The Last Jedi John Boyega as Finn (VIII)

[Asharad]

They could have left Finn in stasis for the entire movie and nothing else in the movie would have changed.

And the horrid casino sequence would have never been shot.

 

[Ninjablade]

Yeah I’m really disappointed Finn didn’t really get a whole lot to do here. He was my favorite part of TFA, and he felt incredibly wasted here. John Boyega also didn’t seem as into this as he was the last time.

 

[GeoMFilms]

They could have left Finn in stasis for the entire movie and nothing else in the movie would have changed.

And the horrid casino sequence would have never been shot.

Basically everything he tried to do in this movie was for nothing. They were trying to destroy tracer on star destroyer so rebels can light speed out of there without being tracked.

Well the rebels were never planning on going to light speed...they wanted to land on that planet. So that whole side story was a waste of time and nothing was achieved

 

[cheungcheung]

Finn and Rose’s casino storyline was so horrible.

 

[Iceman]

He really drew the short straw in storylines here.

 

[godisawesome]

Just to give you guys an idea of how much Finn's story in TLJ let me down, here's the speculation I had collected and imagined from over the Internet and other discussions on Jedi Council Forums (aka, the guys whose site keeps crashing for me right now):

- Finn was going to get deployed to infiltrate the First Order, like he did, but with a point being that his knowledge would allow him to navigate through their world.
- Finn would team up with Rose because... reasons (I presumed technical expertise to sabotage the Supremacy or help steal a vehicle), and he would have to put up with the exagerrated version of his heroism throughout the story, eventually, of course, becoming his own legend.
- Finn would seek out DJ, a smuggler in First Order space, in order to get the materials to complete his infiltration. The stop on Canto Bight would be very short and not take up that much time; Finn was going to spend significant, non-action scenes with the First Order.
- While Finn, Rose and DJ start to complete their missions, with DJ's possible threat being made clear and even making Finn wary, they run into some people who knew Finn. Since the FO covered up that he defected to prevent it from spreading, Finn now gets awkward bonding time with old friends.
- PS, the above rumor actually came with a suggestion that Tom kriffin' Hardy would be that Stormtrooper.
- I presumed they would of course expand on the implications of Finn being an enslaved child soldier, because why the hell wouldn't you? (Oh, poor dumb me.) He'd find himself conflicted with his old friends and viewing the FO through new eyes, now getting righteously angry at the FO's kidnapping of small children.
- DJ would inevitably sell them out, Phasma, now with some context for her relationship with her men and Finn in particular, would order the executioner Stormtroopers to behead not just Finn and Rose, but also his old friends-- can't let that defection infection spread!
- Luckily, Finn and Rose prepared ahead of time, activated an explosion fueled distraction, and start a riot with (very few) Stormtroopers vs Stormtroopers in the hangar of the Supremacy.
- Finn faces Phasma, but now filled with some clearly righteous fury at her for being the personification of the system that raised and brainwashed him, and beats her, like he does in the film, but now when he leaves, there's an element of inspiration and mythos that we see has entered First Order ranks...
- The film ends with the Resistance on the run, yes, but Finn now has stepped up, and while he may not be a Force user, he's damn cool!


Yes, I know this is literally a textbook definition of being overhyped and overexcited for something that won't happen... But I correctly predicted the Praetorian scene with my buddy, so I do feel snubbed that I so overestimated the awesomness of Finn's story elements.

 

[Ninjablade]

Honestly really like that idea, and is where I was thinking the movie would be going based of trailers.

 

[nightwing06]

Boyega puts in the work but the scripts make him the comic relief for the most part but at least they gave him some heroic moments

 

[Havok83]

Yeah I hated Finn with Rose and hate how they went the entire movie without him being around Rey until the end.

 

[godisawesome]

Our podcast tried to avoid some of the more conceptual debates about stuff like Rey or Luke for later, but we did get to an argument about the merits of the Finn plot alongside the entire chase sequence part of the film. If you guys would mind giving it a listen, my rant (and oh boy, is it a rant) starts at 1:02:48:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/132209/612316-the-last-jedi-non-spoiler-and-spoiler-review

It takes a while to get to Finn himself, but part of my argument is that the film would have been better able to communicate Ben to stubborn diehards like myself it's controversial choices, it this plot had been strong. But it wasn't. And that it really undershot what made Finn a great character in TFA.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

I love the film but Finn was not served as well as he could have been by the Canto stuff.

Spoiler

I do see how it plays into the wider themes of the film once it finishes. I also get what that sequence was trying to convey...
AND IT WASN'T ABOUT ANIMAL CRUELTY. It had animal cruelty as an element to a larger metaphorical point.

There's something off about Rose telling Finn, the guy who was conscripted as a child into the First Order's ranks about the oppression of the FO. I think he knows how F'd up the FO controlling the galaxy would be. But the whole point of the sequence ties into Poe's failures and it adds a context to Star Wars about wider inequalities feeding on and into the various clashes going on over the years in this universe.

All that said... I think two things would have greatly enhanced the sequence and make it more palatable and serve Finn better. The first is Finn simply giving some detail of his back story. I know everyone hates exposition but Finn telling Rose, and thus the audience about where he's from, what he remembers before the First Order took him would expand the character. Second... Phasma should have been the one chasing them on Canto, not the local PD. It would have added urgency, and it would have been better for both Finn and Phasma. Hell, make it an off the books thing for Phasma. Make it that she's obsessed with Finn now. He's her white whale. Give us some insight into their relationship before his desertion. A lot of the same events can still play out as they did but now Finn has something to play off of. And again, finally something is done to put meat on Phasma's bones.

