John Boyega declares The Last Jedi the “worst” of his Star Wars movies
"But they're all lovely," Boyega said—before shooting a bit of side-eye at the camera
Aux News John Boyega
John Boyega has had a complicated relationship with the Star Wars franchise over the last few years; although he’s obviously acknowledged the way the sequel trilogy of movies helped bring him to international fame, he’s also been unabashed about expressing that the Disney movies’ non-white characters ended up sidelined in favor of serving the stories of Daisy Ridley’s Rey and Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren.
None of which has stopped Boyega—who would be out on the promo trail right now, stumping for his new sci-fi comedy They Cloned Tyrone, were it not for the SAG-AFTRA strike—from putting forward some serious, and seriously spicy, thoughts on Episodes VII through IX this week. Specifically, Boyega did a pre-taped interview with First We Feast’s Truth Or Dab: Rapid Fire, where he fielded a series of quick Hot Ones-style questions, the most controversial of which was when he was asked to rank the three Star Wars movies he appeared in.
Boyega, who’s charming throughout video, appears positively gleeful at the prospect of stirring a bit of franchise shit up, and rattles off his rankings with the ease of someone who had this hierarchy close at hand. Number one, with a bullet? The Force Awakens, “most definitely the best.” The Rise Of Skywalker comes in second. “And then the worst—in the most respectful sense—is Episode VIII. But they’re all lovely.” Boyega then shoots a bit of side-eye for the benefit of the camera, suggesting he wasn’t entirely enamored of his character Finn’s very long side trip to Canto Bight in Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi.
So, there you have it: A personal and respectful ranking of these three films, which will definitely not cause the entire internet to implode in the manner that basically every argument about the relative merits of the sequel trilogy has over the last decade or so of online movie-going fandom.
167 Comments
He really hated having to work with an Asian woman, didn’t he?
Well, you learn something new every day, I would never guessed that based on Rian Johnson’s appearance.
Yes that’s why he… cast her.
Just say you don’t like Asians (and apparently black people), Ant, instead of projecting it on someone else.
Not at all what he said. And, you know, fuck off.
He’s said many, many times that he hated being “stuck” with Rose.
That means he could have hated the romantic pairing or was referring to the Canto Bight plot, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t like working with Asian people and I’m sure you know that and are just baiting but damn it I’m falling for it.
Now come on. Suggesting he only didn’t like the Rose plot because of Kelly-Marie’s race is as reductive and basic as when those guys say The Little Mermaid ‘23 is bad because of Ariel’s race. We can do better than this.
I mean, it’s almost like there were other factors to all of that.
I could see Rian Johnson hating working with Asian people and PoC in general based on Canto Bight and Rian’s love of the idiot trope.
When you were hired explicitly to romance the white female lead? Then the Asian girl is cut in the next film to appease racists?Cant imagine why he’s salty.
lol. I mean, sure. I can see how for him TLJ didn’t give him much to do. But The Rise of Skywalker actually provoked a genuine emotional reaction in me. Where I just left TLJ cold and indifferent, I was actually insulted by how stupid J.J. Abrams thought his audiences were. It is an incoherent story that tries to tie up a nine-movie saga and instead doesn’t conclude anything satisfyingly. But they’re all lovely.
The Last Jedi is a poor man’s Battlestar Galactica crossed with a poor man’s Lord of War.The Rise of Skywalker was that time I found a massive shit left in a toilet in Hammersmith and my trying to flush it just led to the toilet starting to overflow.
The Last Jedi is the cool guy at the party who is really stylishly dressed and looks like he has shit together. Then you talk to him and you realized that he is a pompous dipshit with a college freshman’s understanding of dramatic structure and tension.
I can add nothing to your depiction of The Rise of Skywalker. It is absolutely perfect.
This sounds like projection.
Lol, I wish I was the cool guy who is really stylishly dressed.But I am disappointed you didn’t use your reply to defend that overlong pretentious boring slog of a movie. I especially like the “It’s a brilliant deconstruction of the Jedi mythology”.
Silly me I thought it was an excuse to watch someone slowly chase someone else for nearly two hours, and then watch them slowly escape to planet where they trap themselves. I am not worthy of such an incredible script blessed by the hand of god.
Don’t worry. Cool and stylish or not, you can still be the pompous dipshit with a college freshman’s understanding of dramatic structure and tension. watch someone slowly chase someone else for nearly two hoursIf that were the only thing that happened in The Last Jedi, you might have a point. But that’s just the setup to tell other stories and not anywhere close to the sole focus of the film. You can make any film sound shitty by derisively describing the basic concept in a sentence or two. “An aging mafia don with shitty kids fights with rival gangs for three hours.”“A reporter tries to find out what some rich asshole’s last words meant.”“Three guys wander around an empty landscape trying to find a magic room that grants wishes.”Not to say that The Last Jedi is as near-perfect as those three films, but being a dismissive dick isn’t a good or smart way to talk about a film’s flaws, such as they may be.I would not say that The Last Jedi is “a brilliant deconstruction of the Jedi mythology,” though there’s certainly some deconstruction in there. Rather, I’d say that it’s a great example of how to subvert audience expectations and bring new flair to a stale property. Johnson opened all of JJ’s mystery boxes in unexpected ways and moviegoers who’d rather be spoon-fed nothing but comfortable nostalgia lost their shit. The movie features some outstanding visuals, including the single best action scene in the entire franchise by a wide margin. The idea that it gives Finn nothing to do when he has a pretty major sidequest, finds a new love interest, grows as a character, and defeats his primary antagonist is, quite frankly, absurd. His story is also a major part of supporting up the larger themes of the film, giving us a glimpse of the military industrial complex that profits from these endless star wars for the first time and introducing the kid who Johnson uses to say, “ancestry isn’t destiny.” Which is a pretty salient statement in a film series that’s been so focused on a single family and in the larger context of Fantasy literature and the larger canon going back to Aristotle. Of course Abrams walked it back immediately in his botched abortion of a follow-up.But I’ve already spent too much time crafting an actual response to a comment that didn’t deserve one.
It was a brief summation because writing about all the problems of TLJ would take way tooo long.The idiotic chase is completely relevant since it happens for the majority of the movie. It’s trying to emulate something like a chase in a western where the bad guys are chasing the good guys and catch them before they get to the fort where they are safe.That works because there is something called the horizon. It creates tension. Are the bad guys going to appear at any moment? Cut to the bad guys who every morning see a fire that warmed the good guys. First day it is stone cold. Next day it has embers still glowing. Third day it is smoking. They are clearly closing the gap.
Then when the fort appears at the same time the bad guys clear the hroizon, its a chase to to the fort. Real tension and an exciting conclusion.Contrast to the TLJ weak sauce. They slowly chase them. And slowly chase them. When they are on the screen they look like they are rising the rebel’s bumper. It looks like two senior citizens on rascals. It’s a joke.
