Seacseh

Pure cinema. Relentless and exhilaratingly intense in a way that feels almost Dark Knight-esque at times. Thematically rich, exploring the selfish, self-destructive nature of humanity in a way that evokes Oppenheimer. The writing is just shy of the intricate plotting of that movie. My one criticism is I didn't love the very ending, the denouement. Felt a little awkward and rushed. Everything till then was A+ stuff. The big scenes from the original source material are presented well here. Most are done in a horror-movie style. The ****, let's say with the twelve axes is *perfectly* done. The acting is firing on all cylinders. Hathaway and Holland dominate the main cast, while Leguizamo, Morton, Page, Nyong'o, and Patel stand out among the supporting cast and often steal the scene. No weak spots at all. And of course the effects, visuals, and set-pieces are all terrifically done. This is Nolan the director at the height of his powers.

This is a genuinely excellent movie, and the hate is grossly misplaced, ill-motivated, and undeserved. It's easily the best Star Wars movie since the original and The Empire Strikes Back, and if we're being objectively honest, it's probably better than both of them. The story has wonderful, deep-cutting themes on the fallacy of bloodlines, the social role of legends, the meaning of heroism and rebellion, and the powerful instruction of failure: all very elegantly tied together in a very coherent, tautly paced package. Rian Johnson, writer and director, seems to understand Star Wars better than anyone save George Lucas itself. At the very least, when I watched this movie the first time with a gigantic grin on my face, it felt like someone had experienced Star Wars the way I had since I first fell in love with the franchise shortly before my ninth birthday. As thoughtfully detailed as it is -- a Jedi facing off against the First Order using no violence, or Force projections leaving no footprints, for example -- it's also incredibly entertaining. The opening sequence alone is one of the most thrilling moments I've ever seen in Star Wars. And not nearly enough has been said about how incredibly gorgeous this film is. It's easily the prettiest Star Wars movie ever made, with both wonderful cinematography and excellent art direction. There's well-done, prominent use of a red and white color scheme. The "blood stains" of the final battle, where technically the salt of the planet is oxidizing into crimson whenever touched, such as when a soldier is taken out and ragdolls along the ground, is a great example of how the visuals and the themes of the movie dovetail together in an extremely effective way. Just such a clever, thoughtful movie. There's a sequence that -- absurdly! -- has drawn much scorn and criticism, called the Holdo maneuver, that frankly ought to be one of the Top 100 visual moments of the 21st century movie scene. It's so incredible to behold that both times I saw the movie in theaters, when the sound cuts out in the moment, you could literally hear gasps of astonishment at what was unfolding on screen. Pure, haunting beauty. What the show Andor was for writing, The Last Jedi was in a visually mesmerizing, theme-heavy, silver screen extravaganza. The big, bombastic moments are well complemented by the little touches: "I need someone to show me my place in all this," the sisters with their medallion halves, the amoral smuggler advocating the path of neutrality, a certain cameo from an old friend from the original movies, "We are what they grow beyond -- that is the true burden of all masters." Even the much maligned Canto Bight sequence has great discourse on the purpose and meaning of rebellion, and easily one of the coolest cinematographic movements in franchise history. (As someone said on Twitter, a Star Wars movie that finally does something interesting with the camera!) The sequence is an obvious homage to a classic 1920s film that first demonstrated the possibilities of film photography. That kind of homage is precisely something that George Lucas would do, famous for his tributes to Akira Kurosawa in particular. It's but a single example of how well this movie really understands Star Wars in a way that most of its haters are incapable of acknowledging or fully comprehending, but also in a way that's utterly delightful. It made me feel like I was a nine year old kid again, being whisked away on an amazing adventure to a galaxy far, far away.