ST The Force Awakens vs The Last Jedi

TFA but TLJ gets better each time I watch it!

 

I like both for different reasons.

TFA is more conventionally fun.
TLJ connected with me in a deeper way.

 

TFA is less offensive to me. Abrams is pretty good at emulating things he likes while adding his own frantic signature, although in the case of SW I think he was so close to the original material that he played it safe to the point of blandness. I actually prefer both of his Trek films, and in a lot of ways think they were better SW films than TFA.

TLJ is more creatively ambitious, but it's an utter mess of film for me, pretty much broken by poor characterization and an overall lack of narrative focus.

 

Both ST films fail to bring anything captivating, but I prefer TLJ.

It at least tried to do something, not sure what that something was, but it's certainly something.
TFA is so ANH to the lowest beat, that I have no reason to rewatch it when I can watch ANH.

I rather have an ambitious/weird mess of a film, then a bland, safe, by the numbers blockbuster.

 

Yes, I agree both were fun and one was deeper.

I like TLJ for being bold and creative and RJ is not as guilty as some made him out to be. Its apparent that GL from back in 2013 had a vision of Luke being secluded on an island from a far away planet contemplating his Dark Side tendencies. I worry that Star Wars in the future will have to be creative and fans are going to do to the property what they did to TLJ just because they don't agree with it.

I don't agree with this because Solo was brought to it knees and basically signaled that the franchise was in trouble. Which it really isn't but the perception is that it is. The movies were interesting but hopefully as we move forward they can get things a bit more streamlined and better.

 

As a mainstream movie i would say force awakens. As a star wars fan it has to be the last jedi. The force awakens i feel is perfect for what it is. A tribute to the older fanboys while also providing a new window for new faces to invest in the story of star wars. We have great introduction of great characters (many of whom are my favorite). It is very welcoming and clear as to the presentation of all the characters and motivations. The action scenes are obviously fantastic and it has that classic new hope adventure feel (which is obviously intentional). Han solo is brilliant in this i feel and his death is emotional because the writing and direction of jj abrams earned this by the time we reach the point of the movie. This gives us the (what i feel to be) classic lightsaber forest scene which is not only true star wars but spectacularly executed with both finn and rey exchanging blows with kylo. I guess this is where the rey being a mary sue thing started but that is a silly notion to me anyway and it was the biggest complaint i remember hearing about this movie so job well done jj.

The last jedi is a challenging movie to say the least. Rian johnson gave us many a hard to swallow pills with this one and i understand why it rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. The first time watching luke throw his lightsaber away i felt insulted and thinking to myself that “it makes sense why he did that but... why make it a humor scene?? It’s like he does not take this story seriously!” I had similar thoughts going through the movie on my first viewing. Some of the humor struck a note with me and some did not. There are many of things i liked about the movie my first time though so just to be clear at no point did i think it was a bad movie or i did not like it. It did have me feeling a flux of emotions that took me time and multiple viewings to process. I will say though it was immediately ranked among my favorites as soon as snoke was cut in half and rey and kylo teamed up. There was a part of me that felt a sting of “what?? They just wasted snoke’s character!” But honestly that part of me was drowned out by the me that said “now this is new star wars! Never have we seen anything like this! We aren’t just repeating the same formula! FINALLY!” And man how glorious that fight was (in my mind). By the time it was over i am thinking to myself “that is my favorite thing i have ever seen in star wars” just to give an idea of how much i enjoyed that. Then the dialogue between rey and kylo man... so kylo is my favorite character in star wars since force awakens. I can discuss that in a later post if you want but i also really really love rey. When he tells rey she is nobody and her parente were junk traders the way it was delivered i felt that sting again. Expectation ruined. But the seed was planted in me and well the more i thought about this the more i love it. Rey being nobody is so good for star wars. Again something that requires another seperate post just on this topic. Finally luke and the projection scene was the icing on the cake. I loved it as i loved luke in the whole movie. I felt this completed his legacy (even though i believe we will still see force ghost luke). The music, the cinematography, and the dialogue was sooooo on point for me with this scene. I feel that rian johnson really did a great job in preserving the legacy of luke going forward. I do know that the luke being tempted to kill kylo is a hard pill to swallow but again it is something the more i think about makes sense. I don’t like having giant posts which i have already made so if you want to discuss any of these points or more (like canto bight or rose which are not my favorite i still enjoy) then please let me know. The movie is not perfect i can tell you some problems i have with it but i don’t measure my enjoyment of a film by that but that is just me.

 

Easily The Last Jedi. It felt like it had something to say and provided a challenge to the audience. The Force Awakens on the other hand is a finely made roller-coaster ride. It's real fun the first time, but the more your ride it the less appealing it becomes. Like all roller-coasters, it doesn't provide anything more than what you've experienced.

Again, The Last Jedi. The Force Awakens introduced some good characters, but unfortunately it regurgitated the roles of Han and Leia. Going from Return of the Jedi to The Force Awakens felt like a de-evolution of their character and reverted them back into what their roles were in The Empire Strikes Back. And then there's the last minute inclusion of Snoke that could have been left out of the film and nothing would have changed.