“The movie features some outstanding visuals, including the single best action scene in the entire franchise by a wide margin.”
Outstanding visuals are meaningless as a defense. Michael bay has gorgeous shots and Zach Synder has some incredible visuals but it doesn’t redeem their crap movies.I am guess the best action scene you are referring to is the pointless little skimmers running to meet the Neo Empire. And I say pointless because THEY know its pointless. Before it starts, and in the middle of it. It screams of “I got a really cool looking scene, bro!” Does it materially change the end? Nope. If it never happened would the story have changed? Nope. They still escape though the backdoor. That is something I expect from Bay not the great Deconstructionist.I could go on and keep pointing out the serious flaws of this pretentious movie but I spent too much time crafting an actual response to a comment that didn’t deserve one
Just chiming in on this fight to say that I will never, ever understand why TLJ gets so many folks in their feelings.Fucking YEARS on, and mild quips about the flick are being met with essay-length treatises on why it is good, actually, and you’re bad for quipping in such a glib manner.You figure we’d be able to ally against the REAL steaming pile: RotSW.
TLJ is my pet peeve in the same manner of Synder’s Justice League.They are both a bad films, not the same level of bad but both bad in their own way. If you like them just say you like them. But these arguments that somehow the rest of us “don’t get” the “brilliance” of these films is pure pretension.Just because TLJ isn’t as bad as TROS doesn’t make it good.
For the record, there are plenty of reasons why someone could “get” The Last Jedi and still not like it. But when people make bad, lazy arguments about it, I have a right to point out how they’re bad and lazy.
To be fair, I originally just responded to his dickish quip with a dickish quip of my own. I only wrote an essay-length treatise after he responded with more specifics. Not to say that I don’t agree with your overall point that I have spent too many minutes of my life defending this one specific film than I rightly should have. But I really do think it’s a great film and it’s difficult to ignore entire threads of people circlejerking over how much it supposedly sucks.
I feel ya. My comment wasn’t over just this exchange, as it seems like TLJ just makes fans want to get the knives out. I’ve been thinking about why, and the best I have is that it’s a case of the old fans wanting what they loved vs. the new fans wanting something (ANYTHING) different. Seeing as the product in question could practically be the source material for an actual church of fandom, that tracks.
makes fans want to get the knives outI see what you did there.
HAH! Integrity demands that I not take credit for that. Happy accident. 😀
Amen!
Ooh I know. It’s because everyone has an idea of what Star Wars should be, in their head and TLJ is exactly what 30% of the audience wants and the literal opposite of what the remainder wants. And everyone’s right.And that’s the main problem with it. Star Wars should be (adequately) sophisticated, mainstream fun that rides the line between the two audiences. TLJ picked a side and it understandably polarised everyone.
I never said the chase wasn’t relevant. I said it’s not the only thing that happens in the movie. In fact, it’s only a small part of the film despite being the framework on which its laid. Your criticism of the way that chase plays out is mostly fair, though I don’t agree that it’s completely lacking in tension, but again, you’re making your entire case based on one element of a much larger film. The fact that it plays out slowly over the course of the entire film doesn’t mean it’s effectiveness or lack thereof should be the sole determining factor on whether the movie works or not. It’s a really shallow criticism. Outstanding visuals are meaningless as a defense.They’re actually not. Film is a visual medium. While I’m not a fan of Bay or Snyder, there are plenty of movies that look really great and don’t do much else that I’d still recommend. Focusing on plot above all else and acting like the visuals are secondary is some YouTube-level CinemaSins bullshit. And I wasn’t even saying that the visuals are all The Last Jedi has to offer. I was simply praising that one aspect among the many I appreciate about it. I am guess the best action scene you are referring to is the pointless little skimmers running to meet the Neo Empire.I was not, actually. I was talking about the throne room fight scene, which is truly excellent in conception and aesthetics and absolutely vital to the plot. As far as the Battle of Crait goes, the fact that the Resistance is overwhelmed by a bigger force and doesn’t have any real hope of succeeding in their attack doesn’t make it pointless at all. How do you even watch film if you think every film where someone tries to accomplish something and fails is automatically pointless? That’s just not how stories work at all. Even still, they succeed in holding off the First Order long enough for them to escape. A child could understand that. Not sure how you can opine about chase scenes from old Westerns and miss something so basic.
“The fact that it plays out slowly over the course of the entire film
doesn’t mean it’s effectiveness or lack thereof should be the sole
determining factor on whether the movie works or not. It’s a really
shallow criticism.”It’s not the slowness that’s the issue. Michael Meyers walks very slowly in the first Halloween. A brisk walk can literally get you away from him. It’s when he is gone that makes it scary and adds tension. You know he is somewhere, still walking towards you. A good director doesn’t need to show him all the time to create tension. It drives the movie that he can be anywhere and can show up at anytime. If the audience isn’t scared that he is going to show up it makes the movie less effective and is a valid criticism.Contrast with the chase in TLJ which in spite of your attempts to minimize it drives a majority of the film, all the way to the planet. The First Order are going to wipe them out and should justify their desperation in trying to save our heroes. Except no tension. Just two old people on rascals on a joy ride. Don’t tell me it’s a desperate situation, show me.
If you want it seen done right go watch the first episode of Battlestar Galatica. Cylons show up every 33 minutes. Is this the time they don’t show up? Countdown clock, did they set it right maybe it’s off. etc. The Cylons are barely in it and they drive that whole episode and motivate everyone’s decisions.
“Film is a visual medium. While I’m not a fan of Bay or Snyder, there are
plenty of movies that look really great and don’t do much else that I’d
still recommend. Focusing on plot above all else and acting like the
visuals are secondary is some YouTube-level CinemaSins bullshit.”Recommending something because it looks good is different than defending it as good. Saying film is a visual medium to try to defend against poor script writing or plotting is the bullshit. Script, and writing in general should be primary because otherwise you can just throw up random images on the screen and call it good. A good script in the hands of a good director and cinematographer can lead to a good to great film. A poor script in the hands of a good director and cinematographer just leads to a film with pretty images and scenes but a mediocre movie which describes TLJ.
Even still, they succeed in holding off the First Order long enough for
them to escape. A child could understand that. Not sure how you can
opine about chase scenes from old Westerns and miss something so basic.
That pointless attack didn’t hold them back at all. All it did was look cool. I don’t even think they broke their stride and were ready to roll up and wipe them out. Super-force ghost Luke held them back so they could escape. Even a child could understand that, I am not sure how you can miss something so basic.
