Star Wars: The Last Jedi

I have seen the film four times now. (Yes, I made my very own Star Wars Weekend, even attended Galactic Nights at Hollywood Studios.) I need to dump out my thoughts, observations, things I’d like to see in Episode IX. It’s always fun to do these — even if the theories are wrong later, I like to go back and look at what I thought might happen.

As with my post about The Force Awakens from 2 years ago, this is my reaction and not a proper review. This is long and kind of all over the place, but I tried to stay somewhat chronological. I have more to say about this installment than I did about The Force Awakens. As I got to the end of this, I realized, I’m going to have to split this up into at least three pieces. I have more things to say about Luke and about Rey, so once I get those committed, I will link them at the end of this post.

SPOILERS AFTER THE GIF!

The opening battle sequence was reminiscent of Rogue One to me. And that isn’t a bad thing. We don’t get to know Paige Tico, but I still teared up at her sacrifice. I also really appreciated opening with a joke. I was glad to see Poe get to do more in this one even though he was reckless for a lot of it.

Everything, and I mean everything, Luke does in this film is pure gold. There’s been Oscar talk flying around about Mark’s performance since like, last year, and if that happens, I will lose my god damned mind.

Anyway, Luke tossing the lightsaber? Perfect. His first words being, “Go away!” I. Love. It. I love my grumpy old Jedi. I love the dumb face he makes after milking the Thala-Siren and drinking the damn milk. I love the fishing sequence. Honestly, I would gleefully watch 2.5 hours of Luke just farting around on Ahch-To fishing and feeding Porgs, no lie. I love that Chewie came and literally broke down his door (made from one of the s-foils of his poor sunken X-Wing).

I LOVE PORGS. LOVE LOVE LOVE.

The scene on the Millennium Falcon of Luke with R2-D2 and the hologram of Princess Leia really got to me. It was the only time he looks almost happy and you get a bit of a smile. Not only was the hologram emotionally impactful and got Luke to come around a bit, but it was a nice little nod to this year being the 40th anniversary of A New Hope. Also loved, “Hey, sacred planet, watch the language!” The camera pans across some of Luke’s things after this (I think it’s after this), including the necklace with the red crystal and the compass. I don’t think this was without purpose. More on the crystal in a bit; as for the compass, I think we could see it again in IX. According to the book, Legends of Luke Skywalker, the compass was given to him by a scavenger on Jakku. However, that is in conflict with the storyline presented in Battlefront II (which I have not yet played).

Luke’s first lesson with Rey was just. So great — I loved how she literally reached out. “The Force doesn’t belong to to the Jedi. To say that if the Jedi die, the light dies is vanity!” I love this concept. So. Much. Loved his explanation of the Force and the line, “Every word you just said was wrong.” (And that it comes back around later!) During the second lesson, Luke voiced things I’ve been saying for a while about the old Jedi Order. Their weaknesses, specifically their pride, caused their downfall and allowed Palpatine to rise. It’s tragic, but they had to go. I believe Vader was the instrument that the Force chose to bring this about because ultimately, he did bring balance. I loved hearing Luke mention “Darth Sidious” because it just brings everything around and makes it feel more cohesive. JJ Abrams has stated that IX will tie together all three trilogies and I cannot wait to see what that means. (I am very much pro-JJ.)

When the bridge of Leia’s ship got blown up, I nearly had a heart attack. As for her few moments in space and literally being a skywalker, I love it. And it was good to see her use the Force in more than just an empathetic sort of way. I guess some people can’t suspend their disbelief for this moment, but I’d like to remind you of the fact that this is a space fantasy and anything can happen. Everything is as the Force wills it.

RIP ADMIRAL AKBAR.

I am going to just come out and say it right here: I am not here for Rey/Kylo Ren garbage. I guess people are reading some romanticism into their interactions and I just… fundamentally disagree with them having any sort of romantic chemistry. To me, it’s kindness being mistaken for romantic interest. Rey has a kindness about her that is very much like Luke’s used to be — she wants to believe the best of people, and she was wrong. I think it’s pretty clear that even she has realized that by the end of the film as she closes the door on their Force Skype call. Some people seem to take issue with this ability as well, but it’s really not that far of a stretch from the Force communication we have seen before between Luke and Leia and also Luke and Vader. And Yoda has done this a few times in Rebels to communicate with other Jedi. Why did Snoke link them this way? What is the significance? Just to draw her out or something else? I do believe they have a connection, just not a romantic one.

