The last episode of the Skywalker saga is beginning to premiere around the world. I know that I have my tickets for opening night here, and I’m excited to see Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, but I can’t help but think about how I felt on the cusp of Star Wars: The Last Jedi coming out.

I was so ready to love that movie and I was excited about the middle chapter, and the previews (I usually only watch one) had me so excited. But when I sat through it, I was greatly disappointed.

Here are the biggest problems I had with The Last Jedi.

Disclaimer about The Last Jedi

Before I jump into anything, I don’t want anyone to think that if you don’t agree with me you are wrong. I know that The Last Jedi has its fans, and I want them to hold on to fandom and celebrate it.

Hating someone because of a movie doesn’t solve anything.

Regardless, as a life-long Star Wars fan and a hopeful screenwriter to be, these are issues that I had that I couldn’t get over.

Space Walking Leia

Every chapter in the Star Wars saga adds in something to the Jedi mythology. The Last Jedi added in a new Jedi power: the ability to survive space.

Near the beginning of the film, the First Order attacks the Resistance. The attack sends Leia out into space, presumably dead. Seconds later, she uses the the force to zip line her way back into the broken ship.

The Force has always displayed unrealistic powers before. People can’t see things before they happen or lift rocks with their mind. Yet somehow this power took a turn for the worst for me.

Some people complain that Leia didn’t have any training and therefore wouldn’t have been able to do it. That doesn’t bother me as much as the fact that a human being survived a space walk without a suit on!

From a story perspective, Rian Johnson needed to get Leia out of the way for most of the movie. I feel like he could have had her knocked out in any other way possible.

The Slowest Chase Ever

For the majority of the movie, the Resistance is in the slowest race against the First Order ever. If they jump to Hyperspace, the good guys will run out of gas (a first for the universe) but they can just barely outrun all the ships that are chasing them – again until they run out of gas.

Never before has something like this been tackled in the universe so it feels jarring when it gets introduced after eight movies.

But it doesn’t really make sense either. I know they were trying to provide some tension, but really it doesn’t. The chase takes place over pretty much the entire movie. The bad guys never appear to get any closer and the good guys don’t ever seem to be in trouble.

It also seems like the bad guys could have done one of two things: send out fighters to cripple or slow down the good guys, or to have another ship come from the other direction. The intro to the movie has one single fighter basically taking a giant First Order cruiser on its own, so it shouldn’t be out of the question that multiple First Order TIE fighters could have done the same.

In fact, they did destroy the important part of the ship before the chase started! This is what created the space walk in the first place. This gets explained as the fighters don’t have cover, but come one – really?

I also don’t understand why the First Order didn’t just bring in another ship from the other direction. Is their force so small that all of their ships are chasing the Resistance? Was there not one single ship that they could have sent ahead through hyperspace to box them in?

Logic just doesn’t really appear here at all.

Supreme Bad Guy Snoke

I’m not sure this was a bad idea from a writing stand point. What I don’t like is that Snoke was built up so much and then just cut down in a second.

I’m totally okay with the big bad being killed early. I’m all for Kylo Ren doing the killing. It makes him a bigger menace to the movie.

What I don’t like is seeing someone that appears to be so powerful and never really learning anything about him and then him getting cut down by a trick.

How much cooler would it have been for Ren to actually come at him and cut him down instead of using a cheap trick?

Again, I like the idea of Ben Solo losing himself even more and diving deeper into the dark side by striking his master down. It makes him darker and further from redemption. But have him actually do it. Have him angrily attack him. Don’t just have him get upset that he was used and then turn a lightsaber on when Snoke was just shown to be so powerful and all knowing. It cheapens the character beat.

Rays Parents

This one will be quick. After so much hype that Rey’s parents were someone, it turns out that Kylo Ren knows the truth: They were no ones.

Of course we doubt him, he’s the bad guy. Just like people doubted that Vader was really Luke’s father back when Empire came out.

I actually think this is a good twist and makes the audience think.

I just didn’t like the reveal so I’m including it here.

I’m pretty sure that we will find the truth in the newest movie.

All of Luke In The Last Jedi

One of the most disappointing elements of the entire movie is Luke Skywalker.

Once again, I feel like the story just tried to go against expectations by subverting the character. But after decades of following this character, he totally betrays his character.

#NotMyLuke

This is not the Luke that we know. He is sad, and closed off. He attempts to murder a Jedi falling from the light. I’m pretty sure that we spent three movies with Luke trying to save people from the light. With a Luke that never gives up.

This Luke does all of this. He just mopes around and has left live pass him by.

Even Luke Skywalker himself was upset with the way he was portrayed in this movie. It’s also really telling that the nine main story Star Wars Movies are called the Skywalker saga, and Luke doesn’t even show up in but one of the three new movies. I know that Leia is still around (barely) and Kylo Ren is technically a Skywalker, but he seems to be content with giving up that name and life. If Rey doesn’t turn out to be a Skywalker, I’m not sure why they would call it the Skywalker Saga.

But really, that’s not my Luke.

Jedi Training

One of the things I was most excited about was seeing Rey’s training. To see how Luke would bestow onto her the training that Yoda had bestowed onto him. Since Luke is such a sad and closed off man, he only teaches three lessons.

We don’t see Rey really train. We see Luke give the basics of the Force and then Rey becomes a better Jedi.

If nothing else, this seems to show what kids today think happen with learning. You show up and you get a grade. It doesn’t happen that way.

In Empire, we see Luke try and fail. He grows. He learns new skills.

Rey on the other hand becomes a badass because – story? Maybe it was the books that she took from Luke that will teach him better. But Luke literally doesn’t do anything!

There’s no learning, no evolution of the Jedi training in anyway. That would have been a more exciting way to push the Jedi then killing them all off.

Casino Royale

Canto Bight was frustrating. For those that don’t recall, this is where Finn and Rose head off to find a code breaker to break into the First Order ship. Instead, they take a thirty minute sidetrack that doesn’t really add to the story.

It does shoehorn in some socioeconomic stories and emotion towards slaves, but did it really do anything to the story?

I argue that most of that could have been cut, a code breaker on the Resistance ship could have been found and the same messages could have been sent.

I just found most of this stuff boring and not really needed.

The Death of Luke Skywalker

This is my biggest issue with the entire movie and one that feel was easily fixed: Luke Skywalker dies from using the Force.

The once closed off Luke Skywalker sends a Force ghost(?) to another planet to “battle” Kylo Ren, giving the remaining Resistance Fighters a chance to escape. It all sounds good in theory, but let me stroll down memory lane again.

In Star Wars: A New Hope, Obi Wan Kenobi goes to battle his old friend and apprentice Darth Vader to give Luke and the others time to escape. Obi Wan then sacrifices himself so that they can in fact escape.

Luke does the same thing, but from far away with no idea that using the Force in that way will end his life. If he did know that, it was never conveyed to the audience.

Why couldn’t Luke have raised his X-Wing from the water like Yoda had done for him and then travelled to actually fight Kylo Ren. He could have attempted to save his nephew and return him to the light side. His sacrifice could have actually meant something then.

Instead he dies playing it safe. And we have our first main line Star Wars movie where lightsabers never actually clash.

Wrap up

I can complain all I want, but it doesn’t really mean anything. I’ve never made a movie before (working on that) and I’ve never directed a Star Wars movie. I applaud Rian John so making a movie at all.

But for myself, I had some issues that kept me from really liking the movie.

What did you think of the Last Jedi? Are you going to see Rise of Skywalker? Let me know in the comments

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