The Last Jedi Luke Skywalker's role in "The Last Jedi": Did you like it?

[Herolee10]

**BIG SPOILERS AHEAD**

(DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE SPOILED)


So for those of us that have seen the film, how do you guys feel about the role that was given to Luke Skywalker's character and his fate at the conclusion of the film?

I've come across several forums and comments section that have had fans very divided on the film's usage of his character (i.e. Luke having attempted to kill Kylo back when he was young due to feeling the presence of the growing dark side within him) and ultimately his tragic fate at the end of the movie where he dies and becomes one with the force.

Some appreciated on how the film portrayed Luke while others were angry with it and called it a bastardization of his established character.

What are your thoughts?

 

[titansupes]

I'm personally conflicted about his Ben moment and general demeanour in this film. I have to process this more.

But in regards to his end... This was awkwardly handled at very best. His story wasn't satisfying enough to earn it, and there was an emotional whiplash between "He may die here... No, he's definitely a projection and he's disappearing and going to live, yay!... Oh, now he's disappearing and dying for real."

I like his projection scene (though I have significant issues with it) and I outright love his death scene (exactly how I pictured it all these years) but the two didn't work together.

 

[Kevin Roegele]

Yes and no.

Yes because it's an intresting use of the character and Hamill is excellent in his performance. The last shots of his send off are perfect. Yes because it follows the pattern of the Star Wars saga; older Jedi becomes hermit, trains last hope, becomes one with the Force. His arc is a mix of Yoda (refusing to help at first) and Obi-Wan (failing an apprentice, sacrificing himself). There were also the shades of grey that Lucas bought to the Jedi in Revenge of the Sith.

No because it goes against what's been established for Luke. Luke doesn't give up. Luke doesn't consider killing people in their sleep! Luke is a hero through and through, and it's profoundly depressing to see him abandon the galaxy and his own sister. Also he doesn't fight anyone with his lightsaber. How many years have we imagined what Luke would be like as a Jedi master? How awesome in action? Yet we never see it.

 

[Wise]

Eh it was fine. Luke was probably the only positive the film had, but I knew they couldnt resist killing him off to make way for the new cardboard characters to have their time to shine.

The hologram was a decent swerve. At first I thought they'd pulled a Sixth Sense and that Luke had been a ghost the entire film.

Frankly I'm kind of glad Hamill was able to bow out of this trilogy.

 

[markjoedelonge]

Yes and no.

Yes because it's an intresting use of the character and Hamill is excellent in his performance. The last shots of his send off are perfect. Yes because it follows the pattern of the Star Wars saga; older Jedi becomes hermit, trains last hope, becomes one with the Force. His arc is a mix of Yoda (refusing to help at first) and Obi-Wan (failing an apprentice, sacrificing himself). There were also the shades of grey that Lucas bought to the Jedi in Revenge of the Sith.

No because it goes against what's been established for Luke. Luke doesn't give up. Luke doesn't consider killing people in their sleep! Luke is a hero through and through, and it's profoundly depressing to see him abandon the galaxy and his own sister. Also he doesn't fight anyone with his lightsaber. How many years have we imagined what Luke would be like as a Jedi master? How awesome in action? Yet we never see it.

My thoughts exactly!

 

[AlluAllu]

To the title: Oh yes.

I liked his very human moment when he had that dark impulse. For a while I was worried that it had happened like Ben experienced it, a premedidated murder attempt. But luckily Luke resisted that impulse, just like he resisted the dark side in VI. However, I can see how that moment of failure could cause Luke to abandon everything.

But in the end he came back and gave us the greatest (imo) Luke Skywalker moment ever. And then the perfect death.

 

[matt47]

Yerp. It's like the film makers are scared to do things we all want to see because it's too obvious. Like Luke using his green lightsaber in a cool action scene. When Luke was like, "What, you expect me to use a laser sword to take on the whole first order?" I was like, "YES! DO IT!" But no. Of course not Rian. That would be too obvious.....and too awesome.
Instead, let's make him just chill on a rock using a forceogram and die from that..... :/

Like, with the X-Wing in the water, I so thought when Yoda showed up that after his talk Luke would've walked over to his X-Wing and force pulled it out of the water just like Yoda did in Empire. That would've been a nice callback.

