The beauty of multiple viewings in a short period of time is that - since I already know what's gonna happen, I can pay more attention to the little (or maybe big, but other) details that escaped me the first time (14/12).
My second viewing (20/12) had a going-through-the-motions kind of feel, but I suppose it was because the initial euphoria had worn off a bit and my memory of the movie was still fresh (after all, only one week after).
Third time's the charm (today - 31/12), though - I enjoyed it more this time around, but I was also able to nitpick a lot during my viewing of it. It's a very weird mind combination, that I could poke holes in their narrative and yet still greatly enjoy the movie.
Anyways, my renewed thoughts (too much happened in the first viewing), and a few other nitpicksthings I noticed:
- In addition to "broken blue lightsaber" in my previous post, Luke's footwork while facing down Kylo Ren does nothing to the Crait soil. And they even
blatantly first showed Kylo Ren’s footwork (he made scuffs to the salt - revealing red soil beneath), then showing Luke's footwork WHICH DOESN'T MESS UP THE SOIL BECAUSE HE'S NOT ACTUALLY ON CRAIT AND IT’S JUST IN PLAIN SIGHT FOR THE AUDIENCE TO SEE.
Initially I had put it down to - Kylo Ren being impetuous and volatile vs Luke's calm and collected demeanour (you know, student vs master).
- The Resistance bombers weren’t even taken out by a crashing out-of-control TIE Fighter, but debris. DEBRIS. Aren’t bombers supposed to be high in defense as they have very little offense (except for the payload)?
How is it that they're able to open the hatches to drop the payload but not get sucked out into space? The bombers look very lean and so I don't think there's a separate area in which the people can be at, without being sucked into space.
Why did the bombers all look as gritty rickety as ships did in Rogue One? It's supposed to be like 30 years on. The Resistance needs to change their armaments supplier, particularly to one who builds more powerful shields for bombers.
- I only noticed now that they showed Poe opening the door to let Space Leia in. Erm. Airlock much?
- Only in Star Wars do I find that the music is just as integral as telling the story as is the actors. My favourite piece of new music (which isn't exactly new, but it IS newer than the rest) in this movie is the one as Luke strides out to face the First Order (a variation of this can also heard in the second trailer). I super love this one. It reminds me of the Imperial March from the original trilogy, but not so evil and imposing and it's decidedly bad-ass once combined with scenes (matching what Luke said in the beginning about facing down the First Order with only a "lasersword").
An additional quibble from me is that Rose’s theme seems to be a slightly lacklustre version of the Luke's theme. I don't dig it.
- When Finn and Rose were in Canto Bight, the Fathier race made the entire casino shake (which was what led F&R to go outside and see the Fathiers) and drinks spill on tables/bars. Since the races are common, does this mean that every single time that a race happens, the bar will give complimentary drinks to its patrons, or do the patrons need to pay for another round of drinks, since they wouldn't have gotten their first one due to the shaking?
- When Luke toppled off his seat and looked at the sun, I double-checked and there IS still a speck in the sun which seems too small to be a cloud. I did not mis-see.
- I went from thinking that the Rey-Kylo Ren lightsaber battle was clunky, to thinking that it wasn't clunky, and then back to clunky again. I don't know why, but I feel there's a certain fluidity missing from this as compared to previous lightsaber battles (but then again, previous lightsaber battles are a bit more generically choreographed than this one).
Oh, and I finally caught sight of that thigh-grab (missed it during my second time, too).
- I think Prince William and Prince Harry were the stormtroopers who were about to execute Finn and Rose.
Or maybe they're the ones that held the handcuffs to cuff Rey when she first got on Snoke's Destroyer.
Or any other pair of stormtroopers, I'unno.
- How is it that Kylo Ren could hold the dice and see it disappear, when Luke died like, 15 minutes earlier, when Rey was still ushering people into the Millenium Falcon? Wouldn't the dice have disappeared along with Luke as well?
- Towards the end of the movie, people were referring to themselves as the Rebellion, and no longer the Resistance (e.g., Finn’s “Rebel scum”, and one more instance at the end but I can’t remember who said it). Resisting means defending, but not necessarily taking action. Rebelling means taking action. But from TFA, weren’t the Resistance not doing things? So I’m not really sure whether this is of any significance or not. I don’t quite know if TLJ is just using the words interchangeably, but if not, I have no idea what would bode in the future.
