The Force Awakens left us with a massive cliffhanger when Ray met Luke.
In the Last Jedi, Luke takes the lightsaber and tosses it over his shoulder. Two years for that! Really?
That's not Luke.
I took that as Rian Johnson telling us that this movie isn't going to be what we think. J.J. Abrams made a super safe movie that protected everything we loved about Star Wars. The result is that Rey isn't her own character, she's just another Luke. She's literally using his lightsaber (yes obviously it's originally Anakin's), Kylo isn't his own character, he's just Vader, just a guy behind a mask, literally. Even Snoke isn't his own character, he's just Palpatine, disfigured and all. I love how they changed Luke's character, he's a broken man that needs purpose again. Rey wants Luke to show her what her place is, but Luke doesn't even know it either. If anything, Luke is a representation of Star Wars itself, and Rian Johnson is pointing out that nobody seems to know what to do with Star Wars, so they're telling the same story again, and they don't know what their place is. Rian is forcing them to change things up.
Leia floating through space looking like Mary Poppins.
Yeah that was a little weird. It makes Leia a badass, but I assumed it was them giving her a send off, I was just shocked it was early. I felt it was strange that she just survived the vacuum of space, but she's strong in the force, so it makes sense she would have some abilities, even if she doesn't live life as a Jedi. I am shocked they didn't give her a death though.
The casino scene and Frankie Four Fingers from Snatch drag out the film and could easily be left out.
I felt it was important for Finns development and redemption, I didn't have an issue with it. While it wasn't my favorite part of the movie, I feel it was good to have a time to recover from what else was happening.
Laura Dern. She robbed Admiral Ackbar from that suicide run. He's been flying that ship for how long? He should have gone out like that.
The voice actor who played Admiral Ackbar died and they didn't want to recast him, so they had to kill him off in a way that you didn't really notice.
Snoke, great potential character, but what a waste. However, it was a good plot twist.
I think it was important to kill him off and do so in the middle of the film to make him less important and give Kylo the ability to be his own character instead of just another puppet. I loved the entire fight surrounding that entire thing, the scene is among my favorites in the film, along with Luke's finish)
Not sure why they brought Captain Phasma back.
I think to give Finn some redemption, otherwise I agree she wasn't really all that important, I thought she'd have a bigger role. I think that's because Rian Johnson wants less emphasis on the First Order being just another fascist/Storm Trooper organization, and more emphasis on Kylo. I guess we'll see, but I agree she wasn't even needed.
Adam Driver as Kylo Ren is superb, however, his character has to man up a bit and I don't feel he's strong enough as a lead villain.
That's why it's important to kill of Snoke, so Kylo can be developed into a better, stronger character. I like how they set it up with him thinking that he's won and then being so angry over Rey turning him down that he doubles down on his darkness instead of turning away like people were thinking.
I think that's why I love the movie so much, because Rian Johnson is making it different. A lot of people had all these predictions, myself included, and it was nice to just enjoy the ride and see what happens. I love the ending off the film too, how he sends off Luke. Now we can see Rey become her own character, with her own story and her own lightsaber.