Practice English Speaking&Listening with: Star Wars: The Last Jedi - IHE

If there's one thing I hate in this terrible beautiful world it is Star Wars fans

And I'm ashamed to admit that I'm one of them *nerd* *nerd* *nerd* *double dork* *loser* oh wait

*loser*

Ultra dork. god I'm such a nerd

I really adore the original trilogy, warts and all. Films like Star Wars

Indiana Jones and back to the future are a big part of what I want to see out in the cinema sure films like i don't know

2001 a Space Odyssey and the Deer Hunter

Are excellent well made movies

But to me at least they're not the kind of thing that I'd throw on on a cold Sunday

afternoon for a bit of fun light-hearted

entertainment. AHH

I guess everything has its place and to me Star Wars is the embodiment of fun,

simplistic creativity that people of all ages can enjoy, so why is it that

I'm still getting death threats and hate comments because I liked the force awakens. A perfectly fun yet derivative movie.

I was gonna throw my hat into the ravenous never-ending black

hole that is opinions on the last Jedi long before this, but for too long

I just felt too beat down and disappointed to say anything.

But it's just been on my mind too much to not finally break my vow of silence.

I think the reaction and response to the last Jedi is quite

frankly

embarrassing and there are a lot of people who should be ashamed for the things they've said because of a Star Wars movie.

What kind of world are we living in where it's normal for people to send a direct to hate messages

because they didn't like the movie they made. Grow up you pathetic children.

I just think it's kind of sad that such rampant

negativity can be spawned from a franchise that is all about never allowing the darkness to win and holding on to hope at all costs.

I'll never join you!

I don't really care if you like or dislike the force awakens or the last Jedi. It's perfectly within your right to feel however you

want. But do you not think that the backlash is kind of massively over exaggerated and

unnecessary it comes across as if a large majority of people go into these movies with the sole

intention of hating them no matter how bad you think something is going to be, being so single-minded and belligerent just for the sake of

justifying your pre-made opinion is kind of a pathetic and childish way to handle it.

I think the response to the last Jedi has kind of left fans in a weird place.

Yeah

I thought it sucked and I want everyone involved to die

horribly. Because it seems to me that the accepted opinion is now that this film is really bad

and it ruins Star Wars for some reason. Even though Star Wars was already ruined,

three times prior. I think discussing movies is a lot of fun, casual debates help challenge your viewpoint and only benefit the overall landscape.

But a lot of the discussions around this movie are just straight-up malicious and overly simplified.

You have two choices: you can either really love it,

or think it's the worst film ever made. And there are people who exist out there who actually use, "he likes 'The Force

Awakens' as an insult and do not like me as a person because of it, as if that's a character flaw.

You know what to those people I say,

Suck on deez nutz. I've seen the last Jedi three times at the cinema now,

and I never see anything that many times because I kind of hate going to the cinema.

Collectively I've seen the film with four different people, all of them are different levels of Star Wars fan and all of them enjoyed it.

Two of these four people never go on Twitter or reddit,

so I found their reaction to be genuinely interesting because they are out of the internet hate echo-chamber.

I'm gonna stop avoiding talking about my actual thoughts on the movie now, get ready for this. Half of you are gonna

love me, half of you are gonna want to kill me.

The first viewing I was genuinely unsure on my feelings,

but had an overall positive outlook and vibe. There were plenty of things I didn't like but there are also plenty of things I did

like.

The second viewing I had a much better time.

It's widely accepted that the film is a lot better the second time.

Some of the pacing issues seem less severe than I originally thought, and I enjoyed the ride significantly more.

I think originally I was nervous that they were just gonna remake Empire and present nothing new or interesting.

But at the very least you have to admit, this is something new for the franchise.

No one saw this story coming.

The third time I just had a good experience and was never bored. My opinions were clear and unchanged.

Depending on who you are you're gonna approach the last Jedi from one or more of many perspectives and from one of those

perspectives, the last Jedi are evil. These include people who are a Star Wars fan, a fan of movies in general,

or just someone who is

indifferent and wants to know what all the fuss is about. I'd like to think people who genuinely

hate Star Wars wouldn't waste their time going to see it.

But I'm sure there are a few of them who like wasting their money

just so they feel like they have a right to complain about it.

I of course fall in line with being a fan of movies first and a fan of Star Wars secondly.