Holdo’s sacrifice was visually one of my favourite scenes. I was sad to see her go, but what a badass way to do it! I got a little emotional as she and Leia said goodbye. Carrie and Laura did such a great job at conveying that these characters have been close friends since they were sixteen. And Carrie wrote that scene.

I keep thinking about how IX was supposed to be Carrie’s film and it makes me sad all over. I really miss her and I just cannot fathom how they are going to handle IX without her. Every moment she was on screen in this one was just extra special as were those scenes that you can instantly tell she had added something to. I had really hoped for a confrontation between her and her son and now that cannot be. I wonder if, after the bridge was attacked, he thinks she is gone anyway? I’m so heartbroken about Leia…she has literally lost everyone and now we have lost Carrie and it’s just. Rough. It’s been almost a year and it’s still so hard to think of her in the past tense. 😦

The sea cave scene was a great callback to the cave on Dagobah. It was similar, but but also very different. When Rey asks to see her parents and she sees the figures walking toward her resolving into one… I swear the way the figure moves, it looks like Luke, especially when compared with the shadow of him walking into the Resistance base later. More on that in another post, though.

It breaks my heart a bit to know that Luke felt so badly about his failure that he cut himself off from the Force and thus was unable to feel that Han had been killed. I thought for sure at the end of The Force Awakens that he had. Leia is the reason Luke decides to train Rey and she is also the reason he finally decides to open himself up to the Force again. I got chills when the water vibrated when he first reached out to Leia after so long. It’s such a great visual representation of how powerful he is. Also, can we talk about the mosaic in that pool portraying balance of light and dark? I wonder what Luke was actually going to come and say to Rey when he realized she was in the middle of a conversation with Kylo. It seemed like he was coming to speak to her about Something Important, then he saw that and everything escalated pretty quickly. I did like seeing him spar a bit with Rey (those moves!) and I wish we had gotten some of that in the form of training rather than a confrontation. It made me a little sad. Definitely not the relationship I expected, but it worked in the end.

“The sacred Jedi texts!” I’m glad Rey absconded with them and that Yoda basically trolled Luke about it; you know that little bastard knew the tree was empty. I wonder, is one of the books perhaps the Journal of the Whills? I was not prepared to actually see Yoda, but I did expect him in some form since I had seen Frank Oz at the red carpet premiere. I liked Yoda’s Rafiki-like moment of smacking Luke and his remark about the books, “Page turners they were not!” Additionally, I love that they used an original mold from The Empire Strikes Back to make a brand new puppet and that it wasn’t freaky looking like it was in The Phantom Menace. Also… “We are what they grow beyond.”

Canto Bight would have been a great place to reintroduce Lando Calrissian and I feel that was truly a missed opportunity. I hated the “DJ” character. I just want to light him on fire! He was very annoying and I hope he’s dead. While we are on the subject of Canto Bight, I loved the fathiers and it was nice to hear Mark’s voice cameo as Dobbu Scay, the little drunk alien putting coins into BB-8. Canto Bight was not my favourite, but I do love the music and BB-8 being a badass. I STILL FREAKING LOVE BB-8. I also love Rose Tico; she was a great addition, but the semi-romance plot point between her and Finn needs to go. I have liked the fact that so far, these films don’t really have a romantic subplot.

YOUR SNOKE THEORY SUCKS! Haha, I’m actually 100% okay with the fact that Snoke is ultimately unimportant and literally doesn’t fucking matter. This was never about him anyway. I wouldn’t mind finding out more about him in another form of media, but honestly, I don’t care all that much. I don’t need to know. Rey and Kylo Ren’s confrontation with the Praetorian Guards was amazing. What a wonderfully choreographed scene. I loved seeing them work together even though Kylo Ren was just using Rey as a means to an end. He’s such a selfish turd blossom. Also, Snoke was pretty much space Voldemort; Rey needs to learn whatever the Force equivalent of occlumency is to keep Kylo Ren out of her damn business.

