they want to sell merchandise of her Not in a million years she is not going to turn Even in this movie she was supposed to be tempted by the dark side, but she really never was even when Kylo asks her to join him she turns him down immediately

I have to admit, I wanted to cheer when at the final battle, you saw 3 TIE fighters be destroyed, and then saw the shadow of the Millennium Falcon come in, and save the day. No one else seems to have mentioned this. Was I the only one that just loved that moment?

I for one loved that Rey is not a Skywalker, an idea further reinforced by the little boy at the end who manifests powers. Enough with the royal bloodline bullshit. In the entire galaxy why would a single family have dominion over this power? It's way more interesting that the force can manifest in anyone. Overall I liked the choices Rian made, not only for Rey but all the main characters.

Loved your review guys thanks heaps 😁👍In preparation for TRoS I'm rewatching episodes VII & VIII and content about them both and have discovered your program during the process. I'm now in the middle of binging your SW content. Keep up the great work 😉👌

About that fight scene, I loved how it felt like they might have been building to working together, but I ABSOLUTELY feel like it serviced the characters. The whole movie was about the balance and how Ben and Ray both had pulls toward the light and dark side, and during the fight, they each believed the other had totally crossed to their respective side. Afterward, when they realize that the fight had only reinforced their own beliefs, I think they were fiercely disappointed more than harboring hatred. They still shared the force bond at the end of the movie, without Snoke, and looked at each other with great loss, which is very different from where they started. They went from seeing each other as the embodiment of all they hated, to seeing each other as the one person who truly understood them, to seeing each other as the one person who understood them and then betrayed them anyway. It's a much more complicated relationship, and I love that.

Disagree completely with Dan on the story choice for the Kylo-Rey fight. It was amazing. You have a dark lord getting played by his apprentice. Rey and Kylo understanding each other and themselves to be similar BUT making opposing choices, which are the stuff the greatest hero-villain pairings are made of. I think it was totally the best part of the movie.

Darth Vader said, "The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force." We have never seen this true until Luke did his force projection. That was amazing, and this movie finally showed us what the force really is, and the incredible potential of it.

Imagine how us Star Wars originals fans felt way back then when we were expecting Luke and Leia to hit it off and Darth Vader was anyone but Lukes father.

Subverting expectations and keeping the audience off balance is not always a good thing, especially if a movie does nothing but that. How can I be invested in a story and characters when the movie is always building something only to go "hah! fooled ya!!!"

if you think about it, yoda used force lightning lol

I was one of those disappointed by Last Jedi. No hate, but there were so many strange choices that it made the overall experience bad.

I've kinda skipped out on SJ the last few months, so just wanted to say that I love Roth and I'm so glad you guys picked her up. Great decision!

I may misinterpret it, but I think that the casino storyline serves several purposes. It serves as a kind of shaggy dog story to subvert expectations. It serves to expand the Star Wars universe and engage in moral issues. But most importantly it serves to explore what it means to rebel. A rebellion might not be as effective if all that unites the rebels is a shared hatred of the enemy. Though the way it was presented was a bit cheesy, I fundamentally agree with Rose's statement that protecting what you love is more important than destroying what you hate. This is why it has such a huge impact on the kids working at the race track. This is how the near-extinct rebels will gather new recruits, inspiring rebellion by reaching out to the common people instead of wreaking vengeance. It will provide a much more stable society after the rebellion uniting people in love rather than in hate.

Who Snoke is is important because at the end of Jedi the empire was defeated. In The Force Awakens the empire is back (just called the first order). Pretty much-undoing everything in the original trilogy. The only explanation is because of Snoke. This is why people want to know about Snoke.

When you talk about the Force and Luke at the end of the movie: Yoda: So certain, are you? Always with you, what cannot be done. Hear you nothing that I say? Luke: Master, moving stones around is one thing, but this is... totally different! Yoda: No! No different! Only different in your mind. You must unlearn what you have learned. Also that ending was monumental with the binary sunset music/visual.

Ok. When ever people who really liked this movie talk about it they say the same thing, “This movie is great, BUT...” lets be honest here. If there are a lot of “but’s” in something, it’s not great. It’s good. At best. I’m 37 and a life long Star Wars fan. But I’m not blinded by my fandom like many people are. I hated the prequels for instance. With that being said, I didn’t hate this movie. On the contrary. I thought it was good. Was it great? No. There were great things about it, but there were too many “buts” for me. I’m not sure if it would even be in the top 5 of all Star Wars movies for me. Maybe. Like they said. There is a lot to process in this movie, especially if your a life long fan like me. I really need to watch it again.