I thought The Last Jedi was the only one of the new trilogy that had any artistry tbh. And yes, this is exactly right: “Johnson opened all of JJ’s mystery boxes in unexpected ways and moviegoers who’d rather be spoon-fed nothing but comfortable nostalgia lost their shit.” The Force Awakens was too much like the original movies and The Rise of Skywalker was whatever that was.
TLJ is a brilliant movie, it’s just not a great Star Wars movie, and it’s not even kind of interested in functioning as the second part of a trilogy.
I don’t totally agree. I think there were plenty of good places that the third director could have taken the franchise afterwards while not totally negating everything that Johnson had done. While Colin Trevorrow may not be the best director, his Duel of the Fates script should serve as a clear example that The Last Jedi could have absolutely been a good middle point to a strong trilogy.
Don’t get me wrong, a better sequel than Rise could definitely have been made from TLJ, I just think Johnson was concerned with making “his Star Wars movie”, way more than the middle part of a tale. The closing shot is emblematic of that; it’s a beautiful visual homage to every 80’s kid who ever pretended a broom was a lightsaber, but it’s a period where there ought to be a…My main issue with his approach to the trilogy was what he did to the First Order. Again, fine in terms of the movie itself, but now you’ve got a concluding film with a start point of dead / irrelevant Snoke, comedy Hux, and a dude on an obvious redemption arc. The Resistance has diminished but the specific threat has become confused (if it hasn’t totally evaporated), at a point where it should’ve escalated.
I don’t think Kylo was on an obvious redemption arc at all though. Abrams had him on a redemption arc, but I don’t think that was Johnson’s goal. In my mind, the redemption arc should have been over with Kylo taking over for Snoke as the new big bad. Trying to make him another Darth Vader to be redeemed at the end was completely hacky and the final movie would have been much better if they’d gone in a different direction and let him stay bad.I get what you’re saying about broom kid I guess. But why not take that and run with it? Have Rei gather up force-sensitive kids and start a new school to raise up Jedi warriors. Meanwhile, Finn is fomenting a stormtrooper rebelion to attack the First Order from within. Kill off Leia between movies and let Poe take over as the new leader, growing into the role and trying to figure out why the allies they hoped would appear never showed up while forging new alliances. It’s all right there.
Would it have been better though? I agree that the redemption arc was hacky but “he’s just the bad guy and they beat him” sounds alarmingly conventional. Again, there were infinitely better ways they could’ve handled it than Rise did but it’d have been easier to do something interesting if TLJ hadn’t left them with one villain who’s motivations and intentions aren’t now entirely clear. It resolved way more stuff than it set up. I’m fine with the Snoke thing (somewhat less fine with the Hux thing) but *add* something, rather than just taking away. I just feel like, yep, lots of other things could’ve happened after TLJ, but how many of them would’ve made for a satisfying Star Wars finale?
Well being better than The Rise of Skywalker is a very low bar, but I don’t think you need a villian to be mysterious or have a redemption arc to be interesting. I think it would have been fascinating to see what Kylo’s version of full-on evil would have looked like and what his next steps would have been. I get not liking the shift in Hux, but I don’t see why him being more comical and ineffectual means he couldn’t have been an entertaining character still.Johnson was also setting it up for Leia to have a bigger role in the third movie, which would have given each of the original core cast members a chance to shine in one film. We could have seen her stand up to Kylo, conflicted by still loving him, and perhaps explore her latent force powers. But obviously that wasn’t able to happen due to Carrie Fisher’s untimely death.
My point with Hux is that if they hadn’t totally defanged him, it would’ve added more narrative possibilities with Kylo. I mean it’s Star Wars; _someone’s_ on a redemption arc(!) and someone needs to be the villain. And I don’t think the text of TLJ sets Kylo up to go full bad, even if that’s what a theoretical other sequel would’ve done. Again, they could’ve still done it but I don’t think Johnson did much to help them set it up.This kinda goes back to my original point of TLJ being great but not a great Star Wars film. I personally would really enjoy the kind of sequel you’re describing but I also think it would’ve been as divisive as TLJ. And as much as I like TLJ, I don’t think mainstream Star Wars films should be as divisive as TLJ.
“it’s not even kind of interested in functioning as the second part of a trilogy”Exactly. Wrath of Khan was clearly meant as a reset and didn’t follow the story of STTMP at all. Which it could do because STTMP wasn’t meant to start a trilogy and didn’t leave off on basically a cliff-hanger.If you don’t want to follow the first film, don’t make the movie.
Yeah, TLJ certainly has issues, but it’s also the only one that doesn’t have numerous and blatant plot parallels to one or more of the original three. TFA being the apparent consensus best of the new trilogy is why I think I’m done with Star Wars for a while. It’s not even bad, per se, it’s just so close to the first movie as to be almost a soft remake.
Wait, what. TLJ is a direct rip off of Empire. – Fighting on a planet covered in white in order to extend the time for people to escape. – The villains tracking down and chasing the protagonists through space.- The young jedi goes and seeks out training from the reclusive older jedi – The young jedi running off to go and help their friends- The young jedi confronts and battles the antagonist pursuer
I’ll give you the obvious Luke/Yoda echoes, but “the bad guys and the good guys fight in space” lacks the specificity of “A guy who looks a lot like Darth Vader is building something that looks and sounds a lot like the Death Star, and he’s being resisted by a hot shot pilot, a defector from the fringes of an Empire-like organization, a couple of droids, and a potential jedi who is implied to be a Skywalker, who eventually destroy it.”
But I concede that this is mostly a matter of degree, and Star Wars as an entity has a terrible habit of repeating itself.
Not to say that The Last Jedi is as near-perfect as those three films
Well that is outright insulting to the art of filmmaking, as it is a profoundly lazy movie. including the single best action scene in the entire franchise by a wide marginThis is in no way close to being accurate. Unless you are talking this grouping of three movies. Even then, I would argue that the Jakku, Star Destroyer; Falcon vs Tie sequence is more thrilling, engaging, and better directed. What happens in TLJ is like the big firework finally going off. Yes, it is big and loud, but it is only big and loud. It is nothing interesting or special, just a blunt instrument, while the rest of the fireworks have an artistry, a flow, a rhythm. The idea that it gives Finn nothing to do when he has a pretty major sidequest, finds a new love interest, grows as a characterIt may give him those things to do but they are all pointless and useless. His entire story was tacked on as an afterthought, a “oh right we have JB, forgot about him. I guess we got to give him something to do” The entire Canto makes no internal sense for the movie, it also highlights the insanity of the “we cant get away” chase, which was already beyond laughable as it was playing out. It is such a departure from the rest of the films tone that it feels like getting hit in the face with a brick. No, the “military industrial complex” is not interesting or compelling. The movie does nothing with it, before or after. There is no mystery around it, no investigation, no playing a part in what follows. It is a throw away segment for filler. The whole love interest had no flow to it, there was no chemistry, there was no connection. There really is no growth for the character, they have to have story for that. Yes the movie had him do things, but there was no story there. It was more of an NPC off doing an action. defeats his primary antagonist
Which is something that did not happen. Outside of the choreography and whole set up of the confrontation being poorly staged. It was the ship falling apart that defeats Phasma, not Finn. Finn just happened to be there.90% of that film is flaws, internal with story and with the craft of it, some really sloppy technical work. Yes, it is trying to “break down the Jedi” and the conversation pieces between Rey, Luke, and Yoda make that work. Arguable the only thing that works in the movie, defiantly the only thing that feels like they spent any time on when it came to the script. When they are actually having those discussions the theme works, it is the rest of the training and what follows that lessens the messaging.
