Let Go Of Your Hate

Rating: 8/10 (14 November 2018)

I made a reputation for myself for defending the Star Wars prequels, calling Revenge of the Sith the best film in the franchise and Attack of the Clones the 3rd best. That self-made reputation was largely negative. I'd often make the prediction that after the Lucas-free sequel trilogy, fans would beg for the return of George Lucas to take the reins back on this franchise. And with The Last Jedi getting undeniably the worst audience reception of any Star Wars film to date (The film has the worst audience rating of any Star Wars film on Rotten Tomatoes with 47%, with multiple fan videos proving the actual score may be even lower) and with Kathleen Kennedy and LucasFilm in panic mode, I can't help but smile and stifle a laugh at every hater who called me an "idiot" and a "fanboy" for defending the prequels. And all those people who doubted my predictions are probably biting their nails waiting for an absolutely righteous evisceration of The Last Jedi from yours truly. And believe me, I can't BEGIN to tell you how much I've been thinking about this day...And I can't in good conscience say it's a bad movie.
The biggest problem with The Last Jedi is Kylo Ren's 3rd act switch. I confess that as much I enjoyed The Last Jedi, I can't help but find satisfaction at the mental gymnastics people perform in order to justify Kylo's motivations for joining the Dark Side while slamming Anakin's. Anakin turns to the Dark Side to save a loved one, the only person who keeps him sane, and out of horror at a system that mistreated, condescended, manipulated and abused him his whole life. Kylo switches his personality from a fascist, dictatorial Sith who wants order and control in the first act to a nihilist Force Hipster who wants to rebuild society and abolish order in the 2nd. These two ideologies couldn't be more contradictory and make Kylo appear more shallow rather than more complex. It's a shame, because I actually found myself enjoying every other aspect of this character. I like how the film goes out of its way to portray him as an irredeemable, hard head psychopath instead of just going the easy route and making him another sympathetic, human Anakin Skywalker. Kylo Ren is very much his own character with considerably less humanity than Anakin and I found it refreshing to see a character like this played as a straight up bad guy rather than a sympathetic antivillain or tragic hero.
The film also suffers from an abundance of scenes that probably sounded great on paper, but fall flat in execution. Exploring how fascism affects the lower class in more ways than just blowing up planets? Showing Leia's force abilities? Yoda's return? In theory, all are genius ideas. In practice, we get Rose and Finn riding bunny horses through a casino (Kind of odd to have such a toyish scene in a film that's condemning capitalism), Mary Poppins Leia surviving the vacuum of space and the worst puppet model I've seen in years.
With all that being said though...I still can't call this a bad film. I still find Kylo and Rey's relationship fascinating in how Kylo's so blatantly irredeemable and yet Rey is still convincing herself otherwise out of morbid attraction. That level of naivety and ignorance gives Rey genuine character flaws that she severely lacked in The Force Awakens and pretty much addresses my Mary Sue complaint that I had with her character in that film. Kylo's blatantly abusive behavior and language being his sick way of being romantic is one of the strongest and most fascinating character traits he possesses. It made me want to learn more about this character.
I still think that Rose is a delightfully charming and energetic avatar for the fans, I love how wide eyed and excited she is about the world around her. The throne room scene was one of my favorite cinematic moments of last year. Kelly Marie Tran gives a wonderfully adorable and endearing performance and the obsessive backlash and hatred that she's gotten from sequel critics breaks my heart.
I even like the idea and execution of a fallible and breakable Luke Skywalker who has to redeem himself and rise to his former greatness. After years of prosperity, happiness and achievement, Luke had forgotten what it was like to lose. Kylo's potential turn to the Dark side caught Luke totally off guard. And he had neither the force of spirit nor force of will gained from times of constant struggle and emotional exercise, like he had in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, to keep his restraint, optimism and unconditional trust in those close to him in check. Yes, Luke having a moment of weakness after years and years away from struggle and emotional testing makes sense.
I'm not delusional enough to think we'll never get a bad Star Wars film. However, until we get a truly terrible film, I choose to wholly appreciate the Saga as it is for now; from its outstanding masterpieces to its underwhelming missed opportunities, I can't say there's a Star Wars film I view as an absolute failure. My message to fans has changed. I've matured as a person and so indeed has my mantra; let go of your hate. Even a messy Star Wars film is better than most crap on the market. There will come a time when the strength of this franchise fails. But that time is not today. And I choose to appreciate what we have and be happy until I no longer can be I get why people hate this film. Conversely, I get why people think it's a masterpiece. I agree with neither, but I'll respect your stance as long as you're not a big baby about it. Thank you.