BAH *spoilers* (Off-Topic)

by Kermit , Raleigh, NC, Monday, December 18, 2017, 18:55 (2325 days ago) @ CruelLEGACEY

TFA made no story "sins" afaik other than being wildly uncreative.

The reliance on the 'mystery box' storytelling is the biggest sin in TFA, and the one Last Jedi has to pay for most.

I agree about JJ’s obsession with Mystery Boxes being bad, but I think TLJ actually closed those issues off in a smart and effective way. It doesn’t actually matter who Rey’s parents are. Nor does it matter where Snoke came from. Those points have nothing to do with the story being told in this movie. They were just cheap ways to get ultra fans worked up and theorizing.

Absolutely. But the negative reaction to the film largely seems to be on its seeming failure to indulge us with answers to the mystery box question.

No direspect to anyone who is upset about the lack of “satisfying revelations” on those points, but IMO that’s just fanboys/fangirls getting caught up in hype to the point that they’ve lost the point of the story.

The “I am your father” revelation in Empire was not impactful because the question of Luke’s parentage was inherently important... it was impactful because that specific relationship (father and son) changed the dynamic of everything that happened afterwards. But too many people are worked up about Rey’s parents just because it would be “cool” if she were related to Luke or Obi Wan or anything like that. But Johnson was smart enough to recognize that kind of thing as self indulgent and irrelevant to the actual story being told. More over, he played it into the main theme that hero’s can be anyone, from anywhere.

The Snoke thing actually pisses me off more, by which I mean I find it frustrating that people are knocking the movie over a lack of backstory around snoke. Like, who cares? Why does it matter? He’s another generic machevelian ultra-powerful puppetmaster. We’ve seen that villain countless times. We know what he wants. There’s nothing interesting to develop there. I was thrilled to see TLJ get him out of the way and shift the focus firmly on to Ren, who is a far more interesting character.

Well, there you go. I actually don't find any of the characters very interesting at this point, but I guess that's my problem. The two previous movies had a few moments at least that made me feel something. This one didn't, and I don't know why. (I was hopeful--Rian Johnson directed the best TV episode ever--but I just wasn't feeling it. Maybe a different day and different viewing.)

I do like that the Force is back up for grabs by anyone who believes in it. That's how it should be, Mr. Lucas (I can't forgive you, sorry.)