Well that is outright insulting to the art of filmmaking, as it is a profoundly lazy movie.The fuck are you talking about? It’s insulting to the art of filmmaking to say that The Godfather, Citizen Kane and Stalker are better movies than The Last Jedi? It is nothing interesting or special, just a blunt instrument, while the rest of the fireworks have an artistry, a flow, a rhythm.I completely disagree. There is a ton of artistry, flow, and rhythm in the throne room fight. If you want to say that the original Death Star battle is better, I can understand that. The way it’s cut is pretty brilliant. But there is certainly nothing in the sequel trilogy nor the prequel trilogy that looks half as good as that scene. The opening attack scene is quite good as well, though it doesn’t stand out as much. The other scenes you mention are fine. Abrams has some skill as a director. But they’re pretty standard action-adventure scenes. Nothing special or memorable about them. It may give him those things to do but they are all pointless and useless.This is such a tired complaint. The fact that a character failed to accomplish their initial goal doesn’t mean the storyline was pointless. The entire Canto makes no internal sense for the movieSure it does. There are clear goals that are part of the larger goals of the film and I already pointed out how it ties in thematically. You’re just shaking your head and saying, “Nuh-uh!” No, the “military industrial complex” is not interesting or compelling. The movie does nothing with it, before or after.Whether it’s compelling or interesting is completely subjective. I personally find it compelling and interesting to see a part of the universe that we haven’t seen before that deepens the story and ties it more into the real world we live in. You’re right that there’s no follow-through, but presumably that could have come in the next movie if Abrams wasn’t so committed to undoing everything that Johnson had set up. It also could have been explored in the additional trilogy from Johnson that Disney promised that is clearly not happening now. Even if there were no further follow-up, not every detail presented in a movie has to turn into a huge story at that very moment for it to be significant and add depth. The whole love interest had no flow to it, there was no chemistry, there was no connection.I disagree. I have reservations about how it ends with him throwing himself at the enemy in a suicide mission attempt, but the two of them work well together as a couple. There really is no growth for the characterAt the end of The Force Awakens, Finn had established a relationship with Rei, but he really had no established connection to or loyalty to the Rebellion as a group. They had previously been his enemies. While you certainly could have hand-waved him as completely on board with the Rebellion in the next film, Johnson took that uncertainty and created a character arc out of it, taking Finn from loyal to Rei to loyal to the Resistance, all while establishing a new character for him to care about and having him defeat his nemesis. You can say that you didn’t like the direction Johnson took the character, but to say there’s no growth or change is just factually incorrect. they have to have story for that. Yes the movie had him do things, but there was no story there. It was more of an NPC off doing an action.I literally have no idea what this means. It’s a story. There are actions taken with a clear goal in mind. There are consequences, both narratively and in terms of character. Canto Blight wasn’t my favorite part of the movie, but this is just indefensible nonsense. It was the ship falling apart that defeats Phasma, not Finn. Finn just happened to be there.LOL This is such nitpicky bullshit. They’re fighting. He hits her and hurts her. She falls to her death as a consequence. You’re not even trying to be honest or fair to the movie.
No, it was insulting to suggest TLJ is anything near to as good as those movies. TLJ is 17 miles of film reel away from those movies you mention. That is at least how I read your comment, with the language you used.The Throne room fight is one of the most egregious aspects of the movie. Does it look great, with the colour tone. Absolutely. The issue is the absolutely atrocious choreography. Blatant lack of contact, characters clearly in frame standing around waiting to attack while there is a perfect opening to do so. I quite literally laughed out loud in the theatre with how poorly executed it was. There are vastly better action pieces in the other movies. Even the arena fight in Attack of the Clones is better executed than the throne room scene. The storyline was pointless because it did not fit in with the movie. In made no in universe or in movie sense. Having Finn run off, while back on the ships they talked about how they had no way to get away/could not jump to lightspeed. It was a useless subplot based on a weak premiss. Meanwhile you are nodding your head and saying “yah-uh”It is part of the universe we have never seen before, and had the story led into it, or used aspects of it after it would have worked. The movie never did that. It just dropped this information off and then was never brought up again by the characters. Sure, had things been different maybe it would have been brought up again. But to make it such a stand out point and then have your character forget it happened 5 min latter is not good writing. It would have worked better if in the lead up, talk about the MIC happened or there was some story aspect before hand that would have facilitated its involvement in the story. As it stands, it was just dropped in to an already poorly thought out side quest. The two of them have some of the worse chemistry and interaction ever put to screen. There is no growth with Finn. It is my firm belief that RJ completed forgot he was in the movie until filing started and JB showed up on set and then he realized he needed to have him do something in the movie. The entire Finn “plot” is ham-fisted and awkward to the rest of the movie. There is no growth with Finn, he had more story and growing in TFA there was at least an arc there. In the TFA he is just running around confused. Where he is at the start is really no different than where he is at the end. It is not nitpick at all as it what literally happens. There is no great victory, there is plot armour and convenience out of lack of creative storytelling. I am being honest and fair to the movie, more so than looking at it through rose coloured glasses. In all honestly, the only part I think that RJ felt interested in was the Jedi stuff between Luke, Rei, and Yoda. The rest felt like afterthought and it shows is how little care and attention is given to dialogue and plot points in the other segments.
The throne room fight scene is a mess. Great style, very little substance. There are a thousand youtube videos pointing out the silly Nolan-Batman-style lazy choreography. There are multiple fights in Revenge of the Sith that are better than it and the first Vader vs. Luke fight blows it out of the water.
I’ll give you the visuals. They were the best part of the film to me.
My take is that TLJ probably should’ve been a sidestory like Rogue
One or Solo focused entirely on the non-force using people in the new
Trilogy. It just seemed like everything involving the force wasn’t
really what Johnson was truly interested in.
My problem with TLJ is that it spent more time subverting Star Wars tropes than it did trying to be a coherent midpoint for a trilogy. It was like Johnson didn’t want to make a Star Wars movie. It also severely altered Rey and Finn’s characters to make them make some outright stupid choices. We got more focus on war profiteering and ‘shades of grey’ than on the actual conflict all the main characters face.
