"Star Wars: The Last Jedi" is destined to become a controversial work. This is firstly because its advantages and disadvantages are as outstanding; secondly...please, this is the orthodox sequel to "Star Wars". The next generation of classics may not be able to inherit classics, but they will certainly inherit disputes.
"Star Wars 7" is full of controversy. Passers-by will argue, are there any bright spots or mediocre stories in the stories everywhere? Fans will argue, is it a tribute to the classic or a perfunctory re-enactment of "Star Wars 4: A New Hope"? However, such controversy cannot deny that director JJ Abrams made the safest decision in business, nor can such controversy prevent "Star Wars 7" from becoming the No. 1 box office in North American film history. But people still can't help but doubt that such achievements are only blessed by the classics of "True Biography".
Looking back now, I personally think that "Star Wars 7" is blessed. Moreover, it could have done better than "commercial insurance."
Next, "Star Wars 8" is also full of controversy-no way, this is the difficulty of being born in an emperor's house. For passers-by, the controversy is still on the story—whether the explanation is clear, whether the logic is reasonable, etc.; for fans, the controversy is the opposite of "Star Wars 7": "Star Wars 8" made a difference The previous work, especially the "True Story" trilogy, has a clean-cut gesture. Is this a renewal of the classics, or a naked betrayal?
So next, I will talk about my views on the controversies that may arise from passers-by and fans. But in any case, "Star Wars 8" is a film full of rebellious spirit-not only in its relationship with the previous work, but also in its story creation itself-this should be worthy of recognition.
The story of Star Wars 8
As far as the story is concerned, "Star Wars 8" is definitely problematic.
First, the four story lines, even with 152 minutes of story time, still seem a bit stretched. And sometimes the connection of the four lines is not smooth enough. For example, when the three lines of Rey, Finn, and Kylo Ren have progressed, the resistance organization has been running away. On at least three occasions, the picture returned to the resistance organization, that is, its battleship MC85 Heavy Cruiser Raddus (MC85 Heavy Cruiser Raddus) was eating shells. The resistance organization is set to be weak, and it is easy to turn into personal heroism-this is the film that must be strongly criticized.
Second, Leia used the Force to return safely in the universe. The bridge is really out of the sky, so that it is incompatible with the unconventional behavior of the whole movie. At that moment, I can only think of one famous saying, that is: Sorry, the force can really do whatever it wants.
Third, we have already talked about anti-legacy, now we will focus on it. The anti-climactic and anti-climax in the story emerge in endlessly. Poorly used, probably because snooker died of talking too much. It's not that he can't die at all, but it is mentioned in the "Aftermath Trilogy" of the "Star Wars" official history novel that Emperor Palpatine believes that there is a certain origin of the dark side of the Force in unknown space. This dark existence is sending a signal to him. And only he can feel this signal, not even Darth Vader. Therefore, Palpatine wanted to find the source of this signal. This account makes fans believe that Snooker is this powerful dark existence, an existence that rivals or is even stronger than the Sith Emperor-but he was easily killed by the kid Kylo Ren. So now there are only two explanations: Either snooker is not this powerful dark existence, and this powerful dark existence is still dormant; or snooker is this powerful dark existence, but the screenwriter launched a plot to kill him. The former explanation makes people feel that a good foreshadowing is wasted, and the latter explanation makes people feel that the official history system is not self-consistent-no matter what it is, it feels pretty bad.
As for the better-used anti-climactic, I think Luke throws away the lightsaber, Finn’s raid on the hyperspace tracker failed, the DJ did not help Finn in the end, and Rey is an unknown person. "Rey is an unknown person" seems to be resisted by many fans.
In addition to the story, the photography and art of "Star Wars 8" are great, especially the red and white tones of the entire movie. The design of the space battle in the movie is mediocre, but the close combat between Rey, Kylo Ren and the Elite Praetorian Guard is very exciting.
The battle of Crait feels like a tribute to the battle of Hoth, but the white salt on the surface and the red mineral soil beneath it have their own characteristics, which is better than a simple reproduction.
The story of "Star Wars 8" and the previous story
As mentioned earlier, the "Star Wars 7" re-enactment of "Star Wars 4" is a commercial insurance move, and it was done quite well. In the end, it sold out at the box office, and everyone was very happy. But it made a bad start, and that is to limit the play of the next two movies. "Star Wars 7" set the tone of the Resistance against the First Order, so the latter two stories undoubtedly have to be the story of the final victory of the pebbles.
Especially in 2016, a movie about the League of Rebels against the empire was just released, and in 2017, a movie about the Resistance Organization against the First Order was released. Jean Erso just said on the front foot:
Hope is the cornerstone of the rebels.
Rebellions are built on hope.
On the back foot of Bo Dameron, he said:
We are a single spark, which will eventually become a prairie fire and destroy the first order.
We are the spark that will light the fire that will burn the First Order down.