Don't get me wrong... I think there are issues with the scene... But I also don't think it ruins the film or is completely useless. Just needed a little bit more thought put into it.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

This movie was lame and they misused Finn.

 

[DeadStroke]

Finn is the fault of The Force Awakens.

JJ had a chance to really establish something great with Finn instead he turned into a bit of a joke.

Rian Johnson was just trying to salvage that character and instead sort of made him more irrelevant.

I actually think Boyega was better in this movie. The character of Finn was better just not in a good story.

 

[Havok83]

Finn is the fault of The Force Awakens.

JJ had a chance to really establish something great with Finn instead he turned into a bit of a joke.

Rian Johnson was just trying to salvage that character and instead sort of made him more irrelevant.

I actually think Boyega was better in this movie. The character of Finn was better just not in a good story.

iDA. He served a purpose in TFA but was ultimately pointless here

 

[Tacit Ronin]

What purpose did he serve in TFA? Saving Rey? She already saved herself. He was a walking slapstick.

 

[Brother Jack]

Finn was the everyman in TFA. He wasn't strong with the force like Rey or an incredible pilot like Poe. He was the closest thing to the audience surrogate, whose real strength as revealed through his arc is his moral fiber. Unfortunately in TLJ it feels like he's just repeating the same arc over again. He doesn't go anywhere new unlike the other characters.

 

[Tacit Ronin]

But he does. He goes from being only interested in Rey's well being to the well being of the resistance.

 

[Spider-Fan]

But he does. He goes from being only interested in Rey's well being to the well being of the resistance.

Won't he be disappointed when he ends up in the friend zone

 

[BatLobster]

But he does. He goes from being only interested in Rey's well being to the well being of the resistance.

Right.

It would have been the easy route to just start Finn off in TLJ as a committed resistance guy. But that was in no way earned in TFA. In fact quite the opposite. Just when we think he's stepping up into his role when he comes up with the Starkiller base plan, it's revealed he didn't really have a plan and just was looking to save Rey. It's a great, funny moment, but it keeps him 2 dimensional in TFA.

TLJ gives him the actual arc where we can understand why this guy would actually switch sides and become "Rebel scum".

You can like or dislike how that was handled, but it's abundantly clear to me why he was given that in this film. He needed it.

 

[Tacit Ronin]

Won't he be disappointed when he ends up in the friend zone

He got Rose and Poe.

 

[Iceman]

Right.

It would have been the easy route to just start Finn off in TLJ as a committed resistance guy. But that was in no way earned in TFA. In fact quite the opposite. Just when we think he's stepping up into his role when he comes up with the Starkiller base plan, it's revealed he didn't really have a plan and just was looking to save Rey. It's a great, funny moment, but it keeps him 2 dimensional in TFA.

TLJ gives him the actual arc where we can understand why this guy would actually switch sides and become "Rebel scum".

You can like or dislike how that was handled, but it's abundantly clear to me why he was given that in this film. He needed it.

I agree he needed something to achieve that aim. Just something much better.

 

[DeadStroke]

Found this on another forum. I agree.

If you watch The Force Awakens Finn was still running from everything and his only link to anything was Rey. What Rian does in this movie is develop Finn character more and create an attachment to something.

That is why that stupid Casino Sequence is there...

Because in that Mission, Finn thanks to Rose begin to see what The Resistance stands for and why Rose and her sister have given their entire life to this fight againts injustice an inequality around the galaxy.

After he deserted the First Order. Finn was searching freedom. But he became sort of a coward. Sort of a man running from things when they get ugly. So what this movie did with Finn was to make him a fighter that finally faces his fears and demons and defeat them.

So Finn thanks to that Casino Mission understands the ideals of the Resistance and ends up attaching to them. So now he has finally found a fight that he stands for. Something that is worth fighting for or even giving your life for.

That is when we got to that Captain Phasma scene. There Finn after finally finding his place has to go againts his demons again. Againts something he couldnt defeat before: Phasma. But this time around Finn alone has to deal with something he couldnt deal before and he does. Finn defeats Phasma...

And what Phasma says between the fight explain it all:

"You are a mistake in the system" .... "You are scumbag".

In another words. Finn is fighting the fact that he is a nobody. A nobody that doesnt has to be forever a nobody that become somebody by his own means... And by the end Finn just correct Phasma...

"Rebel Scumbag"...


Finn has accepted who he is and has finally found his place in life. Phasma fulfill his role in this Saga. His role was small and uneventful that is true. But his role did succed in developing Finn that is what matters and what he was created for...

 

[Drizzle]

Found this on another forum. I agree.

I agree with that as well.

I also thought Boyega did a good job here even though Finn wasn't in the spotlight as much as he was in TFA. What was missing here was Boyega's great chemistry with not only Daisy Ridley, but also Harrison Ford.

 

[DawnWarrior]

So here's what I'm trying to figure out:
When Finn was charging at the battering ram cannon, would his kamikaze attack have worked? Would he have destroyed the cannon? Because if so, then it feels like Rose should have let him do it; just one more life to protect what's left of the Resistance.
But then, Finn was ordered to break off. Even his best pal Poe, who had to learn some hard lessons about following orders and not being a hot-head, told him not to go for it.
So who was right? Was there any chance of taking out that cannon?

 

[writer0327]

Found this on another forum. I agree.

Ha, I literally just had this same feeling in the Canto Bight thread lol