I dislike this movie, but this review points something I can appreciate. Thanks

29:04 Dan, here's why the Rey/Kylo Ren arc is beautiful, and easily the best plotline in the movie: They get a mental connection and they start talking, they find out a lot about each other, mainly that, Rey feels a calling to the dark and that Kylo still struggles and might be turned to the Light. Ultimately, they both want to become their own person. Their ideologies are different, but their struggles are the same. Because of this they feel a strange companionship towards eachother, both wanting the other the join them on their side. So Rey wants to meet Kylo to turn him and vice versa. Kylo becomes his own person, Snoke calls him a pawn and dismisses him, so he kills Snoke, taking hold of his own destiny, he's not on a leash anymore gaining absolute power as Supreme Leader and turns to the dark side completely. Rey becomes her own person, she let's go of the notion that there has to be a meaning to everything, that her parents are something far greater. Comes to term with the fact that they were nobodies and now that she's not searching for answers anymore she can turn to the light side completely. The Redguard fight itself is the representation of what is perfect in both of their minds, them working together side-by-side, a what could/should be scenario. So with this whole sequence came a lot of emotional baggage, reminded me of the Original Trilogy when fights had actual meaning behind them. It was style and substance.

Leaving the movie theater I felt very unsatisfied. Every story arc in the movie was a waste of built up tension. You can call it subversion but I'll call it confusion. This movie displays confusion in direction, tone, and pacing. My main gripe is with the incompetence of the resistance. Their dire situation is glossed over while Poe is running around with his head cut off. Their lives are being hunted but the leaders have to look chic all the while. Captain Phasma was a huge letdown. I think reviewers are being soft-handed with their critiques as to avoid a backlash.

Great review. Expresses much of the feelings I and many others have. Thanks.

While I can understand what Rian brought in terms of unexpected story turns, I can t get past the sense that the story failed on many counts. And at the end of the day I found myself feeling that Disney had deconstructed the Star Wars narrative to such a point that it was starting to be unrecognizable (and clearly re-geared for a YA audience - to the point I started feeling I was watching Twilight in space). My underlying sense is that they made choices in the movie hat really should have only been made with a long term narrative in mind. I know the original trilogy also didn’t have a fully formed through story, but it did have a singular voice (with different tones). This seemed so removed from TFA that it was like the first movie had been made irrelevant; except that the worst parts were retained. I am still trying to work my way through it, but for all the emphasis on character work, I don’t get a sense of who the characters were (spoilers ahead) - Rey’s journey has turned into a teen drama; unlike Luke’s journey where he puts his friends first, it makes no sense to me that she would risk all for Kylo other than to generate drama. Likewise Luke’s character and purpose makes little sense; if he wanted to escape, why seek solace in Achto (sp?). His interaction with Ben also doesn’t ring true, and the use of alternative flashbacks just made the crisis point seem like a school drama rather than the actions of a Jedi master. Either he created Kylo or he didn’t - but to just say, oh well - can’t do that anymore, time to retire. He put it all on line to save the father he didn’t know, but couldn’t be bothered to save his sisters son. Likewise, Snoke is a huge disappointment... I can’t help but feel that was a huge mistake, and will hurt ep 9. Instead of a malevolent threat we have a universe threatened by a tempestuous teenager. Where is the threat? Kylo didnt demonstrate his evilness, or his power, but instead just accentuated his moodiness and confusion. The only arc is if he remains the slave of an even greater evil (perhaps which had puppeted Snoke in the same way). Instead we have darkness represented by a hole - ineffectual as it was convenient. Finn remains just a side character in his own story, forever narrative flotsam... and Rose’s actions were just bizarre. Instead of accepting the heroes path that her sister had taken (and which she had defended) she instead puts the resistance (or is it rebellion again) at risk for a love that just seemed random. At what point did her feelings change, and why? As for Poe, he turned into a joke (instead of growing as a leader he remained just the same old fighter-jock)... his last minute change of mind didn’t seem warranted, or explainable. It wasn’t maturity or leadership, it was just ‘scripted’. Are we meant to see it as brave to let the base fall (which it would have). As for Luke’s big action at the end, how was this meant to show his ‘redemption’ and his acknowledgment that Kylo couldn’t survive. Like everything in this movie, all was made impotent... was this Rian’s message. All great things are just dust in the books of history? To me it just made Star Wars seem smaller, less grand, less meaningful. Was it a surprise to anyone that the message remained unanswered? Why bother? In my mind, this movie is about retconning the previous 7 movies to create a new Disney IP... and I’m not sure that it’s a story that inspires me, rather than makes me think what came before was meaningless. And don’t get me started on the plot holes about the chase. Seems like as pointless an exercise as the whole story. I understand the joy of seeing a new Star Wars movie - I just wasn’t sure what it was that I was watching.

