Review: "Star Wars:The Last Jedi" is excellent self discovery piece

"Star Wars Episode 8: The Last Jedi" PG 13
(Plot related spoilers): Jedi are like romanticized samurai and Sith are like dark evil villainous overlords. They all have powers that can enable them to have powers, like mutants, and to float things, or people, and to have telepathy and to cross vast distances. They also weild light sabres, which are like plasma laser swords.

The eighth movie is here. It was not long in coming! Rogue One was an excellent stand alone last year, but this is the eighth film. Fans a divided among Sith and Jedi. Heh. Find the balance, they must.

Seemingly taking off moments after the last movie, the First Order is chasing the rebel fleet from the doomed Star Killer planet out into the galaxy. The rebellion forms up a new resistance, and sends out their best to stop the First Order. Kylo Ren meanwhile squares off his his master, Snoke, and his underling, Hux.

On the planet of the ancient Jedi, Rey confronts a bitter and grumpy Luke Skywalker, who has self exiled after his Jedi class was destroyed at least 20 years before, and he is bitter about Ben Solo, and does not wish to train Rey. She continues to try and get him to change his mind.

Finn awakens from his cryo tube hospital suit and spends a good deal of time trying to flee from the rebel ship, but Rose catches him, and they go off on an adventure to help Poe and Rey also by going to a casino planet to find the code breaker.

Using Sith like mind powers, Kylo or Ben is able to mind connect with Rey on the Jedi planet, and in turn, she is. Luke senses this and is worried she has gone too far. She later confronts the Soth pit on the planet, where she sees herself in a mirror going into infinity. That is her fear, to be merely the only one there, and nobody else is. Once she leaves the pit, she goes on a quest to try and get Luke to train her in both sides, the balance, but he is fearful she might turn.

The resistance almost loses General Leia during the battle, but as she recovers, the Admiral and Poe square off.

Rey gets mad and leaves the Jedi planet to turn Kylo back into Ben, and she meets up with the fleet, and the fortress ship of Snoke, where there is a decisive battle on the ship. She and her adversary seem to decide, after much fighting, that Snoke needs to be killed. Then she flees.

Luke meets with Yoda's spirit and he convinces him to leave the planet and return to the resistance, but he has another way.

The rebels make it to the salt planet, where Finn and Rose later catch up, and then there is a battle there, where Luke appears and faces Ben, or Kylo, in battle.

The movie is not what many fans speculated and expected. That said, they should not have. Disney is coy about sequels, and often drops points given in other movies. This seems more of a follow up than a true sequel. The guesses that many fans had were all wrong, and this is because the writers either didn't think of them, or had read about them and decided to change things. It is likely the former.

The film is on a par with New Hope and just below Empire Strikes Back itself, and is a strong and solid action set piece. It has terrific visuals and that scene pass pacing expected in the films.

Posthumous honorable Oscar mention for Carrie Fisher. Hands down. Princess Leia will be missed.

The movie incidentally does not address her death at all. It hints at it, but that part was in the script, and she wasn't supposed to die.

The Snoke scene was surprising, but a nice way of shattering fan expectations. But who is running the First Order if not him? Will we find out it's Jar Jar? Oh, I hope so!

The self discover of Rey and of Ben is very interesting, and it makes the movie.

I didn't mind the weaker casino planet part. It was fine. It was Marvel like going there.

Review by Adam Browne

It is December 2017 Oscar Watch That Is Not?

Out of all the movies we saw in 2017, are any of them contenders for the big show in early February 2018?

Oscar will likely do like last year and pull out seven movies from out of obscurity and give them the Oscar, such as Manchester something last year.

Then by months later, all Oscar films will be bargain discounted at Wal Mart.

Action films will not be included, but save for Clara Awards:
Logan
Wonder Woman
Baby Driver
Dunkirk
Thor Rangarok
Guardians of the Galaxy 2
Blade Runner 2049
Coco
War of the Planet of the Apes
Lego Batman Movie
Spider Man Homecoming

Seems we've seen a lot more than this, but no dramas really even stood out.
Dunkirk?
Blade Runner 2049?

Disappointing but not crap movies?
Alien Covenant?
Atomic Blonde
Baby Driver
Valerian
Justice League
Ghost in the Shell 2017
Fate and the Furious
Lego Ninjago
Power Rangers 2017

Horror films?
Split, (late honorable mention 2016)
It (Chapter One) 2017
Alien Covenant
Blade Runner 2049

Bad Movies
Transformers The Last Knight
The Dark Tower
Rock Dog
The Great Wall

Internet Film
Jesus, Bro!

Anticipated Good Films
Lady Bird
Wonder
Star Wars The Last Jedi