 

[Greens]

I'm conflicted. I don't hate what they did, but the whole thing about Luke thinking about killing Ben felt out of character. Yes, he's bitter and aloof AFTER Ben destroys the temple, but he was still supposed to be a reasonable guy before that.

I liked how the force hologram thing was portrayed, but I still would have preferred an actual stand-off where Luke goes ham on the First Order and interacts with the Resistance in a more meaningful way. Plus I thought the shot of him walking into the Resistance base on Crait was awkwardly cut. There was no weight to it, he just walked in.

 

[FeedOnATreeFrog]

Yes. I thought it was great.

But regarding his death scene, the vagueness of how he was dying kind of undercut the emotion of it.

I also don't think he needed to die. I think Luke lifting his x-wing at the end, ready to rejoin the Resistance and restart the Jedi academy could have been better. IMO, Leia could have been the one to die, with her taking Holgo's place. Maybe it's Luke sensing Leia's sacrifice that inspires him to save the day.

 

[Greens]

Yes. I thought it was great.

But regarding his death scene, the vagueness of how he was dying kind of undercut the emotion of it.

Yeah I was like "okay... I guess Jedi can disappear on a whim now?" At least Vader actually struck Ben Kenobi when he disappeared.

 

[ZenTheAvenger]

The direction they took was absolutely horrific.

This is Luke Skywalker for Christ sake! Optimistic, hopeful saviour of the galaxy who never gives up. His nephew went to the dark side and he blamed himself? That's ok, that's fine but Luke wouldn't give up and leave his family and the resistance to rot! That's absolutely, completely out of character.

This wasn't Luke Skywalker, it was infuriating and disappointing.

His final scene was epic but I'm sorry they obliterated his character and the legacy of the OT, rendering the OT story pointless essentially.

No wonder Hamill was so disappointed.

 

[Greens]

This post from the Star Wars subreddit puts things into perspective:

He stood above a boy he probably held on the day he was born. A child born from his only sister. He probably helped name that boy. He changed his diapers, read him stories and told him stories about Obi-Wan Kenobi while camped out somewhere learning about the force.

He stood above that boy with the intent of murdering him in his sleep.

There is no realistic scenario where anyone decides that's an option, definitely not the kid we saw in the first movie who knows beyond a doubt that no matter how deep in the dark side you go, you can be redeemed.

 

[matt47]

This post from the Star Wars subreddit puts things into perspective:

damn. So true. I mean, this is a guy who wouldn't kill Darth Vader.

 

[ZenTheAvenger]

This post from the Star Wars subreddit puts things into perspective:

That is a great post.

 

[Greens]

damn. So true. I mean, this is a guy who wouldn't kill Darth Vader.

Rian Johnson took that "previously hopeful guy turns cynic, turns hopeful again because of a young student" trope and took it way too far with Luke, bastardizing the character.

 

[Romannen]

So... apparently Rian has quit Twitter because of all the negativity.

 

[markjoedelonge]

Rian Johnson took that "previously hopeful guy turns cynic, turns hopeful again because of a young student" trope and took it way too far with Luke, bastardizing the character.

He doesn't even turn hopeful because of Rey. It's Yoda who manages to talk him out of it.

 

[matt47]

So... apparently Rian has quit Twitter because of all the negativity.

I do feel bad for him because I'm sure some people were going too far and personal with their comments. But yeah I'm not surprised he's quit twitter. But I mean, what did he expect when he was writing this movie? I honestly don't understand how someone who is a massive fan of SW could write some of the stuff in here.

 

[Mjölnir]

What they did was fine. The problem is that fine isn't really enough when you fundamentally change one of the most beloved characters in perhaps the most beloved franchise.