I don’t believe Phasma is dead even though she fell into a ball of fire. I mean. Vader survived some pretty severe burns. It’s not at all out of the realm of possibility.

Luke appearing on Crait was probably my favourite part. I didn’t pick up on the clues at first that he was Force projecting because I was too focused on the fact that, holy shit, my man is fighting again! Upon my second viewing, I picked up all the clues, most obvious being the appearance he chose and that he had the lightsaber that had just been destroyed. He chose to appear that way, I think, because that’s is how Leia and Ben remember him. I loved the scene with Leia so, so much and that is another scene that Carrie was responsible for. She wrote the line, “No one is ever really gone, ” which makes it mean so much more now that she is gone. I loved that Luke “gave” her Han’s dice and that in that moment she knew he wasn’t really there. I love the kiss on the forehead and the wink to Threepio, and the music in this scene. I also spotted Mark’s kids’ cameos! They are the three Resistance fighters that appear just behind Poe right as Luke is walking out to meet Kylo Ren.

Luke’s confrontation with Kylo Ren was fantastically done. When the AT-M6s first fired on him, though, I about had another heart attack, but if you look closely, you can see flashes of blue and I knew he was fine. This scene and the scene revealing he is actually on Ahch-To got the biggest applause in the audiences I viewed with. I loved his brushing dust off his shoulder like it fucking mattered even. I loved his response to Kylo Ren: “Did you come back to forgive me? To save my soul?” “…No.” I loved watching him move and I noticed, their lightsabers never clashed and Luke never made a footprint. I loved the line, “See ya around, kid.” TO SUM UP: I LOVE EVERYTHING LUKE SKYWALKER DOES.

I have a hard time with the outcome of this as Luke has been my favourite character since my first viewing of Star Wars 20 years ago. Something else I picked up on in subsequent viewings is that this outcome is foreshadowed in a way when Kylo Ren says to Rey during a Force Skype call, “You’re not doing this, the effort would kill you.” Luke is basically performing his own prolonged and extreme Force Skype call and… the effort did kill him. It was beautifully done, even though it breaks my heart every time I see it. I hate seeing the pain on his face and watching him collapse. (It’s like Spock in The Wrath of Khan and I can’t.) I love this character so much. The sunset was a nice touch. I fully expect to see Force ghost Luke haunting the FUCK out of Ben and, um, he never did provide Rey with her third lesson! Also, am I crazy, or did it appear as if there was a ship silhouetted against the sun in that scene, before it morphed into a double sunset?

I’ve been arguing with people for two years that Luke would not turn to the dark side and it was great to see that I was 1000% correct. I’m so proud of my farm boy.

“We have everything we need.” Well, Rey has to build a new lightsaber! I think she will need to return to Ahch-To to do this in much the same way that Luke returned to Tatooine and Obi-Wan’s residence there to build his. Going back to when I mentioned Luke’s effects earlier, I want to believe that the necklace holds Vader’s lightsaber crystal. Red Kyber crystals are made that colour by corrupting them and infusing them with dark side energy. What if Rey has to cleanse the crystal and use it to make her new lightsaber? Cleansed crystals create white blades and a white blade would be a great visual representation of the balance in the Force that Rey seems to represent. Alternatively, maybe she will use both the crystal from the Skywalker saber and this one and make, like, a purple blade? Or, what if Artoo is holding on to Luke’s green lightsaber? I mean. Where is it? What did he do with it? I could see him putting it in Artoo for safekeeping as in Return of the Jedi… or maybe he sunk it with his ship. Also also: could Rey end up making a double bladed lightsaber?

I am still convinced Rey is Luke’s daughter. Why? Because Kylo Ren lied and manipulated her to get her to come to him, so why wouldn’t he lie about her parents? According to Rian Johnson, he believes it in that moment which does not necessarily make it true, and his telling her this reinforces her own insecurities about her origins. More about that in a separate post because I’m insane and this is long enough already.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

I have now seen the film twice (dying for a third round!) and I need to dump out my thoughts and observations somewhere, so here I am. It’s been a few days since my viewings, and I’m currently reading the novelization in hopes of gaining more insight. I’ve been adding to these notes since my initial viewing, but I think I’m finally done and can share my thoughts. I have so missed having something I can theorize on, hoo boy. I have a LOT of thoughts and questions. (This is reaction post, not a review! That will come later.) SPOILERS AFTER THE GIF!

