#and it's actually kinda cool cause it makes it look similar to the dagobah cave scene in empire

[stairset]

The Disney+ version of Idiot's Array edited out the gag where Lando talks in a high pitched voice after Hera punches him in the happy sack and whoever is responsible for this travesty should be fired immediately. How dare they deprive future generations of Star Wars fans of such an iconic moment in Star Wars history.

[thebigreylotheory]

My TLJ Review Part 2 or Lukey Thoughts

Alright, now that I’m over my Ahch-To Luke-like hiatus, it’s time to talk about Ahch-To Luke.

He’s exactly how I imagined he’d be:

A grumpy Pooh-bear.

Seemingly, unlike a lot of fans, I wasn’t disappointed by Luke’s role, portrayal, or amount of action.

‘Cause I had emotionally prepared myself for Luke to pretty much do nothing in The Last Jedi…(therefore him doing ANYTHING was exciting for me).

Why, you ask?

There are many parts to that answer. And I’ll try to organize this as nicely as possible, I did buy a new filing cabinet and all. My Rey and Kylo Pop Figures live there quite nicely.

A)I knew the time for the story to be solely about/focus on Luke Skywalker had passed. I’ll be honest, way back in the day (now), as a kid, I was disappointed that George Lucas decided to make prequels instead of sequels starring Mark, Carrie, and Harrison (I wanted more of what I knew and loved). As a creator, I respect what George wanted to do. However, fact remains, a bunch of time passed, and from a story sense all of our original main characters leveled up to the mentor archetype stage.

           1) I, by no means, see or read every SW interview, but on many occasions in print, tv, Youtube, Mark mentioned statements along the lines of “passing the baton,” and “it’s their story now [new kids]” (paraphrasing). He wasn’t just telling the truth from a certain point of view. He meant the action wasn’t going to follow him. I love J.J., but I feel like some fans, based on the TFA switch-a-roo marketing, felt like they were finally going to get a swoll-gym-Luke Skywalker. Or Bruce Lee.

           2) Mark also made several comments about being on the “if it tastes good don’t eat it diet,” not getting to eat his favorite crackers while watching movies, and being allowed to take his time on the stairs/hills of Skellig Michael. He’s human, he’s a prolific voice actor, not an action star (I type this while I’m eating cookies, don’t tell Dr. Captain McHusband, M.D. or he’ll lock me in the gym cave. “Kirby Fluff is my natural state” doesn’t work on him). Anyhow, this was a clue to me that Mark wasn’t going to be too keen on doing a whole lot of stunts. I mean, in comparison, Harrison had it easy in TFA. All he had to do is sit in the pilot seat of the Falcon and raise a blaster to make people happy. Lightsaber battles are hard (Dr. Captain McHusband, M.D allowed our battles to count as daily cardio until I broke his lightsaber. Oops, the dark side isn’t stronger, at least not in plastic.)

B) I knew there was no good reason for Luke to be stuck on Ahch-To. I had already reasoned either:

           1) After all these years, Luke’s plans still weren’t going so well, AND like a dummy he accidentally got himself stuck on Ahch-To. Which fans would have complained about (he has the Force!)…I can hear the Luke-is-still-a-goofy-farmboy cries from the Alternative Universe all the way in this dimension.

           2) He was hiding like a coward cause he didn’t want Snoke to “get” him. Prior to seeing TLJ, I thought this was most likely the case. For whatever reason, I assumed, perhaps, Luke didn’t want to be turned into a “tool” like his nephew. Maybe I thought Snoke was more powerful and Luke knew it. Something along the lines of he thought Snoke would tempt him Christ-in-the-wilderness style. But, the hole in the argument, I mean, what could someone give Luke that might have been better than ruling the galaxy with his birth dad?

           3) But, they surprised me a little by going grizzled, i-don’t-care-anymore, shut off from the Force Luke. However, given the circumstances with Kylo, the death of his other students, from his perspective letting down Yoda as a teacher, it was the most realistic approach in IMO. Not sure if there are therapists in the SW universe. (Or how much hugging Ewoks would really help.) What else would a failed, depressed character do to deal?

