Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Rian Johnson, December 15, 2017) Movie • Page 219

I haven’t fully thought this through on how or if it would work...

But I would have cut the Canto Bite stuff completely. Their plan to get on to the Destroyer is ultimately pointless. The only thing I am missing is something that would tip the FO off to the escaping shuttles.


But my idea would be to keep everyone board of the capital ship. Create some other event there to have Finn and Rose bond and for the audience to get to know her. Keep Poe’s story fairly the same leading to a “mutiny”. But at that point have people take sides that could be unexpected. Perhaps Finn decides to side with Holdo and Rose sides with Poe. Make that conflict bigger and more in depth.

We don’t really need DJ. We lose the Finn/Phasma fight, but does it really matter?

I dunno. Just an idea I had.

 

the Ring of Dingle!?

any dingleberries?

 

Hahahahahahahah oh man

They could put another Frozen short in front of it.

 

This is a vital question.... please respond

 

I usually avoid confrontation at all costs, but I had some teenagers sitting next to me that wouldn’t shut up. They kept saying things like “Oh my God, this is so dumb” or “I can’t believe people like this Star Wars shit.”
I finally got fed up and told them to shut up or leave. My wife elbowed me in the ribs, but the guy in front of me gave me a thumbs up.
About 5 minutes later they both stood up, one of them threw his tub of popcorn at me, and then they both took off running out of theater. Haha

 

Ah, just totally disagree on the above. Are the seasons of Friday Night Lights where they don't win the state championship pointless?!?!

I kid, but only sort of. I think their role in the plot makes a lot of thematic sense even if you're frustrated with the actual scenes. Pointless to me would be a side quest where nothing happens. But out of this one, we get:

-the stakes being heavily raised with the FO destroying so many escape shuttles
-a complete justification of Holdo's place in the movie with the reveal that the Finn/Rose/Poe plan screwed up her better plan, leading to her making the ultimate sacrifice
-development for Finn as he evolves from borderline deserter to brave rebel would-be hero
-some context for the kid at the end of the movie and RJ's "anyone can be a jedi" thesis

We can quibble about BDT, or riding the space horses, or the prequel feel of a story that turns on a space parking ticket, but the suggestion that that section of the movie has no meaningful value to plot or character development is one that no amount of clumsy execution will get me behind.

 

Thats awesome. Good work.

 

Going with your idea, you could probably just make Rose a slicer and have her and Finn sneaking around the Supremacy to disable the hyperspace tracking while Poe still has his arc with Holdo on the Raddus. That actually would have worked really well. I think leaving them all on the Raddus could get a little dull.

I like DJ because of he's the contrast of Rose for Finn. Also, I think their mission only seems pointless because it fails, which I loved honestly.

 

Got rid of them and free popcorn. That's a double win.

 

I like the idea of different directors but hate that they're essentially writing their own scripts/deciding what to do, ie JJ not knowing than Rian was making Rey a nobody. At least with the originals, the directors still followed George Lucas' story treatment.

Glad JJ is returning to finish it up rather than muddle it further with Colin's interpretation.

 

I think that plan would end up being so much better for the tone/pacing of the movie. Wouldnt have needed Maz. Wouldnt have needed introduce anything new. Time getting captured. Escaping. PRobably wouldnt have had to spend as much screen time and couldve focused more on Rey on the island. Luke actually training her more opposed tot he 3 short lessons.

All that. dont know if i wouldve done that still because I love the thematic elements and what that casino stood for. DJ. The animals. The kids. The passing on of the idea of rebelling against what oppresses you. Too strong for me to cut out.

 

To clarify, I meant pointless in the narrative sense. They don’t really accomplish anything. Doing something that fits in thematically could be done in many ways that doesn’t involve anything they did. The one other thing I forgot to mention that this loses is the set up for the final scene. As someone who read the Luke book, I would have still gotten it and it would still work for me. But they do need some kind of set up for broom kid beyond that Final scene.

To go point for point...

-I did mention I would need to find a way for that to happen. I agree something needs to lead to that.
-the mutiny going on longer could have served that same purpose
-if Finn had sided with Holdo, it would show he has grown to see the bigger picture and to become a true rebel. Though typing this, cutting the Phasma right out does lose the “Rebel scum” moment. Which is important for Finn to have.
-ended up answering this part above, oops haha

 

Maybe im misunderstanding you but I read JJ knew everything about TLJs script and OKd it and maybe even contributed. ?

 

You know what was great? Every time someone got stunned.

 

Only just read that piece about how JJ didn't know initially:
How Rey's Parents Were Decided by Rian Johnson and JJ Abrams
But yeah, okaying the script after (which he did) is different to kind of following a guided storyline. Imagine if they got a shit director for episode 9 that completely went on a tangent and ruined every plotline. Personally, just don't like the idea of it being open for each director to improvise.

But maybe I'm bitter because I still don't like the fact Rey is a nobody. It shits on the whole ' chosen one' Skywalker bloodline too and does nothing to explain how she's so strong in the force. So I'm hoping JJ fixes that mess.

 

Staying on the Raddus doesn’t have to be dull, but this tweak still allows the “rebel scum” moment, so I like it.

I certainly didn’t have DJ, but he is someone who they could have cut out entirely and had little impact, minus selling out the Resistance cloaking tech.

I liked that it failed, too. I am more trying to think of what would have been better than going to canto brite. But as discussed above, this loses broom kid set up.

One of the reviews I watched saw it as a problem of, “I don’t really care for this part, but it leads into this essential moment, so I can’t cut it.” Similar to how Lucas viewed the end of the Phantom menace when he saw it was a mess. I don’t think this was a mess though, it just wasn’t as strong as I thought it could have been.

 

He did. And was was EP for this, but don’t know how involved he got.

 

I want a gif of Finn in the water suit lol

 

I do think not having a plan for the trilogy is both it’s strentgh and weakness. It allows a beautifully crafted film like TLJ to happen, but it does seem off to have so much come to a close in part 2 of a trilogy.

 

One of the first bits of Episode VIII news we got was JJ's reaction to the script at the end of 2015 where he said it was so good that he wished he was directing the film.

 

Yea, that's why I was trying to tweak the Canto Bight sequence instead of cutting it. I love the broom kid ending, so I'd hate to cut that set up. And just the idea of this casino world that explores the seedy upper class of the galaxy really intrigues me.

 

It's the fact that JJ knew nothing about episode 8 (until after the draft) and Rian knows nothing about episode 9. If you like the risks in this movie then maybe it's good, but that may not pay off with another director (again, why Im happy JJ is back over Colin).

imo, it's the film equivalent of blink-182 recording Neighborhoods and just sending the parts to each other digitally rather than working together to outline everything. Who knows what to expect and would a director have the balls to tell the other 'no?' over their own ideas?

 

Yeah I mean on some level its worrisome as a fan knowing everything may be off the cuff

 

Yeah, that's true. But would he have honestly stood up if he didn't like something? Initially, he wasn't even to direct Episode 9. He has done his piece and passed on the torch. It would be awful promotion to say otherwise.