First and foremost, I am 1000% convinced that Rey is Luke’s daughter and here is why:

• In her AT-AT home, she has an X-Wing pilot doll that she made as well as a fighter pilot helmet that she puts on briefly. The helmet looks like Luke’s but isn’t his; Jakku is littered with debris so she probably found the helmet there and kept it because it reminded her of her father.
• The lightsaber is basically a family heirloom, passing down from parent to child, and it is calling to her specifically. She touches it, and suddenly we get a Force vision and flashbacks. Flashbacks dealing specifically with LUKE. Maz Kanata says the person that she is waiting for will not come back, but there is someone who can and Rey says, “Luke.” This, to me, implies that her memories might have been altered for her protection and that before this scene, she only had fragments. One or both of her parents left her on Jakku; one is (probably) dead and one is not. By keeping Rey away, Luke is protecting her (although this desert foster system really doesn’t work very well). If her parents are of no importance, then there is no reason not to show them.
  • Who else was hidden for protection? Ah yes, LUKE and Leia.
  • How did Maz come into possession of the lightsaber? Was it given to her for safekeeping? I’m fairly certain she’s alive, so I hope we get that story. The chest it’s in seems to be the one owned by Obi-Wan Kenobi in A New Hope.
• Lor San Tekka could be her ‘watcher’ as Obi-Wan was to Luke. Why else is he there? He knows Kylo Ren’s true identity and he has the missing piece of R2’s map. I’d like to know more about him. According to the SW databank, he helped Luke recover some Jedi lore that the Empire tried to erase and is a follower of the Church of the Force, whatever the heck that is.
• Rey piloted the Falcon without having a co-pilot, which is pretty interesting. Both Luke and Anakin were super awesome pilots. Anakin tapped into the Force while piloting without even realizing that that is what he was doing. Rey appears to be doing the same.
• Leia sent Rey to Luke rather than go herself and I feel like that is significant.
• In the second teaser trailer, they sample Luke’s line from ROTJ: “The Force is strong in my family. My father has it. I have it. My sister has it.” Followed by, “YOU HAVE THAT POWER, TOO.”
• This Luke Skywalker toy comes with ‘desert armor’ that looks strikingly similar to what Rey wears. Coincidence? Possibly, but I’d like to think it is intentional. Additionally, Rey’s clothing resembles Anakin’s in The Phantom Menace, and Luke’s in A New Hope. It also resembles the early concept art for the ‘Starkiller hero’.
• Luke appears to be standing next to a grave at the end — ancient Jedi grave(s) or Rey’s mother? WHO IS SHE?
• THE MUSICAL CUES. When Rey pulls the lightsaber out of the snow, we hear notes of “Binary Sunset”, which is associated with Luke.
• LUKE WAS ‘A NEW HOPE’. REY IS THE ONE IN WHICH THE FORCE AWAKENED. Also, the meaning of the name Luke is “light”, so could Rey be a “ray of light”? 😉 Alternately, this person has an interesting take.
• One of the central questions of the original trilogy ended up being, “Who is Darth Vader?” and there was this article in EW about the question of The Force Awakens/the sequel trilogy being, “Who is Luke Skywalker?” Well the answer to the first question was, “Luke Skywalker’s father.” Think about it for a minute.
• Star Wars is ultimately the story of the Skywalker family and it just wouldn’t make sense for her to be anyone else. She can’t be Han and Leia’s kid because they would have reacted to her differently. And this theory of them being mind-wiped to forget her is nonsense, in my opinion.
• Luke’s and Rey’s faces when they’re looking at each other at the end says it all.

Luke felt Han’s death, there is no question. I’m extremely saddened that they will never see or speak to each other again. I kind of suspected that that might happen because Harrison Ford has been saying for years that he thought Han should have died in Return of the Jedi. His character dying was the only way he would have done this film. And while it is sad, I do understand the importance of it in context, as well. It was not at all meaningless. It was heartbreaking that even after Ben did what he did, Han still caressed his face with love. (Ah shit I’m getting misty.) And also how the lighting on Kylo Ren’s face was bathed in red by the end of the scene, all “light” visually gone.