C) I knew he needed to change as a character. Else, there wouldn’t have been an interesting character arch. For me, it would have been hard to suspend my belief if he was the same person from, guessing, thirty something years ago. (Look how much Obi-wan changed!) I always loved Luke, but I know a lot of people prefer other characters in SW (Han, Vader, Lando) because they saw Luke as a young, naïve, goody-goody. He blew up the Death Star, faced his father “The Chosen One” most-powerful-Jedi, and the Emperor…what was left to change and challenge him? I think his own pride in having done all that was a good place to start. Even from the beginning he was “I’m Luke Skywalker” and later in ROTJ, “I am a Jedi.” 

Which seemingly showed a lot of pride as a trait (IMO Han didn’t run around saying “I am a smuggler!” with the same gusto). So, I do think Luke having to face himself, and the fact that Luke Skywalker failed, was the last, best villain he could have. 

And in the end, he wins. He helps, because that’s what Luke Skywalker does.

Other Lukey movie thoughts:

I’m sure this lightsaber toss was a little disappointing for Luke…I know the last time he tossed the lightsaber there was a scramble of eligible students vying to get it. But you know, superior Skywalker blood skills and all, Ben caught it.

AND I know if Rey doesn’t fix and then toss the lightsaber at the end of Episode 9, im-gonna-be-disappointed, cause tossing the lightsaber is a Jedi tradition when they don’t need it anymore, ya know?

Anyhow, back on topic, I actually laughed (I think I was the only one) when Luke threw the lightsaber away.

Interestingly, I’ve seen some heartache over this, as some fans believe that Luke wouldn’t disrespect his father that way. I think that gets into interesting territory over if one is more of a OT or PT fan…I know it was Luke’s father’s, but I always saw it more as Luke’s. 

And I dunno if Luke could be described as sentimental over objects…that’s seemingly Kylo’s trait.

And just like lightsabers, first Luke had blue milk, now he has green. I’m actually kinda shocked other fans aren’t more upset that Luke is robbing some poor little sea calf of his dinner. 

Or how untidy he’s become. Aunt Beru taught him to keep his face clean, even on dirty ole Dagobah.

Overall, I was happy with his reunion with Chewie, the Falcon, R2, the holo-clip of Leia from ANH, and his lessons to Rey. Although I am very much looking forward to the deleted scene of the third lesson and deciding if its deletion was a good or bad thing.

I’m pretty sure my jaw dropped when Yoda showed up to have a little chat with Luke, troll him and give him some advice at the same time. And it’s good advice. The sort you could play on repeat when you’re having a bad day (do I hear a new bad lipsync yet???)

Finally, I guess the only other elephant in the room, is Luke choosing to stay on Ahch-To instead of leaving with Rey.

I admit, in theaters the first time, I was a little, “Ah, Luke, come on, help already, don’t be that way grumpy Pooh bear” about it. But not devastated, cause I reasoned this was a plot device, so someone could be left to save the other heroes later on.

Also, if Luke had left with Rey, we would have, IMO, gotten into repeat ANH and TFA plotlines, aka mentor character runs around base-like setting with newbies. (Or even, possibly TPM with mentor character and apprentice chasing baddie into a corner like area, only to have mentor die.) It might have been cool, but I’ve yet to see a description of this scenario that I like better than what actually happened in TLJ or one that doesn’t rob Rey of scenes or power as a character.

At the end of day, I like the miraculousness of Luke’s return on Crait. ‘Cause for me, as a spiritual person, it means, if you boil down Luke Skywalker as a character, he’s still a Christ-like figure. I could probably write you a whole thesis on the comparisons of Luke appearing to everyone on Crait being similar to Christ appearing to his followers after the crucifixion (someone out there probably will)(Im-gonna-wait to write the thesis on Kylo being like Paul, I guess). But, yeah, it defied my expectations of what Luke would and could do. Especially if he knew doing so would possibly kill him. Definition of a true hero.

His “fight” (arguably final lesson) with Kylo, even though they never really lock blades, takes my breath away. I didn’t think SW could top the snow fight in TFA, but now I’m tied with the Praetorian Guards for *fangirls* “the good parts” (aka the scenes I will lazily watch over and over on Youtube ‘cause Bluray startup is just too many seconds to wait).

Yup, I did tear up a bit when Luke fades away. But, honestly, I couldn’t have imagined a better, more peaceful way for Luke to go. In ANH when he first looks into the double sunset, I always had this feeling that he was searching for something more. To end his character’s journey with the same double sunset, really felt like that search was over. It was perfect.

But, I got a feeling seeing Force Ghost Luke is going to be pretty cool *wink wink*.