Rey was trying to murder Kylo the prior film and is suddenly bound to him and basically surrendering herself to the First Order to try and ‘save’ him when she’s been training in the Force for an indeterminate amount of time (and the film is outright horrible with the passage of time). I did wind up thinking that Rey was going to be another Anakin instance where someone was basically made strong in the Force despite sketchy origins in order for there to be a major change.
Finn reverted back to being a coward at the start of the film despite having a breakthrough and stepping up as the secondary protagonist (and potential force trainee given extended media) by the end of TFA. His trek with Rose had them immediately fail because of parking, where they never met who they were supposed to but instead had a cameo character appear to constantly switch between being a jerk and being nice to them before pulling off a major betrayal (that he kept warning them about) and vanishing, never to be seen again.
I just felt like Rose was poorly executed in terms of the script. The actress did well and actually had chemistry with Boyega but the writing failed them. Her crashing into him at the end to prevent his sacrifice was almost comical in how incoherent it was for the entire sequence.
Everything Poe was dumb in my opinion. From him getting all the Resistance’s offensive ships destroyed just to take out a single ship to his mutiny.
Huldo… was another character that seemed to exist more for the actress cameo than for actual story. She was basically just a badass on paper who’s character was the equivalent of the teacher from Starship Troopers. Huldo pulling off an anime-style final
stand was the kind of the thing you’d see from Captain Harlock or
Macross more than Star Wars and was a highlight of the film.
Phasma was just another example of Gwyndoline Christie playing a criminally underused character in major series. I don’t even think her helmet should’ve taken the damage it did given the previously established story behind her armor.Snoke… narrated his own demise. He also turned out to be the Force equivalent of an internet troll. He actually worked to me since I believe the lore for him up until that point was that he was a dark side researcher more than an actual Sith and Palpatine didn’t even learn of him until shortly before the destruction of the second Death Star. Of course RoS changed him to being a Sith Alchemy puppet of Palpatine’s but the idea of him being unrelated to any prior villain and a relatively easy kill physically, worked for me.
I liked the Rey and Kylo vs Snoke’s bodyguards at first. Then repeated viewings showed that the choreography was kinda weak, with the guards using a lot of wasted movement to allow for cues. You can see it when they do gratuitous action posing before attacking that they’re just giving the leads time to set up for the next point. This is pretty common for action scenes but the way the whole sequence is shot makes it kinda obvious that some of the guards are just waiting for no apparent reason.
“The idea that it gives Finn nothing to do when he has a pretty major sidequest, finds a new love interest, grows as a character, and defeats his primary antagonist is, quite frankly, absurd.”
The absurdity is how hollow and pointless all of those things were.
Turns out it’s kind of difficult to produce a satisfying conclusion while simultaneously attempting to systematically dismantle the previous movie. And also you’re J.J. Abrams and literally have no idea how to end anything.
Thats kind of what totally ruined last jedi for me before it was even over. The knowledge that a film this hostile to its predecessor (force awakens) would be responded to with a sequel just as hostile to it (rise). I was sitting in the theater going “JJ is on the phone right now about this”
IMO Abrams is the sole reason the movie wasn’t any worse than it was. It’s not like he didn’t get any money out of it, of course. But he probably did what he could for someone in that position.
To each their own, but like… J.J. Abrams had practically never written or directed an ending to anything in his professional mystery box life so maybe not the best choice to close out a saga, and he actively went out of his way to undo things Johnson set up or introduced. He has a story credit, so I can’t give him a pass for Hyperspace skipping, or an ancient Sith key that perfectly aligns with the wreckage of Death Star II.*sigh* …but they’re all lovely.
“he actively went out of his way to undo things Johnson set up or introduced”To be fair I must cite playground rules and say that Johnson started it by dumping and undoing what JJ did in TFA. Not that I think that anything in TFA was so great that someone couldn’t change it but Johnson followed JJ and acted like TFA basically didn’t exist. If you are doing the second film in a series you can make modifications to change the tone and characterization of the characters and the story to BUILD on the first movie. TLJ was more like a u turn rather than a slow jog to the left or right.So I don’t blame JJ for doing the cinematic version of “fuck you” in ROS. Just like if the situation was reversed and JJ followed Johnson and did the same thing. It’s too bad ROS was such garbage.
I just think tRoS would have been better if Abrams wasn’t petty about what Johnson did in TLJ. Focus on making a good movie instead of spiting someone else. Who knows though. There was obviously a studio above him that did not want to miss their release date.
Focusing on making a good movie isn’t JJ’s strong suit and I think the studio enabled JJ’s pettiness to get the Emperor back in the story.
“Maybe Rose could come along on the adven—”“NO! NO NO NO NO NO! ROSE IS STUPID AND DUMB AND I HATE HER SO WATCH THIS GRATUITOUS SCENE WHERE I TELL HER TO STAY THE FUCK HOME BECAUSE I HATE HER SO MUCH HATE HER HATE HER HATE HER!!!!”“Well, oka—”“AND FOR GOD’S SAKE GIVE GREG GRUNBERG MORE LINES.”
Who said anything about “good”? If you have to put words in my mouth to debate me, maybe you’re making up arguments no one’s really making?
This is me choosing to believe you’re being dramatic for comedic effect, so I can laugh along with you.
Because if you really think I’m trying to debate anything… let alone you being as worked up as you’re coming off because I misquoted “wasn’t any worse than it was” into “as good as it was” (synonymous expressions, to me anyways) so I could fit it into a meme… in what is OBVIOUSLY a bit of nerdy humor… seek help.
I mean, a simple “that was meant to be a joke” woulda suffice. “Seek help” is a really ableist passive aggressive retort. Just fyi.But all’s good. You have to cut me some slack as in recent years, the alt right crowd has made it their MO to put words in their opponent’s mouth and deliberately miscontrue what was originally said to make the other side look ridiculous in making a statement that they didn’t originally make. So my guard was immediately up.
You need to be on the internet less.
It’s also so strange to me, because Rise of Skywalker did Finn so dirty.
Rise of Skywalker’s problem isn’t that it tries to wrap up 9 movies, it is that it’s main goal is to not piss anybody off the way TLJ did. Katie Rife had it right when she felt like JJ was sitting next to her whispering “is this OK?” through the whole movie.
Welcome to the Resistance, John.
cringe
The Last Jedi really did Finn dirty. He’s reintroduced with a leaky diaper gag, replays his emotional arc from The Force Awakens, and has his agency questioned and denied at every turn. I can see why it would come in last in Boyega’s personal ranking. Despite all that, he put in a real solid performance in all three movies. Finn is the one character in the new trilogy I would love to see come back and get the hero’s journey he deserves.
