How my GenX senses reacted towards Star Wars : The Last Jedi : No right or Wrong, it just me

The long awaited sequels of the Star Wars SAGA , Last Jedi hit the cinema in December 2018. To be exact, i went to the first show  , which was on the 13th December 2017. I booked online ticket for the four of us, my wife, kids and myself. The show started around 10.45pm. My wife who is not really a Star Wars fan regretted in committing to join us watching the movie. I expected she would be sleeping throughout the movie, but for this one, she was kind of awake and watched it until the end. My two kids enjoyed the movie pretty much. For them, Last Jedi is the better Star Wars movie compared to those Lucas Films era. So, this is exactly the point. Gen X: Gen Y : Gen Z Star Wars audience.

Disneyism in Star Wars : First of all , yes , one had to agree that business and stakeholder management is the priority in making movies. Disney paid for it , they could do whatever they wanted. Secondly, I am a Lucas Film Star Wars fan, I also have the right to share how I see things and how it should have been according to my preferences. Being a Generation X , the expectation for a Star Wars movie is surely different than those Gen Y and Z. But after watching the Force Awakens, and knowing the fact that Disney had bought over the franchise from Lucas film, i definitely readjusted my expectations towards this movie. Instead of putting 10/10 Stars of hope , i just limit it between 5 to 6, the most, and hopefully can go to 7 or 8, is a fairly bonus. The introduction of the movie was quite impressive with the X-Wings action of Poe Dameron & BB8 attacking the imperial battleships. It had kicked started the movie so well. It still feels like Star Wars.  And the scene of the resistance fleets trying to bomb the Imperials Fleet was a little bit like Star Trek style, but still ok to me. Anyhow , again , the commercial element of putting an Asian face (or to be exact , Chinese character) in the movie is obviously a marketing strategy to captivate the Chinese market. This is the same modus operandi in most of Hollywood movies nowadays, and Star Wars had no exemption on this. You could see the same applies during the Rogue One. Forget about Rogue One. (I left the theater hall after 30 mins of Rogue One).

Rey and Luke light-saber handing over scene. Again , it was a mere stereotype of Disney movie scene. The way the scene being explained was pretty awkward. Everything seems unnatural and not so Jedi like. It's like watching a Disney movie or Harry Potter type of plots. Those who tried to relate Empire Strikes Back scene where Luke met Yoda, may have problems to digest this. Luke whom was a hero which fans awaited so much to see , turned out to be some kind of half retarded character, if i were to relate, the closest would be the Johnny English Reborn scene, where Rowan Atkinson was recuperating at the Buddhist Temple. Of course, not exactly to that, but yes it did pass through my mind. There were unnecessary scene of Luke doing self survival like big fish catching, milking the Dinosaur alike creature. All these were definitely the  Disney signatures to woo the young generations and to have extra characters for commercial purposes. Well fine, business is business, but it could have been done better. In the sense that, it could be more Star Wars than ordinary Disney movie.

Rey Jedi Training Scene : The becoming a Jedi training scenes were also being cut short and simplified as being a Jedi just a simply straight forward. The stones elevation scene is not something new. True fans expected more than that. In fact, it was not a surprise as those were the official Teasers scene all over the internet.

Luke Skywalker Character change : Luke, on the other hand , is about the same age of Old Ben in the New Hope. The wise man character of Old Ben is contradict with Luke in this movie. Old Ben was portrayed as cool, funny and wise , in every move he made. The Old Ben character was so strongly developed in the old Star Wars movie. On contrary, Luke was illustrated as a lost person, easily vulnerable type and full of fear. The fear factor itself is already contradicting with the Jedi Knight concept. That is so confusing to the Law of the Jedi. Everyone who is a true Star Wars fan clearly understood this rule.

Chewbacca &; the new Creature  Porgs Scene : Well, this is obviously unnecessary character in Star Wars tradition. Unlike the Ewoks in Return of the Jedi which helped the Rebel to fight the Storm Troopers, these Porgs are just characters to catch certain viewers attention, so that it could become merchandise items.


Kylo - Rey Telepathic scene :  Well, this is something unexpected but yet not something extraordinary. Fans are definitely waiting for this kind of scene where some love elements between the male and female character. If that was the goal of these scene, well Disney had succeeded in meeting the fans expectation. But, it was still unclear in the beginning why Kylo-Rey had these kind of experience, until Supreme Snoke made it clear that he was the one planned for that to bring Rey to him.

Leia flying in space scene : This is another unexpected stupidity scene from Star Wars.  I don't feel like commenting much on this, but it has turned the climax of Leia's death into a cheap scene of Harry Potter alike.

Poe Dameron &; Admiral Amilyn Scene : This is another character whom I think politically involved into the movie. I am not sure what, but my sense tells me that. Some one who looks like Celine Dion with a weird fashion , not so good in acting and has very little impact. This person must have a good connection with Disney. I care not to further study but it has to be true somehow.

