This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
Fritz Lewis’s review published on Letterboxd:
This review may contain spoilers.
So, yeah, Leia floating back into a ship after getting blown up is lowkey a funny scene and a strange extension of the force, but then again, so was lightning in ROTJ.
Snoke's death scene was insulting, but then again, so was Darth Maul's.
Those race goats crashing through the casino is communist propaganda!
Well, Ewok teddy bears killing highly trained scout troopers and those two legged walky things were a fucking thing in ROTJ, and Lucas used that entire sequence to represent Vietnam, and portrayed the Empire as the U.S. because he was a Vietcong apologist.
The law of physics in space is kind of thrown out of the window, and two of the main characters, Finn and Rose, are conveniently the only two survivors of an explosion that killed everyone else around them, but oh well, it's a Star Wars movie.
Rose's death was on the same level of Talia's in TDKR, actually probably below it, but I don't see people bitching about that for whatever reason.
Well, they're bitching about other things.
Legitimately using these complaints, as well as any other fan-fictions that didn't come true for you to call this a bad film is idiotic.
Well, besides the Ewok sequence in Return of the Jedi, because that actually was a fucking horrendous third act for that film, and the real finale barely saved it.
Anyways, I think the real problems with The Last Jedi lie in the screenwriting and the fact that the characters outside of Kylo Ren and parts of Rey just weren't that interesting.
Chewbacca, Leia, and Luke being under utilized and not having much of a presence really is not a good thing, and having mediocre characters like Poe, Finn, and Rose don't do much good either.
I just think it's a problem with the establishment in The Force Awakens.
As far as screenwriting goes, yeah, there are a few nonsensical and rushed moments, and that entire Snoke death scene exists, but there were also some beautiful and awe striking moments that really bring more balance to the film.
The story is a bit of a mess with all the storylines, and there quite a few holes and contrivances that really could have ended the movie, but at least it went in a different direction, which doesn't always make a movie good, but I think it worked for the most part here.
None of these widely hated moments bothered me, except for the Snoke one I mentioned above.
I mean come on, you introduce one of the most powerful Jedi (or whatever) in the universe and then just kill him off to set up a conflict of interest that never even went anywhere and rendered that entire scene to be pointless to begin with.
And what the fuck happened to the Knights of Ren?
Were they the red guards, or are they hiding in a closet somewhere?
And back to the Snoke thing, but not Snoke, but a connection of criticism to Snoke - Captain Phasma.
The visuals of that fight scene were spectacular, and I think overall this is the strongest Star Wars entry in that department, but why the fuck do they have to kill the most interesting characters/villians like Phasma and Snoke after hyping them up so much, but then over-dramatically save characters like Finn in a stake that wasn't really worth it.
Well, maybe in the grand scheme of things, but whatever.
I would've rather seen more of Phasma and Snoke than be stuck with two dimensional characters like Poe, Finn, and Rose for half of the movie.
And back to her death scene and the comparison to TDKR - if someone ends up in a crash drop like that, they'll die at any given moment from internal bleeding.
Now, her's looked a lot faker here, and the whole Star Wars thing overrules the realism anyways.
The only reason I'm comparing the two because they received backlash from dumbasses on the internet who just ride on nitpicky claims that don't really matter in the end.
I guess the only difference is TDKR's nitpicks can be countered and debunked much easier, and I actually think a few of the one's for The Last Jedi, like the miracle shields and distance of the Rebel ship, logic of the force continuity in the series, and the Knights of Ren storyline that was tossed, and some underdeveloped relationship in plot points are actually valid, but whatever.
I think there is a great film in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and both times I've seen it now I've wanted to believe it, but the lack of interest in the characters already established, absence of aura from characters like Luke Skywalker in the film, relationships that don't feel developed and believable that are then wasted to move on to the next point quickly in this jam-packed movie that ended the same way it began with no real progression, and some contrivances and stupid moments in the plot that should've been re-written just bring it down big time.
And I'm not talking about the small things that don't matter.
I'm talking about the ones that do...
Also, last thing, Luke's 'death' scene was probably the most beautiful moment in Star Wars. Period.
He became one with the force, and died in peace, while giving all he had in hope, prosperity, and spirit to the true last jedi, to redefine that spark given to the resistance's last breath against the globalist tyranny of the First Order.
Remarkably concluded.