JasonF

The video calls Kelly Marie Tran's character "Shrek." I don't see how you can describe it as anything other than mean-spirited and cynical. As for stupid, I'm not going to rewatch it to find examples, but it's very obvious that either he didn't understand the movie (unlikely) or he pretended not to understand the movie so that he could rip on things he didn't like (more likely).

Generally, I go to movies because I want to have a good time. I like liking things. And there was a lot to like in this movie.

So was TLJ perfect? Of course not. Neither was Empire or the original Star Wars or Godfather or Citizen Kane or any other movie or any other thing ever. So what? If you want me to talk about why I didn't like the tracking shots in the casino or the pacing of the fatheir escape, or my mixed feelings on the Luke/Rey relationship, sure. If you want me to listen to "I'm too cool for school" jokes about how porgs ruined the entire movie because there was one scene where a porg made a funny noise, then fuck it -- I've got better ways to spend my time.

JasonF

I think the PT had some great world-building and some great set-pieces (the chase through Coruscant at the beginning of Ep II is amazing), but it failed at what it was trying to do: actually tell a story, about actual people. For all the scope of the original movie, it was really about a single farm boy going off to war, not a detailed examination of every nuance of that war. We felt that boy's desire to be part of something bigger, to not be stuck in the middle of nowhere, and Lucas made us care about his journey. In the prequels, Lucas failed to make us care about Anakin, Padme, and Obi-Wan, even with the "cheat" of using characters we all already knew, and that's why those movies failed.

Franchot

I'd call it a joke, but I understand that a sense of humor is a very subjective thing...especially, a British sense of humor. (The reviewer is a Brit.)

(Actually, with today's political correctness climate and SJWs, the British humor of "taking the piss" can be especially irritating to some people.)

Michael Corvin

Just got back from my second viewing. I think it was even better than the first time. The casino, while still bad, was easier to digest. Superman Leia wasn't as corny. Those were basically my only gripes about my first viewing. Those and... Benicio DelToro is still the worst thing about this film.

The Cruiser hitting lightspeed through the Star Destroyer has to be my favorite scene. It was just epic.

Rose's little speech to Finn about fighting for what we love instead of against what we hate was a nice little parallel to Luke's story. He came back to fight for Leia instead of fight Kylo for the sake of fighting. The sunrise/sunset when Luke 'let's go' was also a nice callback to Leia's referenced line about hope and the sun.

Also Yoda interacting with the world was a setup for Luke pulling off what he did. He held Leia's hand and gave her a physical item, the dice. I just loved the scene of Yoda giving a hard headed Luke one final lesson. It was very touching during the second act.

It's mind boggling. It kinda along the same lines of our political landscape where a leader repeats falshoods enough that people actually start believing his opinion.

Agreed. Those were truly bad films. Bad scripts, bad dialog, bad acting, bad direction. It was just bad across the board. The PT really is in a world all its own.

Mondo Kane

The Star Wars Holiday Special has gone on to become more respected than the prequels. With OT nostalgia at its peak right now, it wouldn’t surprise me if Disney finally releases this.

fujishig

I tracked it down to watch with my four year old this holiday season. I endured it just to watch the Boba Fett cartoon, but whoever thought it was a good idea to have the main characters as wookies without translating what they say... ugh. Also if you thought Carrie Fisher was bad in this movie...

Hokeyboy

Funny. I listened to Smith's review of BvS and while he enjoyed the movie, he was VERY quick to point out its flaws.

I enjoyed BvS as well. Oops there goes my credibility

Orbi-Wan Techno

Just back from my second viewing, this time at a domed IMAX theater. Completely different experience, but now knowing the weakest parts of the film actually helped me enjoy the movie more than I did the first time. Agree with ALL of the above, this time the casino scenes played like a Junior Star Wars adventure book.

slop101

JeremyM

As bad as the prequels can be, they never approach the depths of the Holiday Special.

Supermallet

Did they set up Finn and Rey romantically though? Finn seemed interested in Rey but I don’t think Rey seemed romantically interested in Finn at all. There is the shot in TLJ of Rey looking at Finn as he covers Rose with a blanket but it seemed to me more like a shot meant to emphasize how much their paths have diverged and less of a romantic longing on Rey’s part.

TomOpus

What was that like? I've seen the short IMAX documentaries in a domed theater but I don't know about watching a full-length film that way.

spsimmons

In my initial disappointment with this film on preview night, I voted this a 1 1/2 star movie. I just watched it for a second time with my expectations in check and with a heads up to some of the massively stupid things that occur during the movie, and I would now rate it much higher. I was able to enjoy it and would probably now put it on par with The Phantom Menace and above Attack of The Clones and above Rogue One. I would change my rating if I could and give it a 3 1/2 stars.

Hokeyboy

You dun goofed, son. You went with the WRONG genocidal dictator. And for that, you must suffer. You have to watch BvS again.

Orbi-Wan Techno

To quote my son, “I guess I have to go see it again on a flat screen so I know what the ships really look like.”

Extremely distorted image, hard for me to watch...

BigPete

Just got back from seeing it with the wife. When I booked the tickets on Sat, the theater was practically sold out for the next 7 days. At least it’s a reserved seating joint, so even at capacity it’s not that bad.

