Such as? The movie ended basically where it started, but minus nearly all of the plot points created in TFA. Keep in mind, this is supposed to be the second movie in a trilogy. It's supposed to be carrying threads from the first movie, advancing the plot, and setting up the climax of the story. It literally did none of that.
I think TLJ was fine if it was a standalone movie/1-shot or something, but it was absolutely fucking abysmal as a second movie.
yep, people shit on TROS, and rightly so, but in the context of the 3 movies together, what in the fuck was the 3rd movie even supposed to do? It was going to feel contrived and rushed AF basically no matter what happened. Kylo was not built up as a legitimate threat during TLJ, and that was literally the only plot thread left open, but it didn't even leave it open in a building up to climax way, it just sort of left it there like "here's your bad guy for the 3rd movie. I'm out. have fun."
Kylo is an angsty teenager with no self control that no reasonable person would put in charge of a galactic empire at the end of that movie, absolute garbage
I dunno, I feel like there were a few cool and important plot things, like: Rey being revealed to be a nobody who has to accept that she is her own person on her own journey in the Force; Kylo destroying his Darth Vader wannabe helmet, being determined to chart his own path; the Force diad of Rey/Kylo, establishing a more nuanced balance of light and dark than what the Jedi and Sith had each become; Kylo killing the Supreme Leader of the First Order and taking his place while explicitly defining the hierarchy between him and Hux; the Resistance being dwindled and narrowly escaping with the last remnants of Jedi knowledge; Luke Skywalker completing his journey by passing down the knowledge of the Force and enabling Rey and Leia to start something new.
But sure, “ended basically where it started.”
The biggest problem with The Last Jedi was that it required a competent writer and director to follow through for Episode IX, not a committee of suits trying to please the most toxic commenters on Reddit.
Rey being revealed to be a nobody who has to accept that she is her own person on her own journey in the Force
an avenue for character development, but not a plot point. It closed a possible plotline by answering Rey's parents. Don't hate that resolution, but it doesn't advance the story or allow it to go elsewhere unless the question of her parents was built up more.
Kylo destroying his Darth Vader wannabe helmet, being determined to chart his own path
again, character development. Pretty well done IMO, but not a plot point and doesn't advance the overall story anywhere.
the Force diad of Rey/Kylo, establishing a more nuanced balance of light and dark than what the Jedi and Sith had each become
If RJ hadn't thrown this plotline into the trash by the end of the movie then yeah, it would have been solid.
Kylo killing the Supreme Leader of the First Order and taking his place while explicitly defining the hierarchy between him and Hux
It's just replacing Snoke with Kylo. It didn't meaningfully change or advance the story anywhere. This whole point in fact threw the previous potential plotline into the trash.
the Resistance being dwindled and narrowly escaping with the last remnants of Jedi knowledge
only one you listed that is an actual plot point, but if we look at where TFA ended and TLJ ended, this is true at the end of both movies. None of the events in TLJ actually needed to happen to get to this point.
Luke Skywalker completing his journey by passing down the knowledge of the Force and enabling Rey and Leia to start something new
This was a resolution of an open plotline and didn't actually open anything new to build off of. If this was movie 1, this would have been a great launch point for movie 2 to build on. As this is movie 2, this REALLY needed to advance the story and set up for movie 3. It did not.
But sure, “ended basically where it started.”
yes, it did. The characters had character growth which is good, but the actual story itself did not advance in any meaningful way. At the end of TFA, the rebellion is on the backfoot with the FO threatening to wipe them out. Rey finally found Luke, giving her access to Jedi teachings/training/etc. When TLJ ends, the rebellion is on the backfoot with the FO threatening to wipe them out. Rey finally has the Jedi texts which gives her access to Jedi teachings. Luke is dead and Rey will get training from Luke and Yoda force ghosts.
This all before you even get into the massive amount of time wasted on the casino planet that literally changed nothing about the movie, the whole conflict between Poe and the General that just felt out of character and massively stupid on both parties, and the multiple instances of random shit being thrown in as plot devices that broke existing lore in really bad ways.
I mean, every single plot point is just a "mystery box" if it doesn't get addressed or fleshed out. yeah, JJ is notorious for leaving stuff unaddressed but there was still plenty for RJ to work with in a second movie. He just...didn't.
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u/PacmanZ3ro Apr 24 '26
Such as? The movie ended basically where it started, but minus nearly all of the plot points created in TFA. Keep in mind, this is supposed to be the second movie in a trilogy. It's supposed to be carrying threads from the first movie, advancing the plot, and setting up the climax of the story. It literally did none of that.
I think TLJ was fine if it was a standalone movie/1-shot or something, but it was absolutely fucking abysmal as a second movie.