Both lines are very classic. But considering that they have only been separated by more than 30 years in the plot, they can't help but feel that the group of people in the Rebel Alliance is dead in vain. Thirty years ago, it was a single spark, and 30 years later, it was still a single spark. And for more than 50 years, the Empire has replaced the Old Republic, the Rebel Alliance (New Republic) has replaced the Empire, the First Order has (almost) replaced the New Republic, and the resistance organization wants to replace the First Order. I just want to say what is the enemy between you and the people of the galaxy. What kind of grievance, want to play with others like this.
"Star Wars 7" reproduced the setting of the "True Story" trilogy out of commercial insurance considerations. In fact, it left a stall for "Star Wars 8" to take over. Because of the similar settings, no matter how posterity is filming, it is impossible to shoot "Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back". The predecessors were lazy and blocked the way for future generations.
Here we must admire the director and screenwriter Ryan Johnson of "Star Wars 8", and he has found a way to round out the previous work and open a new way. This is why, despite the various problems with "Star Wars 8", I am willing to give it a good comment: dancing with fetters is not easy.
Under the anti-cluster of the story, it reflects the reflection of "Star Wars 8". Why does the history of the Milky Way keep repeating itself? Of course, as viewers, we know that this is because the screenwriters are lazy; but "Star Wars 8" uses historical materialism to tell us that this is because of system problems.
In terms of social system and political system, the leading works of "Star Wars 7" helped to carry out some reflections: after the establishment of the new republic, the capitalism and decentralization of the old republic continued, the former let the new republic embark on corruption, rich and poor The old road of division, the latter made the New Republic weak and incompetent and breeds appeasement. The Cantor Bay Casino in "Star Wars 8" reflects the polarization of the rich and the poor in the New Republic from one side: the rich spend a lot of money in the casino, and the poor work in the barn to do coolies and suffer humiliation.
The reflection on the Jedi system is a major contribution of "Star Wars 8," and because of this, its subtitle is "The Last Jedi." This title refers to Luke who lives on an isolated island. He is the clue figure of the whole film of "Star Wars 7" and the first half of "Star Wars 8", so it is appropriate to use him as the title; this title also refers to as a system, The Jedi should come to an end, and Luke is the last one.
Reflections on the Jedi system are reflected in other "Star Wars" works, such as the official history anime series "Star Wars: The Clone Wars", and many fans' comments are mentioned, but "Star Wars 8" is an official history work. For the first time in China, it was clearly mentioned.
In order to reflect on the problems of the Jedi system, we must first understand the force. Regardless of the complicated concepts, we just need to know that most of the "Star Wars" stories, the struggle between good and evil is carried out through two lines: one is political, economic, military and other more realistic lines; the other is The Force is a spiritual line.
Why is there a line of force arranged besides the actual struggle? In addition to looking cool, The Force is also a symbol of good and evil, a generalization of the real world by George Lucas. The Force is a leading indicator, a general measure of the good and evil in the universe. Whoever has the upper hand in the force will win the final victory. If the "True Story" trilogy is still a simple story of opposition between good and evil, then the "Prequel" trilogy and later "Star Wars" works have gradually realized that good and evil are by no means a simple confrontational relationship. "Star Wars" works transition from idealism to realism. So we have seen that the separatist forces in "The Clone Wars" also have their justice, and we have seen that the rebels in "Rogue One" also have those methods that can't make it to the table. All this shows that evil is bad, but it cannot be eliminated, and sometimes it is even necessary. So it is best to maintain a balance of good and evil.
The problem with the Jedi system is that it is supposed to maintain the balance of the Force, but it unilaterally emphasizes the bright side of the Force and advertises itself as a representative of the light. This is how Jedi masters teach apprentices: suppress desires and be saints. This is quite a taste of "preserving the laws of nature and destroying human desires". However, some people have become saints, such as Master Yoda; others cannot, such as Anakin Skywalker. This is why, after thousands of years of development, the Jedi Order was wiped out by the quietly rising Sith in its heyday. Its destruction has an objective side, that is, the corruption of the Republic has nourished the dark side of the Force, making the Sith stronger, and thus has the ability to instigate the Clone Wars and allow the dark side to continue to grow; but its destruction also has its own reasons. , That is, in the extreme violence that destroys morality in the Clone War, there is no absolute light. The Jedi Order on the surface rejects darkness, but secretly it has to use these methods. This self-slapping behavior played an important role in pushing Anakin Skywalker to the dark side.
So when Luke rebuilt the new Jedi Order, he could not avoid the original moral dilemma of the old order. In a flash of thought, he also wanted to use dark means to achieve the goal of light-even though it was just a flash of thought, it was enough to push Ben Solo to the dark side.
The Jedi system, as a system that keeps repeating its own failures, is about to die. This realization was not a sudden discovery in "Star Wars 8", but gradually formed in the prequel and subsequent works of "Star Wars". Therefore, "Star Wars 8" is not so much a rebellion against the previous game, as it is the best inheritance of the spirit of the previous game.
The Jedi system was formally whiplashed, and the values related to it were also criticized, such as Bo Dameron’s personal heroism, Finn’s black and white values, and so on. The film re-emphasizes through the mouth of DJ:
Good guys and bad guys are made up.
