Top 10 Worst Reasons You Hated The Last Jedi

I'm aware that this question is well after the event but it's been bubbling away in my mind since the widespread reaction to TLJ. Do you think both Rogue One and TLJ would have been better received has Rogue One been headed up by Rian Johnson and TLJ by Gareth Edwards, with Rogue One taking a lot more risks and TLJ less? I liked both films, but understood your criticisms of Rogue One as it played it very safe when it didn't really need to - yet a year later they release the TLJ which takes a fair few risks where perhaps it didn't need to. I liked the TLJ but after seeing it I remember chatting with my brother about how we both thought it would be really divisive with the fan base. It just seems really odd to me to take virtually no risks with an anthology film and then take a load of risks with the middle film of the sequel series.

Joe Robinson

Thank you, Hound.

Stuart Payne

Cool profile picture dawg.

Ello Asty

I'll miss it. I can never think of Kathleen Kennedy without hearing her speaking in an Irish accent while waving her arms mysteriously. The bright side, though, is that Jenny's solo channel has been soaring since MF finished.

Stuart Payne

Yeah, that's sad news about the Falcon for me too. you were so great in that context. It will be missed.

ruby jewelry on me

"At this point I do think it's safe to say that millennial falcon won't be returning." That's awful. I really enjoyed that series. At the very least, you became a really good host/interviewer out of it and that may help you out for future videos.

Ello Asty

If she survives, it'll be some "extended universe" thing. Everything about the language of her death in the film implied that she's gone for good. (just like Snoke....)

Ello Asty

Aw sad news :( I understand though thanks for replying!

Nolan Thompson

It's a little tricky to talk about stuff in a really certain way when I'm under contract and don't know exactly what people want said. I feel like on one hand I don't want to seem like I'm evading questions, like there are hard feelings there or something - there aren't, I miss Roth, Max, and all the individuals I worked with while I was there. But I'm also worried about saying something that's "not a public matter" and having it reposted or rephrased somewhere and misconstrued. At this point I do think it's safe to say that millennial falcon won't be returning.

Jenny Nicholson

I saw the last Jedi twice and it was even better the second time. I loved it. I really don’t understand the criticism mostly, but I respect them. BTW jenny any news on millennial falcon 2? There are so many people on the SJ reddit saying “where’s jenny?” “I want jenny” so I was wondering if you are done working with SJ forever or will you go back sometimes even if it isn’t for MF?

Nolan Thompson

It took me an embarrassingly long time to realise what someone meant by ‘shell brigade’ on this video. Unless that’s some sort of cool, hep cat lingo which I still don’t understand, which would be more embarrassing so don’t point it out.

Stuart Payne

I think Disney should just create a new IP and call “The Shills”. That would change that conversation real quick. Troll:”Jenny liked (insert Disney property here), she’s such a Disney Shill!” “Wait, do you mean she is a person who publicly helps or gives credibility to a person or organization without disclosing that they have a close relationship with the person or organization or is she an animated Space monkey who travels the stars looking for adventure...and bananas? Troll: I...I just...I just don’t know!

I specifically said, "Let's ignore the fact that it made Carrie Fisher's final appearance (as a living person...", for that reason. I absolutely do put that ludicrous scene on the filmmakers.

Brandon Blackmoor

I am pleased to have been spared seeing that particular example of human stupidity. This is the first I've heard of it.

Brandon Blackmoor

They actually make a good point of Poe learning from his failures. At the beginning of the film Poe distracts the dreadnaught and FO fleet, and uses it to advance the bomber fleet at the cost of their lives. On Crait, he realizes Luke is distracting the FO like he did, but rather then go out there to back up Luke and get everyone killed, he figures out the best course of action is to escape. And comes up with a way to do so.

Blue Corn

5. You can't put that on the filmmakers because no one knew Carrie would pass on after the movie wrapped production. They originally planned for her to be in IX.

Blue Corn

Or Jar Jar! Still waiting on that Supreme Leader Binks reveal.

I love all the people calling you a Disney shill like you haven't totally shredded Disney movies in the past. How dare you have a different opinion!

That makes sense!

Keith Baker

they should write a really rushed and sloppy political commentary olympic star wars spin off pitting the first order and resistance against each other ahead of these north/south korea talks and games

Luke Smiff

more importantly I saw absolutely no evidence that Snoke wasn't Mace Windu.

F W Pancakes

That whole snake breakdown. Were you ever into Homestuck? Why aren't more slightly autistic fangirls this charismatic. Your'e filling a niche god bless.

Eliza Holzworth

Things I get from this video; your'e an optimistic fan who enjoys characterisation in films, you ship reylo. Subscribed thumbs up liked.