I was wondering about why R2-D2 woke when he did and I had a couple of ideas, but then I saw this article that actually explains it. He’s just so old and been powered down for so many years at this point that it took him a long time to “wake up” after BB-8’s initial contact. It also explains what the other points on the map are: locations of Jedi temples throughout the galaxy, which were obtained during the time he plugged into the Death Star. Still curious as to why the one piece was removed and when. (When we see Luke’s hand on R2?)

Kylo Ren is a pissbaby who does not presently have my sympathy at all, however, I do feel bad for him somewhat. I’m not sure what his motive is, but he would be a disappointment to Anakin. I half want the ghost of Anakin Skywalker to come slap some sense into his ass. He crossed a line by killing Han. Even as Darth Vader, Anakin would never hurt his family like that. Maim to make a point, sure, but he would never have murdered a family member. In fact, he was ready to overthrow the Emperor the moment he found out his child was alive, a feeling which intensified when he found out there were actually two. I really need to know what went wrong with this guy; why did he turn? Can he be redeemed? If he is, it won’t be until the third act. Mostly, I feel awful for his parents and his uncle; it obviously ruined his parents’ relationship. And poor Luke…it must have been his greatest fear come true. I KNOW they didn’t keep Anakin’s redemption a secret. It just wouldn’t make sense.

When and why did Han leave? I feel like Han left after Ben turned because he and Leia were so hurt by that that they had to part ways. They didn’t seem angry at each other, so for Han to have left before Ben turned doesn’t really make sense to me. I feel like their son’s fall split them apart, but obviously they still care deeply for one another. MY FEELS. The only couple I will ever refer to as my ‘OTP’ is destroyed. When Leia felt it, I couldn’t handle it.

Observation: Ben Solo/Kylo Ren was likely conceived shortly after the Battle of Endor, making him 25-30 years old. Rey is said to be “nearly twenty” in the novelization. In her Force vision/flashback, she appeared to be about five; Ben could’ve been between 15-20 when he turned. And this tweet by Pablo Hidalgo seems to confirm my suspicions.

Who are the “Knights of Ren”? Are they other fallen/turned Jedi? We only got a glimpse of them in Rey’s vision. Only Ben/Kylo Ren seems to have a lightsaber.

I’m going to cry so much when Luke and Leia reunite. FML.

Recently saw a news blurb where Kathleen Kennedy confirmed all three original main cast members will be back…so that’s interesting. Flashbacks for Han?

Captain Phasma, was totally underused! But according to Kathleen Kennedy in this article, she is a very important character who will be returning.

I’d love to see Leia confront her son in a lightsaber duel please. (As long as it’s not a fatal confrontation for her!)

Would kind of love to see Lando and/or Wedge make an appearance, even if it’s just a brief one. I mean we got to see Akbar and Nien Nunb.

At first I wondered if General Hux made it off Starkiller Base alive or met the same fate as Grand Moff Tarkin, but I’m pretty sure he did escape because of the whole “entire cast returning” news. Also, what’s HIS deal?

Who the FUCK is Snoke? Why does he project so large? I hope he’s actually really short. Does he have any connection with Palpatine? “Snoke” on the soundtrack is reminiscent of “Emperor’s Throne Room” from ROTJ and “Palpatine’s Teachings” from ROTS. His face is scarred and/or burnt. Did he possibly fight Luke? This would partially explain why he has such a vendetta against him. I’ve seen some people bandying about the idea that he’s actually Darth Plagueis, but he was supposedly murdered by Palpatine, so that’s a bit far fetched to me? But since Plagueis supposedly discovered the secret to conquering death, I suppose it’s plausible and would be an interesting thing to tie all of the films together.

It’s been confirmed now to be both him and Alec Guinness, but I freaking KNEW that was Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan in Rey’s vision! That part gave me chills and it’s one of my favourite sequences in the film.

BB-8!! I lOVE HIM!!! Precious little droid babby.