Wherein I think that The Last Jedi is a pretty good film on its own merits, but not a good #StarWars film largely because it ruthlessly follows through on the nihilism of The Force Awakens.
Thus making me the Antichrist to everyone.
thealexandrian.net/wordpress/3926…
Thus making me the Antichrist to everyone.
thealexandrian.net/wordpress/3926…
TFA was the film that set up a universe that rebooted everything back to A New Hope and set up the OT characters as complete and utter failures in every possible way.
Rian Johnson just followed that reality to its logical endpoint thematically in a beautifully crafted film.
Rian Johnson just followed that reality to its logical endpoint thematically in a beautifully crafted film.
The problem is that -- like Alien 3 and Ghostbusters 2 and similar destructive sequels -- the sequel trilogy fundamentally makes the original films WORSE if you accept it as canon.
Not Johnson's fault: That's what he was given.
Not Johnson's fault: That's what he was given.
So what you end up with is an arguably great film that, ironically, is even more harmful to the original trilogy because it's so effective in its storytelling.
And this, ultimately, is why TLJ is so fundamentally divisive, because what's great for TLJ is bad for the Saga.
And this, ultimately, is why TLJ is so fundamentally divisive, because what's great for TLJ is bad for the Saga.
Depending on your focus, you can look at any element of the film, completely agree on what it does, and still have diametrically opposed views on whether it's good or bad.
Add in a healthy dose of bad faith actors who hate women/minorities to taint every critic and, simultaneously, enrage everyone who gets lambasted as a misogynist because they don't like the thematic conclusion of ROTJ being destroyed & you have a perfect social media powder keg.