Eliza Holzworth

I sort of imagine the word Jedi, with its instant worldwide recognition and marketing value, is considered too valuable for anyone running the franchise to allow them to actually "end" the "jedi." But my impression is that in-universe the Jedi are getting "rebooted" so we'll no longer have the worst parts of them put in place by the prequels

Jenny Nicholson

I thought the "learning from failures" theme would have been better served if Poe had stopped Finn from his kamikaze attack instead of Rose.

geedubber

On just a slight tangent, can we take a moment to loathe the people who use Mark Hamill’s stunned expression (while standing beside Rian Johnson) to support their complaints? He’s just seen a film about the passing of time and the loss and regaining of hope, in which the character who changed his life ‘dies’ in front of the twin suns which remind him of his youth, and which more importantly was the last film of one of his favourite people, who had been part of the whole journey with him, and you think he looks upset because he wanted Luke to go to the planet in person? And you then try to portray your whinging as an act of solidarity?! Appalling people.

Stuart Payne

I totally bought the grumpiness, because the Jedi as depicted in Episodes 1-3 basically sucked. To me part of it was the idea of young Luke hero-worshipping the legendary Jedi, then actually becoming a master and saying "This system doesn't work - we need something better than this." My main disappointment was that it looks like Rey IS going to become a Jedi - I was really hoping that this was where she'd find an entirely new path of her own.

Keith Baker

I love Jenny (not like that perverts) but TLJ was god awful.

I didn't "hate" the movie, but I do wholeheartedly disagree with how they handled Luke. Not even so much that he contemplated killing Ben, but more so that he became disillusioned with the Jedi afterwards. If they would have written the interactions between Luke and Rey differently on Ach-To I'd have been fine with the film. It could have even ended the exact same way if Luke hadn't basically been reduced to a grumpy old curmudgeon.

Michael Gaskins

Ha, I thought of Terry Pratchett's Tiffany Aching novels (highly recommended if you haven't read them, by the way).

Stuart Payne

You're awesome. For what it's worth, I am glad you and other people enjoyed the movie.

Brandon Blackmoor

the Imperial Gymnasium's foam pit. surely there are some kind of olympic games and they have to train somewhere

Luke Smiff

please yes

Luke Smiff

That's really weird! It does email me comments when they're made so I'll paste it below for you: 10) Snoke was wasted. That he died is not the problem: the problem is that the audience's time and investment in the character was thrown away. It wasn't a clever misdirection -- it was bad filmmaking. 9) You might be right about that. I don't care much about Kylo Ren one way or the other. He's underwhelming as an antagonist, but he's got some depth as a character, so it balances out. 8) The movie was pointless because nothing was accomplished. Everything the protagonists attempted failed, utterly. In fact, the protagonists would be better off if Poe Dameron and Finn had slept through the movie. 7) Again, that Rey's parents are no one special is not the problem: the problem is that the audience's time and investment in the character's backstory was thrown away. There are probably dozens of ways a competent filmmaker could have revealed that and made the revelation mean something to the audience -- this was not one of them. It was bad filmmaking. 6) I have no problem with Luke making a catastrophic mistake that winds up creating the next Dark Lord. That was probably one of the more interesting things in the movie. The execution was handled badly (Luke standing over Ben Solo with a lit lightsaber is just stupid), but in comparison with the rest of the movie, it almost looks competent in comparison. 5) Super Leia was laughable. I literally laughed in the theater. Let's ignore the fact that it made Carrie Fisher's final appearance (as a living person -- I wouldn't be surprised if she shows up later as a grotesque CGI mannequin) into a joke. It makes what should have been a tragic, character-building moment for the protagonists into a pointless disgression. She should have been given the hero's death that her character has earned over the past 40 years. Instead, that was given to the utterly superfluous Laura Dern character. Again, this is just bad filmmaking. 4) Is Holdo the Laura Dern character? Her existence and everything she does undermines the arc of the movie and the importance of the protagonists: that character shouldn't have even been in the movie. Again, this is just bad filmmaking. 3) Broom kid is irrelevant. The entire pointless trip to Planet Vegas accomplished nothing for the story arc or the characters. Again, this is just bad filmmaking. 2) "The theme of The Last Jedi" was failure". The theme of failure is part of a good movie if the characters return from that failure and then succeed. (There is a literary term for this, but it slips my mind at the moment.) The problem (again) is not that characters failed. The problem is that those failures were wasted -- there was no follow-up where the characters come back and succeed. They just fail, the end. Whether that was intentional or not (I rather think it was), this is just bad filmmaking. I will direct you to your (brilliant) criticism of Rogue One, where you say that intentionally making a movie bad does not make it a good movie. It's still bad. 1) It didn't challenge me. It bored me. I started looking at my watch during the pod race -- I mean space horse race. To be clear, I didn't *hate* the movie. I thought it was marginally better than Rogue One (rather than caring *nothing* about the characters and what they were doing, I cared very *little* about the characters and what they were doing). But it's no Phantom Menace. It's not the worst Star Wars movie ever made (so far).

Jenny Nicholson

There seems to be some kind of problem, my first comment also didn't post. Well, first it looked like it posted OK, but after refreshing the page it was gone. It was also a longer comment, maybe there is some kind of length restriction?

Günter Grünn

My long, laboriously typed comment is gone. It was there. Now it's not. _sigh_

Brandon Blackmoor

Random thought about Broomboy: I imagined him hopping on the broom and flying to Hogwarts.