I think this perspective is important because I feel like I, and many others are looking at this movie in a totally different lens to

a lot of other people. Mostly the self-proclaimed "true" Star Wars fans. 'If you are a true Star Wars fan,

you'd hate what this movie did!', I see so many comments exclaim.

I guess it is true that no one quite hates Star Wars as much as Star Wars fans.

"It's only a movie, and if you think you're gonna go into the movie and

recapture your childhood,

you're setting yourself up for disappointment." The Last Jedi is a film

I would personally find quite difficult to hate, or at the very least ever call a badly made movie.

I've seen many people say something along the lines of "It's a well made movie,

it's just a bad Star Wars movie", which you can't really argue with. I'm not here to stop you thinking

it's a bad Star Wars movie relative to the others, but what is really bothering me about this entire conversation is that a lot of

"criticisms" for this movie are not actually criticisms at all.

I genuinely saw a comment whinging about the last Jedi being a bad movie simply because they didn't use the Wilhelm scream sound effect.

Yeah, that- that really makes the film bad, doesn't it. Or that gravity wouldn't work the way

it is depicted in the film in real life.

I'm sorry, but if it genuinely annoys you that the scientific rules of space don't apply to a Star Wars movie,

then that's kind of on you. Have you been paying attention to this franchise at all? None of it makes any sense

and that's entirely by design. "Huh?

Disappointed by lack of science Star Wars."

You know it might even be YouTube channels like mine or more likely channels like cinemasins that have created this new standard and

expectation for what film criticism

actually is. Nitpicking a film to the point where you're purposefully ignoring the context and intent isn't helpful to anyone.

Yeah, it may be funny, but that doesn't mean it's helpful criticism and over the past year

I've become

increasingly more aware of this. I'm trying to make it more clear that what I say is just my opinion and that doesn't necessarily

mean it's the correct opinion.

And I feel bad for any video where I've ignored this for the sake of an easy jab at a movie, or whatever. And no

I'm not gonna hide behind the "It's just satire stop taking it so seriously!" argument.

I find that to be a pretty cop-out response to when something is very unclear as to if the intent was comedic or

constructive or not. So whatever I liked the last Jedi, get over it. But what do I like about it? Well,

let me tell you. The film is visually stunning and creative, the production levels are off the charts, the

cinematography is

fantastic all around, the performances are brilliant and convincing, Kylo Ren is probably the most interesting character in this entire franchise now. Also

The score by John Williams is so perfect,

There's a track towards the end of the movie called the "Battle of Crate"

that juggles so many themes at once that I was wowed by that alone.

There's a track towards the end of the movie called the "Battle of Crate"

just isn't that impressive to me anymore, but the effects work for the most part but two shots,

which I think are really

dreadful, in the casino. Are very tastefully achieved and obviously had a lot of care and thought put into them. With a lot of good

use of practical puppets and animatronics alongside some great set design. I enjoyed the themes of learning through failure,

even if some characters are thrown to the side for the sake of reinforcing that point,

use of practical puppets and animatronics alongside some great set design. I enjoyed the themes of learning through failure,

the previous Star Wars movies in that respect.

I think it's a message that even a lot of adults can learn from but overall there's a lot more to chew on compared to

executed and genuinely thrilling and exciting. Even if what it took to get there, had some bumpy moments.

I really enjoyed not having any clue what was going to happen. Personally I thought Luke's arc was very satisfying,

I didn't have a problem with the way the force was used like a lot of fans do. To me it is a logical extension

and fits in line with the original trilogy while adding something new and genuinely interesting to the way it can work.

"But the force has been ruined!

How is it able to do all these new things that were never explained before!" Well apart from the very obvious setup and foreshadowing

that's all over the film, since when has Star Wars ever established a force power before just doing it?

'You know I totally remember the exposition from Obi Wan explaining how the mind trick works,'

Oh wait! No i don't. 'Yeah remember that scene where they explained that Obi Wan can just appear as a ghost for no reason?'

Oh wait, no that doesn't happen.

Oh wait! No i don't. 'Yeah remember that scene where they explained that Obi Wan can just appear as a ghost for no reason?'

Oh wait, no that doesn't happen.

'I find it insulting that they didn't explain how Luke somehow pulls his lightsaber out of the snow, in the Whomper cave. What an insult

to the original movie! And don't even get me started on how Luke and Leia can all of a sudden read each other's minds.