Throne Room in The Last Jedi is among the best scenes in the saga. Absolute masterwork

I was pleased with the film. Unlike a lot of people, I didn't go in with sound expectations, I knew that Ryan Johnson would add his own element to the film; and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The film was well executed, the acting was stellar, and the cinematography was amazing. Sure, Snoke's character could have been more flushed out, but I was certainly not expecting the payoff to that arc.

I was overall positive for this movie being something different and not just a rehash like TFA, agree it is all about high highs and low lows.

While watching TLJ I was constantly reminded of one of the story arch's from the Clone Wars cartoon. It's a 3 or for episodes long, and is a bit out there, but I personally liked the implications. Basically, there are 3 avatars of the force, the son (dark) the daughter (light) and the father keeping them in balance. Anakin was supposed to replace the father and keep the other two in balance, but decided not to, because of Padme. I kept seeing Kylo as the son and Rey as the daughter in TLJ, and wondering who (or what) was going to balance them out

The more and more I watch and read reactions to TLJ I find myself feeling more and more outcast in the realm of the few who have almost no flaws with this film. The work Rian put into this film was amazing. He took something not only we love so much but who he himself loved so much and took it in a new, fresh direction that was needed. The way the force was used and almost reintroduced in this film also I thought was perfect. The fact that Rey's parents and Snoke's identity was nothing of importance was something else I really enjoyed. Rey didn't need to be related. She is the face of this new trilogy and shouldn't be hindered by the fact she is still connected to the old. Snoke was something people overthought and looked too far into. No one now in Star Wars can just be a new, normal character. With the amount of lore in the Star Wars Canon, everyone feels like they have to be connected, so seeing two major characters NOT be connected was refreshing and satisfying. Another thing I loved was Johnson's direction in the film. The gorgeous cinematography and style he brought was so great. The only flaws I have are the Finn/Rose arc, which was bloated and needed to be cut out. Also, the humor in this movie, while at times very good and needed, was used too much in times when the tone needed to be more serious. The Luke scene where he is bombarded with enemy fire and he brushes it off I was not a fan of. Maybe I always just thought of him as someone who would be more serious in a time like that. Overall, 9.5/10 for me. This movie is an achievement.

In the last 2 day I have read so many reviews and tweets from people that hate this movie or don't like it, but 99% of them don't explain what didn't work for them and why they didn't like it. Dan and Roth are the first ones that I really saw explain what didn't work, but they also acknowledged and applauded what worked. I don't agree with all of what they said but I can at least understand why they have that opinion. I don't really like grading movies with numbers, but if I had to, I would give this movie 4/5 as a movie lover and 5/5 as a Star Wars fan. I know what was wrong with it, but it didn't bother me so much that I wouldn't enjoy all the things that were great in this movie. I love how Rian took chances. The story and the and twists were not what I was expecting, but emotionally it was what I hoped it would be.

All in all, it is just nice to listen to two people speak well about something they care about.

I didn't feel a damn when Luke died.. pretty meh way to kill off one of the most iconic char like that. I teared up when Han solo died.. Fck! mark did a great job as Luke in this movie ..too bad they fcked up his char like this in the end. Even the reason why kylo turned to dark is so stupid. Hmm I read my sisters son mind and he has some dark stuff and my 1st instinct is to pull put my lightsaber? And even worse kylo see his uncle with light Saber and destroy the temple and his fellow students? So many plot holes..

Come on, Dan. If you try to pull an object that's too big, what's going to happen? You move toward it. She wasn't using some sort of force flying ability, it was just how it would work. If you think of it as her trying to pull the ship toward her, but instead the force (physics force not force force) would pull her toward it instead.