It was really impressive in a strange sort of way how JJ Abrams gave Finn such an impressive start and then proceeded to fuck it up so spectacularly almost straight afterwards (kind of like how Star Trek 09 had such a good start before increasingly going off the rails in his hands as well).
Nah, Rian Johnson fucked Finn’s arc up, and I say this as a huge fan of the guy. He absolutely bungled everything in TLJ that’s not Rey’s storyline.
Same. It’s such a weird film. It feels like a bridge between two Star Wars movies where nothing really happens but it also has the almost complete destruction of the rebel alliance!
The movie also sets Kylo Ren up to be the ultimate big bad of the sequel trilogy and Rise of Skywalker completely torpedoes that.
That game where each person writes one sentence of a story, then folds the page over so the next person can write the next sentence without seeing theirs, and then at the end someone reads it all out as one thing; that’s the Star Wars sequels.
I don’t know how much to blame Johnson because it seemed pretty clear his arc was pointing towards being romantically involved with Rey and it seemed like Disney panic backed out of that because it might affect screenings in international markets. The Last Jedi is trying to toss another romantic interest at him and it feels VERY forced.
I love how they randomly left in elements of the aborted Finn/Rey romantic relationship—the secret that Finn had to tell Rey that went absolutely nowhere—and then handwaved an explanation after the fact. Uh, he really wanted to tell her that he’s, uh…“force sensitive”! Yeah, that’s the ticket!
Yeah it’s like they were thinking “well shit we can’t take his failed love confessions out, there’s stuff happening around him and there’s no time for reshoots!… We gotta make this work somehow…” and landed on “Force-sensitive is a thing, right? Well either way, it is now”
Hey, coming out of the Force closet is a deeply personal decision and we should respect Finn for initiating that conversation on his own terms.
Oh my God THANK YOU. I feel like no one ever mentions this in discussions about TLJ/the sequel trilogy in general. He clearly has a thing for Rey and sorry but he and Rose have no chemistry. It’s obvious that someone higher up the chain at Disney was like “fuck no we are not putting our white female lead in a relationship with a black dude”.
And it just ruined what was set up in the first movie. “Coward bravely stands up to someone more powerful than him to help the woman he loves…” is a great story!
I mean he created the only moment in any Star Wars movie that has ever made me cry, so I’m going to say he nailed the last stand of Luke Skywalker as far as I’m concerned.
I’d say that’s part of Rey’s storyline, so you’re right
Ah, yeah, ok I can see that.
He bungled the hell out of Rey’s storyline. The only good thing he managed with it was trying to specifically avoid her being related to anyone important but even that is offset by Anakin basically being the same thing before Qui Gon decided he was the chosen one.
Seriously, the passage of time for Rey’s story is really, really rough. She outright pulls the same crap Luke did while trying to save Vader in RotJ while totally unprepared and with presumably a fraction of the training Luke had and with Kylo repeatedly saying “nope”. The only reason things worked out for her is because Kylo was crazy enough to kill anyone if you talked to him nicely for an hour.
Then to have her entire arc in the film be caused by Snoke being a troll with the Force makes things worse. It gets more confusing in RoS when Snoke turns out to be Palpatine using a puppet and he apparently doesn’t understand the strength of the bond he made? Way to not think that retcon through JJ.
Finn’s arc was completed in his introduction in Force Awakens. That’s part of the problem with the character.
There was a lot of drama to be mined from Finn’s traumatic upbringing as a Stormtrooper, and his guilt over many of the actions he performed for the First Order prior to defecting.It just isn’t mentioned at all in TLJ, and then they kind of scratch the surface in TROS. We never had a former Stormtrooper as a character in any of the other movies, which was the initial hook for Finn’s character, and then they ignored the hook in the next two movies because he just kind of says “I’m a hero now!”Also, why doesn’t he ever come close to hooking up with Rey? In 1963 I could see that being controversial, but I think audiences could have handled that.
I agree there was a lot to explore with Finn. He was a more logical course than Poe to question the rebellion as someone who every reason to question any authority that requires unquestioned obedience (not saying it was a good thing to question the general, just that it makes more emotional sense for Finn to do it). Poe was the child of rebels, he should be more likely to think that whatever the rebellion leadership did was OK. Plus, I wish they had explored more of Poe as a force user. They could have had a nice contrast between Rey being a fighter and Finn questioning whether he wants to embrace another society that also had child soldiers. They definitely torpedoed any possible romance because of the awful Rey/Ren shippers.
I think the squeamishness is for different reasons: it’s no longer considered endearing for the guy to doggedly pursue the girl who isn’t interested in him. But then I never saw Rise of Skywalker, so I don’t know how his whole arc plays out.
China
Every ones blaming directors when it’s clear the producers said “no. Absolutley not. No black man is hooking up with the femal star of our new star wars trilogy. Get him the fuck away from daisy ridley”. They were never gonna shell out the cash to make these films if it ended with those two kissing.The same producers who shitcanned his new, lesser love interest out of the same…motivations.
What an odd comment.
He should’ve been the focus of the new trilogy. I was legit interested in the transition from a brainwashed stormtrooper to a hero.
So, there you have it: A personal and respectful ranking of these three films, which will definitely not cause the entire internet to implode in the manner that basically every argument about the relative merits of the sequel trilogy has over the last decade or so of online movie-going fandom.Eh, I think even the most ardent partisans are pretty exhausted at this point. It helped that TRoS sucked so much that Star Wars fans of all stripes have just kind of washed their hands of the whole trilogy. I think Boyega’s wrong here, but I can definitely see him having his own reasons for ranking TLJ last—preferring Abrams as a director, not liking the direction his character was going, etc. Whatever.
Indeed. I’m still mystified by the love some have for TLJ, and I’ll still rewatch one of its video essay takedowns from time to time because I find them endlessly entertaining, but I of course recognize the debate itself became immovable and pointless almost immediately after it started. Yeah, some real a-holes dislike TLJ, but it’s abundantly clear that Boyega, Abrams, and Hamill aren’t big fans of it, either. There are reasonable and decent people on both sides of the matter.Hughes, on the other hand, is practically begging for a toxic yelling session here, after nearly six years of almost nobody changing their minds about the movie. Surely all of us can agree that’s more than a little pathetic.
“I’ll still rewatch one of its video essay takedowns from time to time because I find them endlessly entertaining”I think it’s about time you give it a rest, it’s been almost 6 years. Move on. It’s just a movie.
TLJ is great and you’re a r*tarded child molesting f*ggot who should KYS
With TLJ and some of its love, for me, I think it’s a thoroughly mediocre movie that also happens to have some really strong ideas that felt fresh to a franchise that was basically just treading water and playing the old hits, and nothing more. I loved the idea that Rey’s parentage was set up as being inconsequential, for example. Apparently, JJ did not, which set up the stupidity at the center of Rise’s plot, which in turn, I think, makes TLJ look smarter than it is just by comparison.
