I *loved* it. I'm surprised it's getting such mixed reviews elsewhere, because I thought it was both great on its own terms AND as a remix of the Empire tropes it was playing with.

(The geography of the planet where the last bit takes place was fairly brilliant, with the layer of white over red salt allowing them to effectively start the final battle on Hoth and end it on Tatooine.)

And I teared up literally every time Carrie Fisher was onscreen.

My one plot complaint is that basically Poe is responsible for getting most of the Resistance killed, since he was the one who insisted on Finn and Rose going off on that mission, which led to Benicio del Toro, which led to him knowing about the Resistance transports and selling that information. Presumably, they wouldn't have known to scan for the cloaked ships otherwise.

I mean, why did Laura Dern's character have to withhold that information? Aside from the perfectly valid reason that she was in charge and he wasn't.

We saw The Last Jedi tonight, and I just want to know if anyone else went to a Farscape place when Holdo jumped to light speed. It reminded me SO MUCH of when Crais ordered Talyn to starburst in the Peacekeeper command carrier. Because I am a nerd.

I liked the movie, but damn, it was LONG. And I LOVED Rose.

It was long. I mostly enjoyed it, but I did have sundry little niggles.

First, why does every freaking movie have battle scenes that are just head-on slugging contests? Why do none of these people get creative with their tactics? It's all so boring. Also, if Leia is supposed to be a great general, why is she allowing herself to get trapped like this in a place with only one exit?

Second, why do the horse-rabbit-critters all look identical? They should have different colors and patterns.

Third, why do none of these filmmakers seem to understand about time and space? Like, Finn and Rose went all the way to another system, got captured, had adventures, and got rescued, in the six hours of time the fleet had left? What?

Space is huge; why do these movies try to make us think everything is next door to one another? It loses the wonder of the immensity of the whole freaking galaxy.

Fourth, Poe fucked up royally and nobody seemed to notice or mind. He got his whole bomber squadron killed when he defied orders, and then he led a freaking mutiny, and then he had absolutely NO operational security in his comms, so Benicio del Toro heard enough intel to sell to the First Order and kill 90% of the resistance fleet. And yet Leia thinks he's cute or something.

Fifth, I really wanted Leia to be more active in this, and I hated that she spent half the movie in a coma.

Sixth, when are they going to admit out loud that the Jedi were kind of fucked up and you can use the Force without being a Jedi? Does nobody remember Ahsoka Tano? Why such a black-white view of the universe?

Seventh, why bother casting Gwendolyn Brooks and never showing her face?

Eighth, I am very worried that we're going to get a Kylo Ren redemption. I'm glad we didn't get it in this movie, because he has done far more/worse things than kill his own father. But apparently nobody remembers that.

That said, I enjoyed a lot of it, I thought the cast was good, the fight scenes were great, and the visuals in some places were just stunning. I loved Rose. I loved Rose's restatement of the thesis: fight for what you love, rather than against what you hate.

As much as I like Laura Dern, she seemed a bit out of place.

Loved the porg and the crystal foxes.

I think we might get a Vader style Ren redemption in the end. Turns just in time to die.

I agree with all of your points, Consuela. Also, I guess the movie is trying to make me think something else, but I will never believe anything OTHER than that Rey and Kylo Ren are brother and sister.

Also, on a meta-level, I'm mad that Leia is the only one of the original three left. (Although I imagine Luke could still show up ala Yoda?)

Consuela, re: Sixth, didn't Luke tell Rey that the Jedi screwed up everything? It was in the middle of a lot of other "I messed up terribly and now everything's awful," but I thought he brought up the Jedi order as a whole, too.

But, yeah, I agree with your other points.

I definitely got "the whole order needs to go" more than "I flubbed it" from Luke, but that could easily have just been my take.

I thought it was absolutely hilarious in a totally not-commented-upon way that Luke made his force-projection self younger and thinner. I see you, Mr. My Ascetic Lifestyle Barely Covers My Vanity And Does My Ass Look Big In These Robes.

Loved Rose. Almost loved Holdo but they never gave her a chance to really be a developed character? It felt sort of "oh and hey here's the obvious person to be your new leader!". Maybe if I had any familiarity all with the extended universe stuff in between...

Cried like a tiny baby at the whole ending. All of it. Cried extra at little kids telling the legend with made-up action figures, but it was a happy cry that time.

Oh, man, the kids at the end! I yelped when the kid Force-grabbed the broom.