Mister CPU

Somehow my first comment didn't post, so I'll just try again. First of all, great video as always, Jenny! I overall liked the movie and my only real "cringe moment" was the scene/sequence right after Rose "saves" Finn from racing his glider into the laser cannon. First of all, why is she piloting a glider anyway? There are dozens of other soldiers in the trenches and the turrets at the base, none of them is more qualified to pilot in an attack than a mechanic? OK, that's fine, I'll buy it, I guess. But "I saved you ... Dummy" made me almost lose it. It sounds so condescending and translates for me as: "You stupid boy, I saved you from your noble sacrifice, thereby condemning a couple of other resistance fighters to die, for which I don't have a huge boner right now". And then the kiss, you can literally see the laser beam evaporate the resistance base in the background of the shot. I don't know what point the movie is trying to make here. There are people sacrificing themselves for the greater good during the whole movie (Rose's sister, Holdo) and suddenly when it is a main character we have to "not fight what we hate but saving what we love". I don't know, maybe I'm missing something, but I didn't like that part at all.

Günter Grünn

You made me look it up. My laziness is broken, yes - dolly zoom seems correct.

Fuck Off Patreon

I mean he *could* do a broomboy trilogy but broomboy didn't even speak english. And the promised trilogy was supposed to be all-new characters. I saw the broomboy scene as equivalent to the end of Logan with (trying not to spoil by being too specific) the kids in that *one* scene holding the action figure/comics. Showing that the legacy of a character is going to live on and be a source of hope to people like them. (I liked Logan a lot)

Jenny Nicholson

I thought it was called a dolly zoom

Daniel Staniforth

Oh definitely, but I saw it more like Admiral Nelson putting his telescope to his blind eye and saying ‘I really do not see the signal’. I saw him as believing that they needed to face the danger so as to avoid greater danger in the future.

Stuart Payne

Oops, hit that button too soon. I also wanted to add that I am kinda peeved by people calling it "the Leia Poppins scene" simply because no, that's not how MP flies. It's such a minor issue but it annoys me. Now if Leia had a space umbrella... Oh, and Jenny! This is my first time commenting. So here's the obligatory praise. I'm looking forward to more books, porgs and ponies.

R2

I was one of those who thought broom-boy was at least partially used to set up Rian Johnson's new trilogy, but at the same time I liked the visual a lot and didn't see it as a negative.

R2

It must have been the original plan when they all went out there, but Poe was ordered over radio to pull out when it was clear it had become too dangerous and there wasn't much chance they'd get back out alive

Jenny Nicholson

That was great! So you did end up touching on my major gripe a bit. That being Finn and Rose's mission ending in failure. I agree with you that their failure was the point. I was fine with that. My problem was that from moment one, it was obvious that DJ, the sketchy criminal played by an actor who's played his share of sketchy criminals, shouldn't be trusted. So it wasn't a surprise that he sold them out. If Rose and Finn had just be caught sneaking around the ship by themselves, like you said, they would've been in the same situation without DJ and I could've been out of the theater before 1:30am. Which in retrospect, is probably the real reason I've been split on the movie. (He said. Still awake at nearly 5:30am) I'm sure I'd like it more the second time around, knowing what to expect now. Also, super nitpicky side issue that doesn't affect my option of the movie. How do they still have choppy/staticy holograms? I don't know why that stood out to me. I know it was a long time ago but it's now been 40 years longer than a long time ago. Maybe update the drivers on your holograms before making droids that can give a flaming thumbs-up.

Sam Cohn

I agree with all that except I thought Poe was just following the original orders. Rose doesn’t seem to blame him for her sister’s death. When I first saw it Holdo’s silence bothered me a little but I’m fine with it now. It’s believable. I don’t know if it was the best decision but it was a believable one.

Stuart Payne

If Gumpton could be turned, he would become a powerful ally...

Dan Cole

Ditto!

Dan Cole

I posted this on Reddit. I guess I'm a glutton for punishment.

Dan Cole

I am in the liked TLJ camp, but I am a Star Trek person. I wonder if there is a correlation.

Mister CPU

Saved by a trampoline.

Stuart Payne

Great video, Jenny!! The snake lines stuck out to me as well, but now I like the idea that ‘snake’ is just a Star Wars curse word 😂

sushigirlali

Are you sure Phasma actually died? Did she fall into space through a hull breach or just into lower decks? I need to examine that section obsessively. Or not.

Fuck Off Patreon

I’d watch the hell out of your Fandom Psychology Seminar.

Peter Marez

Me no filmmaker

Jenny Nicholson

I'm actually surprised by that! Haha. I just figured people who agreed with me would like the video and people who disagreed would either have a reasonable "meh" reaction or actively rage against it

Jenny Nicholson

That zoom out - focus in thing is called "focus pulling" I think. Too lazy to look it up to confirm.

Fuck Off Patreon

I must say, you’ve actually changed my opinion on the movie significantly 👍🏻

gumpton