I mean, I like that idea, too, but it’s just an idea. It’s not even a significant part of her character arc, because not knowing her parentage didn’t stop her from going on the Starkiller Base assault in the last movie, nor does it stop her from asking Luke to train her at the beginning of TLJ. Kylo Ren tells her her parents were nobodies (which could easily be a lie), she has a few sniffles, immediately recovers, and that’s the end of it. If Luke had told her she was Obi-Wan’s secret granddaughter, but that he didn’t care and neither should she, the story wouldn’t be any different.So, there are some decent ideas in TLJ, but they don’t go anywhere, and the movie is two and a half hours of tension-free plotting, jarring tonal shifts, uninteresting +/ unlikeable new characters, yet another Imperial base infiltration, and action scenes that don’t progress the story. TROS may be even more shamelessly derivative and hacky than TFA, but it at least has narrative momentum, a hissable baddie, and Rey, Finn, and Poe all finally working together, so I for one don’t see that it’s any worse – in fact, I think it’s clearly better. (Though still deeply mediocre overall.)
Oh, I’m not going debate the merits of TLJ but there’s no way you can claim TRoS isn’t the worst film of the trilogy.“but it at least has narrative momentum”Does a pointless MacGuffin quest—featuring not one, but two MacGuffins!—count as “narrative momentum”? I mean, a succession of things does, indeed, happen, but in the most arbitrary and unsatisfying way imaginable.“a hissable baddie”The same one from episodes 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6? The one who “came back somehow”? Off-screen? Because the director threw a hissy-fit because the last director claimed the main-character wasn’t a precious Child of Destiny, so he had to cram in another legacy character just so she could have super special DNA?“Rey, Finn, and Poe all finally working together”You got me there. It made sense to split up the cast in Empire Strikes Back, because they spent most of the first movie together, whereas the central three of the sequels barely had any screentime together in TFA. Regardless, the thing they’re working together on amounted to finding a thing, so they could find another thing, so they could track down the bad guy to a location that the audience was already aware of, so, again, not the most satisfying storyline.
I consider all three sequel entries to be complete failures on a lore level, so I don’t ding TRoS any harder on that front. As an adventure popcorn flick, taken solely on its own terms, yes, it’s the best of a bad lot, with the actors’ charisma making up for the stupid plot more so than the other two.
Toxic yelling is engagement so yeah, of course he’s stoking that fire.
Rise of Skywalker was objectively the worst of the three movies, taken as a whole. However, Rian Johnson turning Finn, Poe and Rose into mutineers responsible for the destruction of most of the fleet probably sticks in the actors’ craws a bit.
I don’t think you understood the plot.
At this point, it is what it is. They were made. They were released. They were divisive. It is what it is. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Disney released so many shows set before the new trilogy. People have plenty of alternatives to use as replacement if they weren’t fans of the new trilogy. As for future movies, it’s also no coincidence that Disney seems to be indecisive in just what direction will the movies go after the events of the new trilogy. Of course they’re looking to make bank, but they certainly don’t want to deal with the same insanity of responses and PR craziness that came from the new trilogy.Of course there’s the undetermined release date of a Star Wars movie involving the character of Rey. But it’s suppose to take place many years after the trilogy. It might be Disney’s way of separating itself from the new trilogy. I would guess it as a compromise to those who loved the trilogy to continue with Rey and those who hated the trilogy by making sure it’s a completely separate and new story without relying on the trilogy. Then there’s maybe a Star Wars movie that pretty much could be a finale of sorts to many stories involving characters from the Star Wars tv shows. Something that may have Dave Filoni since he’s been dealing with a lot on the TV shows for Disney+. So that can also be Disney’s way of making a movie for fans of the shows only.Then there may be a new movie that is purely prequel by James Mangold on the origins of the Jedi. But that may change given the results of Indiana Jones. And an Untitled Taika Waititi movie where he wants to make a Star Wars movie completely separate from all the Jedi/Sith/Skywalker/Republic/Empire/TV shows. So basically a scifi movie set in the Star Wars universe. There was the Rian Johnson trilogy. However it looks more like an on again off again relationship. Makes me feel they will proceed with that, only after they have a string of hits from other movies first.The new trilogy is canon, but seems to be being left as isolated events. Disney is moving in every direction without dipping back into that trilogy with the exception of Rey. So, Boyega can kindly look back and say what he feels without too much worry. Star Wars has moved on and so has he.
Jesus fucking Christ, is someone paying you by the word to post here?Get a fucking hobby or something, dipshit
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Disney released so many shows set before the new trilogyLucasfilm. Disney doesn’t make these. Lucasfilm does. And Kathleen Kennedy decided from the beginning the privilege of exploring the newest era belongs to the movie side of SW.
They need to get to the Flash to destroy the continuity so those three movies are no longer cannon and we can get Master Grogu running the Jedi with Emeritus Skywalker.
If any of those announced movies actually happen, I’ll eat my stormtrooper helmet.
Yeah, Finn didn’t have a lot to do in TLJ. From an actor’s POV, sure, I can get while he might not have been thrilled with it.But it’s easily the best in the ST and Rise of Skywalker is so bad it’s practically a war crime.
Thank you, Disney, for restoring balance to the fandom by shitting out a movie that everyone detests.
Just the most vocal internet babies.
They did the impossible: they made the prequels look good by comparison.
As Liam Neeson once said, “No, no, no, no, no, no. That’s going too far.”
The prequels were already good
Heh. Truth.
But it’s easily the best in the ST and The Force Awakens is so bad it’s practically a war crime.fify
Ha. Not gonna defend TFA, that’s for sure!
I don’t really get how you can hate TFA but love TRoS when the latter just doubles down on the former’s flaws.
Rise is unbearably bad. Can’t watch it again, ever. Tripe.
Yeah, that was one and done for me. Eesh. Won’t give that movie a split second of my time ever again.
But it’s easily the best in the ST and Rise of Skywalker is so bad it’s practically a war crime. Come on, “a Star War crime” was right there!
Damnit!
I do like the fact that the article header photo basically says “…but I don’t actually give that much of a fuck, come at me, Internet”
Rey!…Line?REY!
You missed your headline: “John Boyega thinks The Rise of Skywalker was a better film than The Last Jedi.”
Man, the world would honestly be a better place if John Boyega were some obscure almost-was, begging for roles as the suspect in mediocre channel 4 police procedurals. He has to be the whiniest, must ungrateful fucker since Harrison Ford. Fuck off, John, you untalented crybaby little bitch.
