What-the-Force Moments in The Last Jedi (spoilers!) Review #2

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I have seen The Last Jedi three times, and I've listened to about 10 hours of podcast commentary on the film. I loved it. Sorry to all of you that think Rian Johnson is, in the words of our favorite princess, a "stuck up, half-witted, scruffy looking nerf herder." 

Even though, I loved this film, there were a few times my jaw dropped at the What-The-Force moments.

More great Star Wars insults:
Slimy piece of worm-ridden filth
Near-sighted scrap pile
Overweight glob of grease
Walking carpet​
Laserbrain

• ​I didn't like Holdo. I admit it. It was something about her Valley-Girlish delivery. That is, until the second viewing. She is a Rebel legend now, like the Rogue One team, Raddus and now Ackbar. Her plan did not include self-sacrifice, but the circumstances created it. This is why she didn't say so to Poe earlier. It was not what she expected but what she decided to do. Her kamikaze ploy seemed like a cop-out to me but it was visually stunning.  Sometimes legends are made in the moment.
• I didn't like the short screen time given to Captain Phasma. I timed her screen time in the second viewing and she had less than ten minutes. But this is not much different than the short screen time with fellow baddies Boba Fett and Darth Maul.
• I didn't like Rose at first, either. But, after seeing the film a second time, I realized how important her role is in turning Finn into a Rebel and giving new direction to the Rebel cause. Her minimal dialogue is crucial to the new plot line: "Look closer . . . not fighting what we hate, but saving what we love." The trip to Canto Bight turned Finn into a Rebel. Rose helped Finn realize it is not a battle against Jedi and Sith but real evil that looks like the "horrible, beautiful place" at Canto Bight--physically beautiful people with horrible intentions. Real evil is not as easily hated as it was for villains like Jabba the Hut. How hard is it to rebel against the beautiful, horrible people behind the War in the Stars? Rose describes what these warmongers did to her home planet. We have a motivation for her and her sister's service and sacrifice with the Resistance. She recognizes revenge against the Empire and the First Order are not sufficient. If there is a fight it must be for something more than hatred fulfilled. I thought her line to Finn about not fighting those we hate but saving the ones we love was Disneyified fluff, at first viewing. Later, after the second viewing, I realized she just gave us the new direction for the saga's plot. Also, draws in the next generation with the slave kids, especially the Force sensitive one. So sweet.
• At first I didn't like the weird banter between Finn and Phasma when they were fighting. Finn calls her a "chrome dome," which sounds dumb, unless it is compared to other put-downs in the Star Wars universe. It seems like a storm trooper might think this very thing about one of their superiors. Phasma then calls Finn "rebel scum." This is the third time it is mentioned in the film: Hux, the officer arresting Finn and Rose, and Finn about himself. Rebel scum is an echo from The Empire Strikes Back. 
• Leia seemed old for the first time. Very tired and fatigued, it is in her voice. When she was blown out of the bridge, her face almost showed resignation . . . until she opened her eyes. My jaw dropped when she floated back in the vacuum of space to the cruiser. What?!? We saw this in Star Trek with Captain Kirk and Peter Quill in Guardians of the Galaxy. Battlestar Galactica fans know that there's no coming back from the space vacuum. Still, I went with it. Hey, it's the Force, man. It will be with you always, right? I think it could have been less her floating toward the cruiser than it was her pulling the ship to herself, maybe? I have no idea why people were concerned that she is Force-sensitive. She's always been Force sensitive in her connection to Luke, and now to Kylo.  Secondly, I like the transition from her to Poe. It was a decent story arc between these characters. Leia's role in passing the baton of leadership to Poe is now complete.

For all of you that think the canon is being betrayed by J.J., Rian and their ilk, here is a short 30 minute podcast Imaginary Worlds episode on The Canon Revisited. The host Eric Molinsky invites Ben Newman, a rabbi friend, to discuss the expansion of the SW canon. It is sweet to hear them talk about biblical hermeneutics and midrashim in light of the Star Wars Universe (link below).

Imaginary Worlds Podcast: The Canon Revisited

​​I've always thought there have been religious elements to Star Wars fandom. In the absence of actual religion, people will try to find meaning somewhere else.

For me, Star Wars is not my religion. I don't need it to define my life. I don't take the films or the Star Wars universe so seriously.  I don't need to. I enjoy it, but that's all.