Supreme Leader Snoke, Rey &; Kylo Scene : This is almost a good idea but turned out to be sour as the Character (Snoke) was not holistically explained. I don't know this guy. Who is he ? In order for you to feel the drama, one has to understand clearly the role. Anyhow, if we relate to the Emperor during Empire Strikes Back , the character was clearer to the audience who this emperor is in the movie. At least we know that the emperor was the mastermind behind the Death Star and boss to Darth Vader. And we got to know more during the Return of the Jedi. On the other hand, Snoke was introduced in Force Awaken (sorry i didn't follow the comic or Expanded Universe) , assuming majority are like me, Snoke was introduced as a big hologram creature (i thought he was actually big), and Snoke was like being somebody so powerful that Kylo Ren had to bow him and has no say. In the Last Jedi, somehow Snoke becoming someone talkative and appears in real life. Something disconnect in the movie plots. The death of Snoke was unexpected , but the death through light saber , without even a fight , was really a trick to end the character and to justify the death. In Return of the Jedi, Attacks of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, we have seen great action where Palpatine fought Yoda , Master Windu , and minimally using the Sith Power to grill Luke Skywalker, but unlike Snoke, he was beaten without given a chance to fight. What a waste of character. Or is it about budget Rian Johnson , the director of this movie ? To a Gen X like me , he fails miserably to characterize Snoke as a memorable villain.  

 Kylo-Rey partnering fighting the Imperial Guards Scene : This is unexpected and supposed to be the best scene in this movie, at least in the fighting scene category. The fighting scene in Phantom Menance, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith were far more superior than any of the fighting scenes in the Last Jedi. Even a first timer Star Wars fan could agree on this point. The key selling point of fighting scene in any Star Wars movie is the light saber fight. Light saber fights differentiate Star Wars from any other movie. So, given this as a fact , it has to be the most important part of the movie with all kind of special effects and techniques. Anyhow, the fight scene with the Imperial Guards were just like Pirate of the Caribbean alike kind of fights, just adding some special weapons that we have not seen before, but yet not surprising. To be fair  , I still like to watch that scene because of Rey. Rey is not yet a Jedi, so we don't expect much from her. But Kylo Ren, being the top villain in his movie, fought like a novice. He has always been that way since Force Awakens and even the final scene with Luke. Why Rian Johnson ?? I just couldn't digest this. 

Finn & Rose  Tico Scene with DJ : This is another wasted scene which could be eliminated in this movie. It was so insignificant to the story line and I believe it was added just to add more Disney flavors to the movie. Obviously it was just a marketing strategy to promote some kind of inter-racial collaboration into the movie. The scene of the mixed horse creature called Fathiers is so Disney alike, you could hardly feel being in a Star Wars movie during those moments.

Luke &; Yoda Scene : I only watched this movie once, i couldn't say much about this scene as I could hardly remember what it was all about in details. First of all, Yoda look younger than the Yoda in Return of the Jedi. Secondly, the hologram was like a video game kind of thing. It was just not what I expected a conversion between the legend and the Master. Luke was like a helpless person not knowing what needed to be done.

Salt-Red Battlefield Scene : I think this scene is about bringing a beautiful scene into a Star Wars Saga, just like those in Attack of the Clones where Anakin & Princess Amidala first fell in love. Not a big rejection from me , but deep inside, i expect more than just a scene.

Luke tried to murder Ben Solo scene : The scene could be better if there was a light saber battle between them, at least few strikes. But it was made simplified until it looks like a Bollywood movie. Seriously, what on earth was the director thinking to make that kind of scene ? The idea was good, but the simplification of the scene had ruined it completely. Luke face was turned out to be like an evil old man , totally contradicting with any seen Jedi before in the previous movies.

Finn &; Captain Phasma: A wasted scene I wish not to comment much. In short , an easy way out to end the Captain Phasma character.  I don't really understand the character of Captain Phasma in this movie. So I would rather not talking much about it. Skip Skip....

 Luke &; Kylo Final scene : Well, this is supposed to be the recovery of all recovery after all the major screwed up in the entire movie. When Luke appeared in front of the Battle Ship , wearing a full Jedi Robe and a light saber , I told myself that, " Ok, this is it...I am willing to forgive all the garbage seen earlier as long as the fight is a truly Jedi-Sith kind of fight". It has to be the best as this is Star Wars 8 , produced in year 2017. The technology must be the best, the idea must be the best....all must work perfectly.  When Kylo Ren gave orders to fire whatever they have , well , that was a great moment to see but, of course you know, it couldn't have ended Luke life that way. So , point no 1, it was not a surprise or wow factor. Than , the gay look alike thug , General Hux had a quarrel with Kylo Ren, it looks so classic copy paste of war movies or it reminds me of Mel Gibson movies. Or whatever. General Hux character has no impact to the entire movie, but similar to the previous Star Wars movie, these groups of Generals were also like a Milk Man faces. So, it doesn't really matter.
When Kylo Step out of the Ship (or whatever they call it ...) , my expectation was almost meeting the goal. The fight movement was almost perfect until finally it was just a Luke Hologram. And there was no light saber clashes at all. No crunchy electricity sound of a light saber friction. What a frustrated scene again. Of all the Star Wars hero, Luke light saber scenes were the least dramatic. And I was hoping, before he died , at least , have one unforgettable scene for the Gen X to remember Luke as the best Jedi ever. But that hope faded away. Thanks to the brilliant producer and director.

Rey the Last Jedi Scene: What should I comment on this scene when the expected scene was not as what I expected ? One thing for sure , this movie is not for the Gen X to feel good , or to bring back all those good memories of the great heroes of the 80's. It is just a movie that was trying to position itself into the current demand of the young generations, making some money and trying to say things like, hey ..Star Wars is still alive. But for a Gen X like me , particularly , Star Wars has died peacefully, and Mark Hamill or Harrison Ford  , I am with you, as frustrated as you are , the different was , you got the payment but I don't.