I went to this movie without watching any trailer, TV spot, anything. I deliberately avoided all the trailer screenings which are played before any movie this year just to avoid any information about The Last Jedi. So without any expectations, hopes or requirements and was genuinly curious what will happen in the movie. And I simply watched it as it unfolded. And I very much enjoyed it, liked it but also, given how bold the direction was in certain parts, it kinda bored me (meaning that lets go find code breaker mission). However, the good outweights the bad. The thing I would definitelly want to see right now is that Rey gets double bladed light saber like Darth Maul because it would make total sense. She always fought with a staff and I think it would fit her very well. But I guess that will not happen.

This is probably the best review of The Last Jedi I've seen so far. You expressed my thoughts and concerns exactly. I'd probably add more about Eastern philosophy (like Tao, yin-yang concept), but only because this topic is currently close to me. Otherwise, great effort. Thank you!

Love this video. Made me feel better about the few bits I liked, but also a little less irritated about the parts that did not work. They are still there, the irritations, but it is validating to know that other people liked the film in some ways (or some of it) whilst also taking issue with it. You are allowed to be conflicted, to diverge. I think that having disappointments and expectations is a compliment. We expect something good, something coherent and it would be pointless to get worked over something that had no potential and did not work on *any* level. Clearly it has things going for it, which is why is was frustrating. I think that there are some folks out there who think that if you disagree with any part of it, that you are calling it crap which is simply not true. We love this franchise and we want it to work. Criticizing it shows how much we all care, how invested we are, and how much we enjoy seeing the actors help tell the story as well. I am with you. I think that whether this film is good on its own is almost a moot point when the trilogy is fractured by different creators with different visions. It is just not a good move if you are essentially trying to tell *one* story in three parts rather than three separate stories. Yes yes yes! Emotional resonance. Strong characters, development, focus on what is needed, don't overcomplicate. Use all the tricks of the medium to tell the story efficiently. Thank you for posting this. Great vid!

Rey's parents being nobodies is actually telegraphed pretty strongly in TFA. Maz even tells Rey 'whoever you're waiting for, they're not coming back...'. I think a lot of people, myself included, were expecting something different so we misread the clues. Go back and watch TFA now that you have seen TLJ.

We are united by our love for the red guard fight and divided by everything else

Yeah had to stop watching once they pointed out that the character assassination of Luke Skywalker as a positive

You can't just keep saying "subversion of expectations" as a catch all defense for every flaw of the film. If you want to subvert an expectation, you actually have to give us something as good or better than the expectation. Being "different" doesn't inherently mean "good".

What I took away about the Rey being special thing is that she is special, but she didn't need to have special lineage like Luke had to be special and be powerful in the force. Just being herself, being Rey, is enough. Sounds cheesy but I really liked that she didn't have some special parentage because that would've been a retread with lukes story

Cinematography was incredible, and the twists kept me on the edge of my seat all the way through. Only complaint would be the casino scene should have been cut by about 10 minutes

This was the most honest and fair analysis that I have had a chance to hear.. I still feel like some of your suggestions are a little more wishy-washy that I would like but... I still lean towards 'meh' but... Great job guys.

Great review guys. Very well articulated points.

My take with Kylo talking about Rei's parents is this: he belittled people he didn't know. I'm not convinced they revealed who her parents were. Not sure if they ever will. It would be a character builder for Rei on how she deals with it. Also, if Kylo tapped into her feeling about her parents, feelings he knew that she feared herself, all he was trying to do was instill doubt to her hope. We always have skewed views of our own parents. I think the film was great showing that. It didn't pander to how we think it should be but gave us a present for us to unpack.

Personally, I was really dissapointed about the way this film handled several storylines. I hated what it did to Snoke and how he suddenly didn´t matter, how they just forgot about the knights of Ren and how it simply disregarded some of the best mysteries and plots that were set up in episode 7. We don´t know how Maz Kanata got Luke´s lightsaber, who the old guy at the beginning of episode 7 is, what do all the visions Rey got when she touchd Luke´s lightsaber mean (also, if Rey is supposedly the daughter of some no-ones then why did the visions happen), but, above all, I am disappointed about how the introduction of the knights of Ren and Snoke lead to nowhere and were incredibly anticlimactically handled in episode 8. Also: Where is Lando?! Han just died, you would think that would bring him forth in some way.