Hamill had his best performance, so that's a positive but that would have been even better if they actually managed to create greatness for him. His showdown at the end was cool, but really undercut by that it was obvious that it was some form of trick as he looked much younger (and I don't think anyone thought he took time to dye his hair and beard before going). His death was also undercut by lack of clarity how or why he died.

I also don't think he needed to die. I think Luke lifting his x-wing at the end, ready to rejoin the Resistance and restart the Jedi academy could have been better. IMO, Leia could have been the one to die, with her taking Holgo's place. Maybe it's Luke sensing Leia's sacrifice that inspires him to save the day.

Man that would have been an epic death for a main character. You would have been in tears if it was Leia that slowly turned that cruiser to save the Resistance. I commend you on your idea since just thinking about it almost moves me more than anything while watching the movie (and Holdo's scene was great even as it was).

 

[Greens]

He doesn't even turn hopeful because of Rey. It's Yoda who manages to talk him out of it.

Good point.

 

[titansupes]

So... apparently Rian has quit Twitter because of all the negativity.

I'm on Twitter now-- He's still there.

His showdown at the end was cool, but really undercut by that it was obvious that it was some form of trick as he looked much younger (and I don't think anyone thought he took time to dye his hair and beard before going). His death was also undercut by lack of clarity how or why he died.

Agreed. There's a bunch to love in that scene, but you can't quite connect to it because so much about it is distracting. His look, his 'saber, what he can and can't do etc. And you don't get the visceral, cathartic emotion of finally seeing Master Luke in battle because... He lights up the (wrong) 'saber, they lunge around... But no actual fight. It's just leaving the audience with blue balls.

The cut to him on the highland in deep concentration was a great "F yeah" moment, but for two reasons-- A cool display of power and... It seemed to say "Don't worry, he's not dying today". Then...

 

[Mjölnir]

My main problem with the handling of Luke is that it's fine to develop a character, but if you remove the core aspects of a character then it's not really the same character anymore.

What was the one trait that Luke had in all the OT movies? It was that he was always willing to put himself at risk to help others, and to do the greater good.

In TLJ he's the exact opposite, he's turned his back on everyone. His friends, his family, the galaxy, all in mortal danger and he doesn't do anything.

Another very clear trait with Luke is that he doesn't give up on people. He sets out to save his friends that he sees are in danger in Cloud City, he goes after Han in Jabba's Palace, and, most importantly of all, he never gives up on his father despite that he's a dark lord of the Sith that's terrorized the galaxy and killed billions of people.

Yet I'm to believe that this character would ever have the instinct to kill his own nephew? The son of his beloved sister that he's agreed to care for and teach? And just because there's darkness in him but he hasn't done anything evil yet (let alone killed billions of people, etc)?

No, that's not the same character.

 

[markjoedelonge]

I'm on Twitter now-- He's still there.



Agreed. There's a bunch to love in that scene, but you can't quite connect to it because so much about it is distracting. His look, his 'saber, what he can and can't do etc. And you don't get the visceral, cathartic emotion of finally seeing Master Luke in battle because... He lights up the (wrong) 'saber, they lunge around... But no actual fight. It's just leaving the audience with blue balls.

The cut to him on the highland in deep concentration was a great "F yeah" moment, but for two reasons-- A cool display of power and... It seemed to say "Don't worry, he's not dying today". Then...

I was happy to see that he wouldn't die, that he would join the Rebellion in Episode 9 to end Snoke and Kylo, finish training Rey, and together with her, ensure the survival of the Jedi as protectors of the peace. Then he died. What the ****. For what??? Sigh.

 

[ZenTheAvenger]

It's like Rian Johnson has never actually watched the OT. Seriously, that's how bad it is.

 

[Orba]

damn. So true. I mean, this is a guy who wouldn't kill Darth Vader.

He didn't kill Vader because he stopped himself at the last minute. Seconds before he was

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Is him having a split second reaction that he immediately gets control of so impossible?
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