I’ll give the film a 3/5. It wasn’t bad, but there also wasn’t any magic for me. The story unfolded in a predictable pattern, the humor was telegraphed, and the spectacles weren’t spectacular. I had the same problems with Thor Ragnarok and GotG vol 2. They just didn’t click.

And WTF was up with Yoda? I don’t care that he was goofy, I was pissed that they didn’t get Frank Oz to do his voice - but they did. It was worse than the shitty Kermit, Fozzy, and Miss Piggy in “The Muppets”.

Michael Corvin

I thought Yoda was better than he's been since ROTJ. Far better than what they gave us in the PT. I thought he looked just like OT Yoda and thought Oz was fantastic. Also, the dude is 73. His voice is gonna be a bit different than it was at 40.

kefrank

He did look just like OT Yoda because they used the original molds for the puppet and did everything exactly the way it was done in the OT. I thought that scene was one of the best moments of the movie.

BigPete

Definitely no complaints with the appearance, they got that one right by me.

Brack

I get GotG2 being a bit disjointed at times, but Ragnarok was like a fine-oiled machine of a movie for me. It’s just so weird and absurd, but the funniest thing I’ve seen in years, and the action off the charts. But hey, not for everybody.

Breakfast with Girls

I agree with them, too. I had a mixed reaction at the end of the film. The key point they make that I agree with is that there's not a single character or plot development to anticipate in Episode IX. All they've set up is Resistance vs. First Order and Rey vs. Kylo Ren.

I've also grown tired of how oppressive the recent Star Wars movies have been. The original trilogy had big threats, but it remained fun. The Force Awakens, Rogue One, and now The Last Jedi are just so relentlessly dark. I wouldn't have been shocked at the end of The Last Jedi if the First Order killed everyone. Like, that's it. The end. The First Order wins. It would have felt like the natural conclusion, honestly.

Brack

Actually there’s a lot of different ways Episode IX can go. The Resistance is hopeful but tiny in numbers. How the heck are they going to bounce back. Will Kylo just go Solo (pun intended) and forget trying to recruit Rey, since the Master and Apprentice partnerships always fall apart, or will he start up the Knights or Ren? Possible Poe/Rey relationship. Maybe those ideas sound boring to you, but I like how up in the air everything is. Not trying to convince you, just pointing out that the story could go anywhere at this point. The characters are interesting enough that I care what happens one way or another.

gryffinmaster

Smith's credibility has taken a hit over the past decade, but there's still plenty of insight coming from him that's worth taking to heart. For instance, he helped put together this video a few years back about the movie that started it all, which should bring some of the "objectively bad" attitudes toward The Last Jedi back down to earth.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/l6sdpH5N1c0" frameborder="0" gesture="media" allow="encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Mike86

It really is weird. You can definitely tell it’s an organized effort to bring the film down too. Someone made a video showing how bot reviews messed up and wound up on an entirely different movie’s review section. There’s no way that fifty two percent is an accurate representation of the audience score for this. The people who hate this film really hate it.

I saw the film a second time last night and I feel like this is a film that benefits from multiple viewings. After getting past the expectations I had in my mind being somewhat broken I enjoyed the film even more for what it was. I liked it a lot the first time around as well but some things I was a bit taken aback by (mainly how different Luke was compared to what I had built up in my mind that I thought he’d be) whereas this time I knew what to expect and wasn’t bothered. I really appreciated Driver as Kylo more the second time around. I’ve never really had an issue with him but he really upped his game from The Force Awakens and you can see the character evolving. Same with Daisy Ridley as Rey. Hamill again is just at the top of his game and while Luke wasn’t exactly what I expected I really did enjoy his arc and feel like him being this guy that’s cut himself off from everyone was really interesting. I can see being disappointed in him not being portrayed differently but I feel like a good job was done explaining how he got to the point he’s at and viewing himself as a failure. I do wish Finn’s story didn’t feel so tacked on. I thought his arc was more interesting in The Force Awakens whereas in this he seemed like an afterthought. It’s not even that I necessarily hated his and Rose’s subplot but it didn’t add a lot to the film and I do feel like the length of the movie is felt a bit and I think that subplot is a good chunk of what could have been trimmed a bit.

Overall still a really strong film. Not perfect but I definitely think it’s a worthy entry to the franchise.

TGM

actually I got sucked in by Smith's hour and half review of the movie... I change my mind... he was critical enough for me and what he would have done differently seems to jive with how I feel. different strokes for different folks... he dug it more than I did... that's cool. Despite the every other word F bomb I enjoyed his take immensely.

there are some spectacular scenes in this movie... the bombing run (despite bombs in space), the row of Rey's... Chewie smashing down the door... Luke on board the Falcon... the interaction with R2... the young Leia hologram... the barrage of Gorilla AT-AT fire reigning down on Luke... the lightspeed ramming job (but damn how powerful if Akbar was the one to sacrifice himself)... old school Yoda... the elite guard fight... the shock of Snoke being killed... lots of good stuff here.

and while there's a list of stuff I hated... Phasma being a bitch... space flying Leia, the whole casino sequence... my distaste for the movie simply boils down to the fact that I just don't appreciate this path for Luke... it just feels like Luke was done dirty. Now ep9 can fix this.... ep9 also needs to bring back Billy Dee. I'm still urked that these movies are done piecemeal and it shows... why there wasn't a coherent 3 story arc outline after all of these years is a travesty.