Episode 8: The Wasted Opportunity

Rating: 3/10 (17 January 2018)

At first, I didn't want to write this review, but this movie was such an injustice to the franchise that I couldn't hold back any longer. Before I continue, yes, as a fan, I had expectations, but those expectations were fanned by the lore created in TFA. If you didn't want the fans to have expectations regarding certain elements, which I will cover in this review, than you shouldn't have created the lore responsible for said expectations. We were given so much possibility for potential growth and Johnson destroyed all of it. For the sake of this review, I will only cover a few major issue I had with TLJ. I will not be covering Luke Skywalker cause as much as I didn't like his direction, it did match similar Jedi in the past like Ulic Qel-Droma (Redemption) and Jedi Master Lucien (KOTOR).
1. Snoke: In TFA, we are presented with a mysterious figure who is extremely powerful and yet he is not a Sith Lord. He has scars all over his face and what appears to be a saber slash. We know almost nothing about the origins of this dark figure or the methods he will use to complete Kylo Ren's training and thanks to Johnson, you'll never know. Despite how TFA ended, Kyle Ren is given zero training and Snoke is killed without any further development of his character. What could have been one of the most fascinating characters was turned into a 2 dimensional villain. How exciting!...
2. Rey: I loved Rey as a new character and her development was awesome. I felt she was a refreshing change for Star Wars and a symbol for young girls that even they can be heroes. She had an interesting lore regarding her mysterious connection to her force as well as who she was related to. Additionally, TFA set viewers up with all kinds of exciting possibilities regarding her training with Luke as well as her relationship with Finn. However, TLJ gives us barely any training time with Luke, her parents are literally nobodies and her natural connection to the force exists simply because? I understand that this portrayal of showing the world how even the underdog can be awesome was their intended direction after watching the film, but this idea has been done to death! Rey's origin story was completely underwhelming and left me feeling disappointed.
3. Leia: I know that Leia has a connection to the force based on what Luke said in ROTJ, but we are given absolutely zero explanation to how she used such advanced force techniques to save her life in the vacuum of space. Yes, it's been 30-40 years since ROTJ, but the books made it clear Leia was busy dealing with the New Republic where she then created the Resistance to salvage what ships she could since the New Republic was destroying all of the militaristic devices. So when did she has time to learn the techniques she used to save her life? At least have a voice over from Luke to establish she learned something from him. Instead, she conveniently has the ability to save her life in an impossible situation simply because.
4. Kylo Ren: As much as some people loved his character, still trying to understand why, Kylo Ren was just as whiny if not even more emotionally annoying than before. His character just seems to be there. He doesn't continue his training and whenever he tries to be terrifying, people just laughed. It's okay to add comedy, but Star Wars needs to be taken a little more seriously. Look at TESB, there was organic comedy that made the characters lovable. That being said, every evil character was dark, terrifying, and powerful. Their presence was memorable and redefined the presence of darkness. Whenever Kylo Ren threw someone, people just cackled which shouldn't be the reaction a dark lord gets.
5. Rose: I can't even say that name without getting angry. Her character was completely useless and a clear plug. According to Disney, she was a step forward for the Star Wars franchise because she's an Asian woman. How is this a step forward?! We already had several Asian leads, 2 of which were from Rogue one and they were amazing! We also had a female Asian Jedi Knight in TCW colosseum fight scene. Plus! We already have had several amazing female leads! So how is she a step forward?! *takes a breath* Furthermore, her character background is overly simplistic. She comes from hardship and slavery under the rule of the First Order. Because this idea of hardship has never been done before right? Then, after only knowing Finn, in person, for maybe 12 hours, she says she loves him?! Come on Disney! at least make your romance believable in a Star Wars film. Now some people defend her purpose in the film because she saved Finn's life, but had Luke never shown up to save the Resistance, the drill would have destroyed the door and the First Order would have killed everyone, which includes Finn. The reality is Rose was just a star struck emotional horny teeny bopper that wanted to get some and she didn't care about anyone else. Her character, as a whole, was annoying and pointless. She some how made Jar Jar look good and that's a terrible achievement.
I could say more, but these are my major beefs with TLJ. The reality is this movie focused on new characters that were either useless or boring and gave zero respect to the lore created in TFA. It's a disgrace to Star Wars and a movie I assure you will only be remembered as the worst Star Wars movie of all time.