In December of 2019, anxious people like myself waited with bated breath for the final film of the Skywalker Saga to be released. Decades after the release of the original Star Wars films, we were ready to see the conclusion of the story.
Needless to say, things didn’t go as planned. Leaving the theatre, I found myself horrified by what had been created. Audiences had been constantly arguing over whether The Last Jedi was good or not (it was). The Rise of Skywalker opened up even more questions about whether the entire sequel trilogy was good.
So, I decided to take a stab at it and detail every main problem I had with the film (main because this article would get far too long if I nitpicked everything).
The Ugly Blue Filter Over the Majority of Shots
…Need I say more?
Now, I’m not saying that the whole movie was filtered this way. However, a majority of shots were and it detracted from how interesting everything else looked, as well as skewed our focus on the characters in the shot. The Last Jedi deserves more props for having a consistent colour theme without having to use a red filter as the chosen aesthetic.
Rose Becoming Little More Than a Footnote
One of my favourite parts of The Last Jedi was the character of Rose Tico; her character was interesting and helped Finn’s character grow in a way that he desperately needed – away from purely following after Rey, allowing him to find who he is as a member of the Resistance. Reducing her role to essentially a background character in this film was unjustified, especially after the kiss showed between her and Finn in The Last Jedi.
The Pace
I’m not sure how many people feel the same, but I felt as if the pace of this movie was far too fast. From the get-go, we are thrown into an action scene rather than the film taking any time to set up any of the character dynamics. Action scenes can be good, yes. But without any emotional weight to them, they have little meaning.
Ben Solo’s Death
The death of Ben Solo left me and many others frustrated. Yes, I was happy that he was redeemed and he and Rey are finally able to resolve their feelings for one another. However, I would have preferred if he did not die as it left the movie on a rather depressing note. Additionally, it seemed cheap to have his story end similarly to Darth Vader’s – Ben was still young and had life left to live. Instead of him passing away, I think it would have been interesting if he had been forced into exile – somewhere like Ahch-to where he could be solitary yet still alive.
Rey Skywalker
No words needed.
Overall, it is clear why this movie is ranked so poorly. I hope my reasons help you understand why I dislike it so much (or even inspire you to watch it again to pick it apart yourself)! However, I believe that the sequel trilogy as a whole had more positive aspects than negative, and I am excited to see what the future of the Star Wars universe will bring.