Good guys, bad guys, made up words.
"Star Wars 8" characters and previous characters
Speaking of Luke, many fans could not accept Luke's "flash", thinking that it was the collapse of the human design and ruined Luke's image as a child.
However, Luke is no longer the one he used to be. The boy who extinguished his lightsaber in front of his abominable father has experienced years of war since then. He longed for peace, so when he saw his nephew go the same way as his father again, he was too scared. Fear will cause people to fall into the dark side. So I think he is equipped with this "flash". This just shows that there are no absolute saints and heroes, and everything is useless without a good system.
Luke also contributed a great smile and a great tear in this film.
The funny thing is that when R2-D2 released the video of Leia calling Obi-Wan for help for the first time more than 30 years ago, Luke complained, "You are too vulgar." This can be regarded as an official complaint. When the behavior of selling feelings to fans is too obvious, a little self-deprecating not only relieves the embarrassment of being seen through by fans, but also makes fans smile: Okay, I know you want to please me, you just admit it. good.
The tear point is at the end of the film. Luke is transformed into a Jedi spirit on the reef of Akto under the shining of the setting sun that resembles his hometown of Tatooine. Longer than Si, died in Si, and regardless of whether the film discredited Luke, at least it gave full respect to Luke's deserved ending.
As for the three young protagonists and one villain, I admit that they don't seem to be enough to hold up the entire "posterior" trilogy. It seems that it is not shocking enough in shaping, but in all aspects it is indescribably inferior to the predecessors.
There are also highlights, first of all Rey. She and Kylo Ren fought with swords when they met the elite guards, which made my eyes shine. Because in the "True Story" trilogy, the colors of the lightsaber are used to distinguish between good and bad; in subsequent works, the fallen Jedi gradually appeared, and at the beginning of the fall, he still used his original lightsaber; to the "Star Wars" In "8", Rey and Kylo Ren even exchanged lightsabers for the convenience of fighting. At this moment, I saw the balance of the Force from Rey's body.
The second highlight I would like to mention Kylo Ren. Although he is a second-degree and irritable teenager, he is not as stable and awesome as Sir Alex Ferguson, but the process of his growth into a villain is also more complicated and convincing. What is "complex and convincing"? To borrow the famous words of Batman in the game "Injustice 2":
Every villain is a hero in his own story.
Every villain is the hero of his own story.
This is true for Darth Vader, and so is Kylo Ren. Kylo Ren’s parents are heroes, and heroes take responsibility. His father Han Solo took risks as he did when he was young, while his mother Leia Organa ran for the New Republic to build a resistance organization against the First Order. In such a broken family, he learned through the mouth of his mother's political opponents that his grandfather was Darth Vader, who frightened the galaxy. The uncle Luke who trained him may be his only relative, but this relative had the flash of the butcher knife in front of him. He went to snooker. He thought killing his father would make him stronger, but he didn't. He also discovered that he, Rey, and Snooker didn't actually care-he didn't even bother to recruit Rey. The only thing Snooker cares about is the Jedi Knight Luke.
The grievances of the older generation destroyed Kylo Ren’s childhood and his youth. The old Jedi, the Sith, the Old Republic, the Rebel Alliance, and the Empire have died, and there are also the New Jedi, Ren, the New Republic, the Resistance and the First Order. "I am a good person, and you are a bad person." They all attacked each other under high-sounding banners. Hing, the people suffer. Death, the people suffer. The system of the galaxy remains unchanged for a day, and this cycle of reincarnation will never end. So Kylo Ren said to Rey, let these forces go to hell.
Let the past become the past. If necessary, kill it.
Let the past die. Kill it, if you have to.
"Kill the past", this is Kylo Ren's life goal re-established. Just like his grandfather back then, he wanted to break the old system and be his own master (of course, he also became the master of the galaxy by the way). In Kylo Ren's story, he is indeed his hero.
There are endless possibilities for Kylo Ren in the future, which is also interesting. For example, will he eventually return to the bright side like Grandpa? He didn't shoot at his mother, was it because he still had kind thoughts in his heart, or because he had "killed the past," and mother-killing was no longer important? These are all to be answered.
"Kill the past" also expresses the film's attitude towards the relationship between itself and the previous film. Inevitably, this radical attitude and corresponding approach annoyed some fans. But I think there will be such a process in any series. What's more, as mentioned earlier, this film did not really "kill" the previous work. There have been quite a few works after the "True Story" trilogy that have expressed similar meanings to this film. Just staring at the "True Story" trilogy, fans can do this, but film creators can't. As the master Yoda in the film (the master Yoda here is a puppet like the "True Story" trilogy, it is not a computer special effect, which is surprising) said:
We are destined to be surpassed by them. This is the true responsibility of all teachers.
We are what they grow beyond. That is the true burden of all masters.
"Star Wars 8" is just an attempt to transcend-setting aside some shortcomings, it does achieve transcendence.
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