His part of the Last Jedi was the only part of that movie that didn’t work so I understand why HE wouldn’t like it.
“His part of the Last Jedi was the only one part of many that movie that didn’t work”FTFY
You did not in fact…fix that for me.
Slick reply, I liked it so I am starring it even though I still don’t agree with the initial statement.
I would take a feature-length Canto Bight heist over RotSW.
Lol this guy really sucks up to fanboys and internalizes the hate they sling.Anyway TLJ is the best, TROS is fine, and TFA is soulless.
TROS is fine
Ewwww. This comments smells.
They all seem pretty stale and soulless
Makes perfect sense from the perspective of someone who is focused on his role in each of the films. It was the weakest film for Finn. Even if Rise of Skywalker is actively worse, it was a better movie for Finn because the character was actually involved in a plot that mattered and allowed to interact with the main cast.
RoS was objectively worse, and one of the worst films ever made. The whole trilogy is just a sour skidmark though really.
It’s been clear since he came out and said TFA was his favourite that he’s bitter that Rian Johnson shifted him out of the leading role spotlight for TLJ. Keep in mind that Boyega was the “red herring lead character” for the entirety of TFA before Rian Johnson flipped the script on him.
What I don’t like is that when he makes these comments he’s basically shoving the actress who played Rose’s head in the mud….
I mean, he’s definitely doing more to try and save people in TLJ than either Poe or Rey.
Didn’t he call Kelly Marie Tran a coward for leaving social media once?
I mean, Rose was actually awful as a character. Not as an actress, not as an Asian woman, not as a woman period but AS A CHARACTER.
Well, he was the only other main character until JJ and Kasdan caved to Oscar Isaac.
I find it good that Kyle Ren is having more of a post-SW career boost than Boyega and Ridley.
Good for you and your shitty opinions.
It would have been better if GOAT Jedi Anakin Skywalker was in it.
The first response I had was “gee, I feel bad his character may have gotten short shrift, but how could he be so incredibly backward about Rise vs Last?”The snarky response I had after that was “damn, he couldn’t even rate the prime Hot Ones show?”
The Last Jedi was objectively the worst Star Wars film.
He’s right. TROS is undeniably shitty but TLJ is the only one that’s actually offensive to POC
huh?
They took the only Black character and the only Asian character and put them from as far as possible from the main plot. That storyline goes nowhere; you could remove it from the movie, and nothing integral is lost to the movie.
The entire point, theme, and purpose of the movie is that you can learn from failure as well (kind of like in Empire Strikes Back). Finn also went on a major arc where he came to fully embody the revolution.
So in Force Awakened Kylo looks over at Finn, notices something is going on, and then just walks away. What if they would have leaned into the mole/untrustworthy aspect and had more talk between Holdo and Poe regarding Finn. Really make it feel like the Resistance doesn’t quite trust him yet. Maybe Finn himself believes he’s been brainwashed again to be a mole and it isn’t until the end when he’s willing to sacrifice himself that he truly becomes one of them.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the sequel trilogy should have been set 100-200 years in the future. Sure, fans might have wanted to see the old gang back together, but spending so much time on the legacy characters meant giving them a truly depressing send-off—hey, guess your happy ending lasted all of a decade! too bad! guess you all have to be miserable and disaffected in order for the story to happen!—while never giving the new generation enough room to breathe. Plus, if you really wanted cameos from Hamill and the rest, it’s already been established that ghosts exist in this universe, so it wouldn’t have been too difficult.
I have a lot of complaints about TLJ, but for Finn, that is when it became clear they weren’t actually going to do anything with the really interesting “former-Stormtrooper” concept.
So what? Guy abandoned a movie mid-shoot, just fucked off into the night. Fuck him.
From an actor’s standpoint who had to run around massive greenscreens that were Cantobite, I can see how he’d say this.But Episode IX was the first Star Wars movie I’ve ever considered walking out of in the middle.
Nuts. The Rise of Skywalker is one of the worst movies, and I’m not just talking about Star Wars
Anyway Boyega was fantastic in the The Woman King (and of course Attack the Block) so shame on this whole franchise on wasting him so thoroughly
Calling Rise of Skywalker anything other than last is a maniacal take
He was at the showing of the force awakens friday night 8PM showing in manhattan that I was at (I was also at the Thursday one he wasn’t). He seemed very nice and gave a little speech to us after the movie.With that said I understand why TLJ wasn’t great for him but it like Episode 3 of the prequels is the only one of the sequels I give a shit about. To eachs own, but try and kiss up Kid, get that money from Disney.
He’s allowed to be wrong
Not everyone can be smart as well as talented.
Eh, halfway through the Last Jedi I mostly gave up on the franchise. A lot of which was watching his character get sidelined to appease internet cucks.
Yeah, I kind of get wby he’s down on it. The man was promised a lightsaber, and he didn’t even get to wield one for a full scene before getting punked and then got doubly punked in the second movie. Fine, Rey’s the real Jedi one, but you know what you do then? You give each of your three leads cool things to do. Finn…didn’t really have all that much to do besides re-learn the lesson he learned in the first movie. Plus, he had a vastly more interesting backstory than any of the others, and they didn’t do anything with it. And then, Jesus, poor Rose.
I feel like Boyega would have had a much better time with Star Wars if JJ and Kasdan didn’t cave to Oscar Isaac’s demand of not dying 15 minutes into TFA.
Oh look, a third “main” everyone after JJ has to figure out what to do with. Because if you pay attention, JJ didn’t do *anything* with Poe but window dressing. Johnson was left holding the bag on coming up with an arc for him.
Man, if that was a problem for RJ, he way overthought it. Poe doesn’t need a real character arc. He’s the Ringer, the Doc Holliday of the Resistance. He looks cool, he does some cool shit at expected and unexpected times, and then it’s OK for him to fade into the background. You don’t have to kill him, but you don’t have to waste 2 hours of screen time trying to make him a “3 dimensional human” because that’s not his purpose.
Sure, but I’d wager Isaac didn’t want to ‘fade into the background’, either.
Regardless, I’m still tickled he took a part right after Star Wars that killed his character in the first part of the story.
Ah to love a wonky film like the Last Jedi. Still my favorite of those three. Though it’s really funny to see the comments section of any internet reference to the sequel trilogy filled to the brim with room temp IQ takes that their opinion is factual. Like… I get it. You hate something and demand other people hate it. Its weird AF tho
The way everyone who worked on this movie is so ass-brained about it really makes me wonder what exactly Rian Johnson did.
With more time and thought I’m starting to realize that the whole new trilogy was just poorly made. Rise of Skywalker being the high point of shit but Last Jedi has a lot of flaws and Force Awakens is clearly just a nostalgia circle jerk. I’d honestly revisit the prequels again before I consider watching any of these.