And, saving the best for last –
Reylo Kylo Ren:
Tantrums aside, Kylo Ren as a character interested me - like, how did the son of Solo/Skywalker come to idolise Darth Vader, how did he come into contact with Snoke, what is it of Vader’s did he want to finish, etc etc. I was hoping that, in a departure from the original trilogy, there wouldn't be any redemption for the Vader character, despite our seeing his inner Light-Dark tug of war that ended in Han Solo's death.
For
TLJ to:
- further inner conflict courtesy of Rey and the Force-time sessions.
- show that it was Luke's (of all people) lapse of judgment that sent Ben running off to Snoke, and not a conscious decision that Ben made (I have a quibble on this point, which I'll address separately)
really caught me off-guard because i) never did I think it possible (or even probable!) that Kylo Ren's redemption may come in the form of Rey and that he would actually harbour feelings for her (I didn't see any chemistry / sexual tension in TFA nor do I recall such biz but I've still not gotten the chance to see it post-TLJ though they both totally and most definitely do have the chemistry and tension in TLJ), and ii) this flashback of events instantly made me sympathise with Ben, though personally I would've preferred him to actively turn on Luke and throw in the unprovoked massacre of his fellow Jedi padawans.
But - if it really was "unprovoked massacre", this would mean that Kylo Ren by right shouldn't have any more inner turmoil in him, and that even with Rey, it would be a VERY hard sell (plot-wise and to the audience) that this Han-killer needs and, most importantly, is worthy of redemption.
In this movie, we still see Kylo Ren as unhinged, unstable, and still totally full of rage (so he's I think stage 2 or 3 of becoming a Sith but then again he doesn't want to be a Sith anymore). Adam Driver does an effing amazing job as the conflicted Kylo Ren, and he's one of the reasons why I loved this movie.
And the best thing, I find, about arc is that Rey stands her ground with Kylo Ren (even though she ran into the lion's den in the first place to turn him back to the Light), and doesn't fall in love waver or compromise with Kylo Ren because he appeared shirtless saved her life in the throneroom or that it was Luke's lapse of judgment that finally drove Ben to Snoke or that they are lonely kindred spirits or that she can save him if she herself turns to the Dark side instead.
I've seen this kind of 180⁰ happen in movies before, but I'm very, very glad that this kind of lazy storytelling doesn't happen in this case. She doesn't join him when he asks her to (and instead making a Force-pull for Anakin's lightsaber!), and she closes the door on him after it all ends. "Spunk", indeed.
This Reylo (Rey + Kylo/[Ben]Solo) is currently one-sided, and very much rightfully so. How or whether Kylo's unrequited feelings for Rey (non-believers still, see that scene where he says "please" and how he says it, please) will be met in Episode 9, I don't know. But I do hope that Kylo will be redeemed and for Rey to be the one to do it, and that both he and Rey will have a happy ending together without it being unrealistic and trite.
Disney/Kathleen Kennedy, I'm counting on you to make this so.
Though now that Snoke is gone and Kylo Ren is now puppetmaster (and no longer puppet), I'm excited about how different Episode 9 can be from ROTJ. I really hope all this development between Rey and Kylo Ren doesn’t go to waste (no brother sister please wtf) and gets written off or pushed aside for the conclusion of the trilogy.
And on a lighter note:
***
One of the main reasons why I loved TLJ was this burgeoning relationship between Kylo Ren and Rey, and the additional depth given to Kylo Ren.
But one major complaint I have is the lack of show-and-tell in this age of cinema. All of what happened in the 30 years prior to the sequel should be addressed as much as possible in the main trilogy (I do acknowledge the time jump), instead of anthology films (or worse, books / cartoons). I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually got to understand Kylo Ren / Ben Solo better from the internet(!!), of all places. Force-bonds were apparently explored in the cartoons and the Art of books (which really, should be like behind-the-scenes featurettes - enhance one's understanding and not be expository).
Anyway, “darkness rises, and light to meet it”. Still so so so love this line.
EDIT: I meant to post this on the last day of 2017, but ended up posting at 12am on the first day of 2018. Oh well.
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