I didn't care for the action in The Force Awakens except for the Falcon chase on Jakku, whereas I love most of the actions sequences of The Last Jedi.

I greatly preferred Rian Johnson's direction of J.J. Abrams. Abrams has never been a very good director in my eyes, nor is he a good storyteller in the slightest.

The Force Awakens felt like A New Hope copy directed by any nameless studio director.

The Last Jedi felt like a Star Wars film directed by Rian Johnson.

 

For me, TFA is heads above TLJ despite the fact that it was a pastiche to the OT. I appreciate it for in fact maintaining certain SW traditions. I adored Rey's introduction and I think it is one of the best of the Saga. Is it safe? Yes, but considering how much time JJ had to reboot the franchise it is totally understandable.

I prefer the soundtrack to TFA from John Williams, Rey's Theme, Jedi Steps & Scherzo for Wings while not as great as what he created for the PT are a welcome addition to the GFFA musical Canon. I don't think there is one theme from TLJ that remember.

 

TFA.Despite the fact that its the first SW film to make me angry iv since watched it a few times more and its reasonably entertaining if watched as just expensive fan fiction.

TLJ is just bad no matter which way i look at it.Just a total trainwreck of a film that damges the OT and its got the worst SW character of all time in Rose Tico.

 

I’m not too keen on either of them.
TFA was a souless rehash of previous trilogy moments and TLJ didn’t expand on many of the plot threads dropped in the previous installment. The films feel like a collection of missed chances to me.

Ford and Fisher seemed passed it, but Hamill gave a career defining performance in TLJ.
In fact the stuff between Luke, Ray and Kylo Ren was the best stuff for me. I loved it all and wanted more. I would have preferred it if Johnson had dropped the Canto Byte stuff and focused more on the Luke/Ray dynamic.

 

I would have to say TLJ for me. I don't hate TFA, however it is my least favorite film of the saga series. Now, with that being said, TLJ (for me anyway) isn't one of my favorite saga films. I find the sequel trilogy to be lacking in world building, and for some reason they lack some of the wow factor from the first two trilogies. Rogue One was the best of the Disney films so far, followed by SOLO.

 

Lack of world building is a serious problem in the ST. There is zero sense of widespread stakes in this film at all. The one weapon that threatened the galaxy was destroyed in the first installment! So what is the FO’s plan to enforce their “rule”? What does “ruling” even entail? Why does the galaxy at large have to care about the FO? It’s all so poorly written.

And I must repeat based on recent comments that TLJ was ridiculously derivative of ESB and ROTJ. I mean it copied scenes and lines verbatim. So this notion that TLJ was this “fresh”, innovative film based on it being “original” is just incorrect.

 

I much prefer TLJ but think they are both fine as stand alone films. Good action, good visuals, etc. I give TLJ higher marks for creativity because it at least attempts crazy stuff, even if a lot of it is ill considered in the context of the entire saga.

Where I think they fail is as a cohesive whole. The whole thing just does not make sense to me as a follow up to the OT.

 

Neither

 

Definitely prefer TFA, but in hindsight it's kind of ruined for me by TLJ. I think I only pick it for nostalgie purposes because at one time I loved it. Now I can't even watch it.

Also, TLJ is just as derivative with, imo, worse plagiarism. The TLJ throne room scene is practically criminal in my mind. If I was a screen writer struggling to get a gig full of original ideas, and I watched RJ get all that praise for all that shameless copying, I'd find a new career path. The lesson of RJ (and JJ too of course) is copy copy copy, then you can make the big bucks.

 

I have yet to see any SW film as bad.

I think TLJ works better for me simply because you have no idea what these characters are going to do. Was Luke going to have a fight or be more indirect as Yoda was in TESB? Turns out he does both literally at the same time. We're not quite sure if Rey and Kylo are going to work together.

Also TLJ does what TFA does not, it throws out the old. TLJ is a rehash film. TLJ, despite the throne room for example, really is not the same as anything else. Even the throne room does not go the same way ROTJ does.

 

I'm going to make a highly controversial prediction:

History will judge TLJ as the best film of the sequels, putting it alongside ROTS from the prequels and TESB from the originals.

 

I made the same prediction about Caravan of Courage. And since history is still happening, I could be right.

 

TFA stomps all over TLJ it's not even a competition.

 

I love the Ewok movies! Honestly, I'd rank both of them above all of the Disney SW films except for TLJ, which is my favorite SW movie of all time. Yes, I am serious.

 

TFA was a step in the right direction.
TLJ was a leap in the right direction.

 

They have different strengths, but to me, TFA wins out due to its treatment of Rey and Finn.
Knowing what I know about TROS, I also find that TFA has gotten an interesting new layer in retrospect, which makes it all the more rewarding to watch.

 

TFA for sure. It was derivative, but that first viewing channeled a lot of wonderful memories, set up a lot of great ideas, and better still, flowed really well with the beats of the story from the OT, which I had marathoned with 2 friends the night before when we went to go Friday opening weekend. It had me asking questions about what was going on, excited to see where things could go and felt familiar yet new at the same time. Like returning home after a long time away and seeing how things had changed since you had been there last.