Bad writing alert! Bad writing! Hacks!' No, just shut up! Personally

I cannot stand the way the force is used in the prequels.

It's too much like a video game for me and contradicts pretty much everything from the original story.

I know some people wanted to see Luke fly around the necks wing and kill

stormtroopers with a lightsaber,

but to me that sounds like possibly the worst thing ever. To what purpose or end does that serve? It sounds way too similar to

what we got with Yoda in the prequels.

Which is embarrassing and completely ruins his character for me.

We already have three movies where Luke does everything that everyone wants to see. I don't understand

what would be interesting about seeing an old Luke, doing all the things he's already done, again! Surely

that would be meaningless fanservice. I also hate how people constantly bring up the quote from Mark Hamill saying that he originally

fundamentally disagreed with the script, but then everyone conveniently misses out the part where he says in the end,

He was really proud of what the team did for the movie, and that he was wrong. Also actors are not writers or directors

necessarily. Creative conflict between actors and directors is incredibly common.

But your job as an actor is to fulfill the director's vision,

not the other way around. And one thing you cannot disagree with, is that this is the director's vision.

I think the fact that Disney was willing to hand their biggest franchise over to one guy who has never directed anything

close to the scale before, is commendable! Let alone giving him the sole reigns as writer too. If nothing else

I'm enjoying seeing all these different directors' interpretations of Star Wars. The Force Awakens is a very JJ Abrams movie. Rogue

One is a very Gareth Edwards movie, and the Last Jedi is a very Rian Johnson movie. Honestly

I think a lot of the blame for some of the fans' problems with the story should be more on the shoulders of JJ Abrams.

He's so obsessed with this mystery box idea. "Well,

what are stories but mystery boxes? The withholding of information. You know? Um,

doing that intentionally is much more engaging whether it's like-" Snoke,

Ray's parents.

"The mystery box meaning what you think you're getting,

then what you're really getting." And it's since been revealed that he had no plan for what the reveals were even gonna be from the

get-go. So given that information I completely understand the route Johnson decided to take with certain characters' secrets and non-existent

backstories. None of this is to say I think the film is perfect either.

There's a side plot in like a casino,

which most people agree is a bit clumsy and takes up far too much time in an already long movie,

especially

Considering what it ultimately leads to. I think it is a bit

exaggerated as to how bad that sequence is, cuz it really isn't that bad,

That's actually quite a short segment of the movie comparatively to the rest of it.

There are some dreadfully cheesy and awkward dialogue at points, but Star Wars has always had that so that's not really a deal-breaker for me.

"You can't win, Darth."

"I thought they smelled bad on the outside."

"Laugh it up, fuzzball." "Scruffy-looking nerf-herder!" "I don't know where you get your delusions, laser brain."

"No, it's because I'm so in love with you."

"So love has blinded you."

"I'll try spinning. That's a good trick."

Like I find it pretty ironic if you love the prequels, but you're calling out this movie for having bad dialogue.

I find the somewhat ham-fisted

anti-1% message kind of funny and ironic given the context of what Star Wars represents.

And yeah treating animals nicely is important and everything, was it really necessary alongside everything else this film was trying to achieve?

No,

not really,

other than to serve those character arcs. Some of the humor is a little too distracting for my liking and does undercut some dramatic

moments. That's not to say none of it works, in fact this film probably has one of the funniest visual gags from any Star Wars

movie involving some very evil irony. Also side note

I don't think comparing the porgs to minions is

fair in terms of how they actually affect the movie. The minions are actually integral to the plot of all three

Despicable Me movies. The porgs really don't affect anything,

they're just- birds. If anything

Ewoks are far more

comparable to minions because they have a direct impact on the plot of the movie as well as being designed to sell toys. Laura

Dern's character is a bit of a mess,

but just subbing in Admiral Ackbar would not have solved anything,

other than being fan service because we ultimately know less about him from the movies

then we do Laura Dern's character. Ideally she would have had some development in a previous movie or something. And

while I kind of understand what she did, because Poe Dameron did

ruin everything, was a little unnecessary and stupid and only existed to serve the plot.

But again Star Wars has always been filled with conveniences and plot contrivances.

So it really doesn't bother me that much- I don't know what to tell you. So after everything I've just said, does that really

sound like a dreadful movie a lot of people are selling it as? Personally

I think there are a lot more positives than negatives.