True - I wanted Rey to be no one and I was pretty pumped I got that right. I wanted Snoke to have more story though but it didn't bother me that much. Enjoyed it overall

Dan hits the nail on the head about the film, with his comments about the story telling aspects of the film.

I have to disagree on the Rey and Kylo's team up fight scene, I don't think it was in service of an applause moment: the fact that they split up again after the fight I felt was completely in line with the characters, Kylo didn't betray Snoke because he had a change of heart and started believing in the Resistance, I don't think he really cares about the war between the Empire and the Resistance, he killed him for his own personal motives, because, like he said, he wants to kill the past; I think he wants a clean slate, sort of. They team up because in that specific moment their immediate goal was the same, but they're far from being on the same page. And you can't really say that after the fight they become enemies again or that there's hatred between them: each of them wants the other to join them and it is kind of heart-breaking watching on Rey's face the realization that that deep connection they felt with each other won't be enough to reconcile their differences, to bring them together, because their world-view, their values and beliefs are too different.

The Luke Skywalker Force projection felt like he has become a legend for the Jedi Order and the resistance. Also that projection of him was from the Flashbacks during his time training new generation of Jedi. He was the last Jedi but at the same time it's the rebirth of the Jedi Order and the resistance. Also loved the subtleties and nuances during the battle between Luke and Kylo where you can see when Kylo slides you see the salt mines while Luke slides you don't see the salt mines below his foot which of course shows he can make himself corporeal and then at the same time just as an astral projection. Whoever the trainer was for Mark Hamill seriously you did an amazing job. Hamill in that scene looked really lean and that shot in my opinion is just iconic

To put it as simply as possible, Snoke feels like a case study on Chekhov's Gun. Snoke is a metaphorical gun that was specifically mentioned in Act One, and then never fired in Acts Two or Three.

I think Star Wars fans should really remember something - all of the movie's surprises were done with the cooperation and agreement of dozens of extremely bright and talented people. Amazing artists, thinkers, and the series caretakers. So it's not as if Rian Johnson steps into this role and causes chaos, or makes left turns accidentally. These are brilliant story devices that push hard on the boundaries of this galaxy ON PURPOSE in order to genuinely delight and surprise us, the way Star Wars movies should but honestly rarely do - because it's hard. And the friction that can cause is exactly the right sign that they are doing what they should be doing with the story. This movie had several of these moments, epic and unforgettable. When I watch people torn by being excited and being defied at the same time, I think they are essentially saying "I'm not sure the authors at work here know what they are doing." To which I would just say - man, you have the smartest people involved here. There's a really really really good chance they know what they are doing. Chances are your discomfort is due to the set-up of the next surprise and thrill. Let go and enjoy the ride. It's far more fun that way.

I would have hated this movie if Rey and Kylo came out to be related

I loved most of the movie, and I loved how we never saw any of these twists coming.

You have to be blind to think Rey and Kylo are back where they were after Force Awakens. At least I didn't see their romance in FA but TLJ really got them together. Even if they "just fought" together and instantly went on to fight themselves, I don't think that bond is over. Now after everything else: Han, Luke, Leia (perhaps), Snoke are "out of the way" they can embrace the story between Kylo and Rey. It's unclear what is gonna happen and I believe that's what the next movie has to be about. It's the same story once again but I think Kylo specially is very interesting character.

Best spoiler review and not just a rant like most. Good job!

I wonder what they saw in this movie, that made them want to give Ryan Johnson a whole new trilogy.

Every character fails in the ultimate motive in this movie, the message of the film like Yoda said is learning from failure, well every character failed in this movie episode IX is when they would learn from their mistakes

The Throne Room fight scene is completely in line with the character arcs of Kylo and Rey, because it showed their true selves. Kylo was just using Rey to get rid of Snoke and be the supreme leader and hoping she will join him, while Rey thought Kylo has joined her now to fight the evil. The motivation behind their actions in that fight scene made it all the more satisfying. :)

This movie was disappointing, nothing set up from FA was used. Its just... a waste of what could've been good. Rose was terrible. The entire sub-plot with her and Fin was awful, it dragged on and in the end didn't need to exist at all.

The Rose subplot was a horrendous mistake for the movie