Farce of the Force: The Last Jedi is not Star Wars movie, here's why

Rating: 2/10 (17 December 2017)

The Last Jedi is a very controversial movie in many ways. The decisions made by the writer/director can be discussed for a long time and we could find a lot of arguments pro and contra. However, right now I want to draw everyone's attention to the undeniable fact that The Last Jedi is not a movie in the Star Wars universe, at least not in the universe that has existed for 40 years.
Over the past 40 years, we've learned a lot about the world of Star Wars, and in particular how Force works. For the most part, every time we discovered new facts about Force, they fit into a existing picture. We learned new things, but this did not invalidate what we already know. This is how science works in our world - it always expands the horizons of the known, and does not turn everything upside down. The Last Jedi broke this tradition, at once throwing into the trash bin a lot of things what we though we knew about the Force in Star Wars.
Here are specific examples.
Example 1. It is possible to turn the light sabers on and off using Force. This invention of the The Last Jedi's writer enabled two quite effective scenes - Snoke's death and following spectacular duel in the throne room. Let us, however, think about what this means for the world of Star Wars.
For instance...
... Could Obi Wan in a duel against Darth Maul just Force turn-on Qui Gon's saber and slice his foe, still hanging over the ledge?
Or even...
... in any light saber battle of the past, could fighters just simply force turn-off opponent's sabers?
Or even...
.. could you just force turn-on lightsaber of your foe before duel even starts, while saber still hangs on your opponent's belt, and cut off his legs?
Simply put, if light sabers can be operated by Force, light saber duels, as we know them, are impossible.
Example 2. The Force allows the untrained user to fly through a space. Leia, supposedly fainting from shock, uses Force (in which she never trained - we will come back to this later) and returns to Rebel ship.
But then...
... why generations of Jedi and Sith could only use Force for higher and longer jumps, but never for flying?
... why Mace Windu, thrown out the window by the emperor, did not fly back, and did not finish off his opponent?
... why Palpatine, being a much stronger adept of the Force than Leia, could not fly out of the shaft he been thrown into?
If Force makes it possible to move in space at will, albeit with some speed limitations, half of the dramatic scenes in the first six movies become meaningless.
Example 3. The power allows you to directly communicate through huge distance. The most powerful Jedi and Sith, of whom we know from other movies and books, could only feel the disturbance of power or, at the very least, a strong emotional message like cry for help. But, according to The Last Jedi, Force can be used as Skype or Facetime - to talk directly and even see what the other person is wearing. This builds the whole story arc between Ray and Kylo Ren, but what does it mean for the Star Wars universe?
... why did not anyone know about this and did not mention it before? After all, this is the ideal tool for long range communication!
Example 4. Force ghosts can directly manipulate the real world. Yoda's ghost summon the lightning and pokes Luke with a stick - very impressive scene.
But ...
... if possible, why Yoda's or Obi Wan's ghosts did nothing against Emperor Palpatine. Strangled him in a sleep, maybe?
... why Anakin's ghost did not appear and didn't kick some sense into stupid head of his grandson?
All these examples, especially the last two, practically beg to give "very logical" answers to the question "Why something was not possible before, but it is possible now?" These are the answers:
because Snoke / Kylo Ren / Rey / Leia are more powerful in Force than those that were before!
because Yoda's ghost only now learned how to summon lightnings and didn't know how to do it before!
The latter answer, in fact, does not explain anything and opens such horrendous prospects for the future of Star Wars that I don't even dare to look in this direction.
The former, however, is quite interesting and worth to look into.
Rey and Leia as Force users are, strictly speaking, do not fit into the Star Wars canon at all. Of all the previous movies, we know that spontaneous use of Force is very rare, and even very talented adepts such as Anakin Skywalker are capable of very little things without training.
Leia, as far as we know, demonstrated some ability to use Force before, but never greater than a vague feeling of Luke's emotions. How did she learned how to fly?
Rey, as far as we know, is nobody from nowhere, but from the very beginning of Disney's era (The Force Awakens) she demonstrates abilities comparable to those that trained Force user Kylo Ren has. Later (The Last Jedi), Rey repeatedly uses force at Yoda's master level without even having the training that Luke had in Empire Strikes Back. How come?
Snoke's talents are also absolutely illogical. If he is such a powerful in Force with vast experience, so powerful that he is able to use Force even as a hologram projection (another example of what was previously unthinkable in the Star Wars universe, hence Example 5), why does he die so easily? Why would he even be on board a spacecraft and expose himself to any danger if he could simple appear as a projection and strangle a negligent officer? Or even do it with the rebels, huh?
All this, in general, has only one reasonable explanation.
Star Wars in The Last Jedi (and partly in The Force Awakens) is not the universe that existed 40 years before, a world with rules, laws and limitations, even for such an unthinkable thing as the Force.
The new Star Wars is the world of a bad comic book. Every new hero must have unique super abilities (Leia flies, Rey does everything at all). Every new villain must be more powerful than all previous villains (Snoke knows everything that the Sith of the past could not do). In the world of bad comics it is necessary - if the villain who was able to cast lightning from the eyes is defeated, the next villain can not just cast lightning from the eyes. He must be able to freeze or roast all around. The hero with a super suit should get an even better super suit in the next episode (hello, Captain Phazma, with the armor that can not be penetrated by blasters... why do not we make the same armor for all the stormtroopers and armor for spaceships as well? Example 6!).
But the universe of Star Wars has never been so. The villains were never just stronger, they were better prepared and they had good plans. Palpatine was not the most powerful Sith ever, he was a cunning manipulator and intriguer. The heroes never rose and never win at the expense of new tricks and gadgets. Obi Wan battled Anakin on Mustafar and won not by using some trick, but because he was more experienced and wiser. Luke was never a super-talented Force user or lightsaber duelist. He was just... kind and pure soul?
This, by the way, is also true for good comics. In Nolan's trilogy, Joker and Bane were not just stronger rivals for Batman because they had super abilities, which no one had before. They were better prepared and they had good plans. Batman himself found the strength to win not at the expense of new gadgets. He changed as a person.
However, Disney has chosen a different path for the new Star Wars saga. So get ready that in movies to follow we will see even more villainous villains who will do things unthinkable earlier and heroes who will be even more majestic and Mary Sue-er than ever. Without any explanation why, of course.
And may the farce be with you.