I believe a lot of people are being blinded by the

negativity bias, and are simply refusing to accept the film for what it is. The negativity bias states that even when they are of equal

intensity,

negative emotions have a greater impact on us than positive ones. Think of it this way, when you're at a restaurant and you have a

really bad meal that sucks, that ends up with you having to complain, that sticks with you a lot more over the tens or even

hundreds of meals you've had, at other places that were good and went well so in other words,

So what if you didn't like that scene with Leia and space. What about the amazing way Luke and Kylo explained the same event from?

different perspectives? Or the brilliant sequence on crate, or the throne-room encounter with Kylo and Rey.

Or the intense action sequence at the start of the movie. Or the final scene with Luke and Leia

Or the way the music builds and swells around every scene, or

how creative and thoughtful some of the exposition from Lucas. My point is I think there's so much more to love than there is to hate.

Which I know might sound ironic coming from me, but it's what I think. Before writing this

I went back and watched the Empire Strikes Back,

just to try to imagine how people on the internet would react to that movie if it was released today.

And I genuinely think it would have gotten equal,

if not worse

reactions to The last Jedi.

So many people have a problem with the characters failing over and over again in the Last Jedi. Even though

that's the very blatant and obvious point of the movie.

But somehow forget the fact that in Empire

basically nothing is accomplished at all in terms of the greater story. Sure characters grow and learn, and that's the point of that movie,

but it doesn't have an ending. It is completely reliant on the sequel to finish the story.

That's the same thing we complain about nowadays and video games for God's sake. And I really adore Empire,

I- I'm just saying.

Imagine if for some reason Empire had flopped when it originally came out,

so it never got a sequel. So much would be left untouched and it would make the series feel utterly

incomplete. It's kind of if the Last Jedi just ended before the crate battle.

Just imagine how much more angry people would be, if the conclusion was left on a cliffhanger, like in Empire. This angry vocal minority of

so-called "fans" has buried any real

criticism of the film, and has sent the message that it

"ruins Star Wars," and that it's a dreadful piece of film making when it really isn't. Just like how the meme for The Force Awakens

is that it's identical to A New Hope, and there's no more nuance or room for discussion beyond that.

It's reductive and I really hope it doesn't send the wrong message to

Disney that they should take away the freedom from the directors and writers, and turn it all into a focus tested Jedi count sort of

money hungry fat cats, who have no passion for Star Wars at all.

I thought fans were supposed to see the good, not pass off

nitpicks and complaints as a reason to hate a new movie in their beloved series.

Mistaken creative disagreements with the story as actual

criticism and giving off this message that the film is prequel-

level abysmal is undercutting all the hard work and quality

filmmaking that is on show in The Last Jedi. Which I think is sad.

You can pick apart

every single one of the Star Wars movies in the exact same way that people on the Internet are doing now to the Last Jedi.

Why let yourself get bogged down in the minutia, when this movie is so much better than pretty much every other big-budget, Hollywood

Snoozefest that is being released at the same time 'Yeah

Man, t-the Last Jedi is the worst movie ever made." Forget about the prequels which have aged horribly by the way

"Yeah, I prefer The Mummy

2017." "Yeah, uh, Justice League was so much better." "To me Alien Covenant was much more true to the original.

Unlike The Last Jedi, it was just much more epicer overall."

"Oh! And don't forget about that Pirates of the Caribbean

movie, that I can't even remember the name of.

What a blast that was, that was true to the original too." "Yeah

King Arthur Legend of the Sword was so much better than the last Jedi, just so much better! Especially how true it was to-

the story of King Arthur." "Oh, man, I just wished that the last Jedi was as truly epic and awesome as Fast & Furious 8."

The true 8th movie in a franchise that is epic. "Those guys over at Disney need to take notes from the real

filmmakers am I right?!"

I'd like to thank The Right Opinion for helping to proofread and edit my

script to this video, because he's a bit better at English than me.

And some of my sentence structure is kind of strange sometimes, and he helped me out, so check out his channel in the description.

He's a pretty underrated youtuber. I hope you enjoyed the video.

I hope it didn't make you too angry. Make sure you tell me your thoughts on The Last Jedi in the comments,

which I'm sure you're gonna do anyway.

And uh, my inbox is open and ready for all the death threats.

Alright, I'll see you in the next video, byeeee.