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

[DieSmiling]

No. I don't think it's quite the original trilogy ruining disaster that some do, but I can't say this even close to measured up to what the return of Luke Skywalker could and should have been.

He's basically a craven failure hiding while his best friend gets killed and his sister fights a war for the galaxy. He gives up on his nephew and the Jedi way. Then he trains Rey for a few hours, admits he tried to murder his nephew in his sleep, and refuses yet again, knowing everything, to help. His "epic" final moment and showdown is a mirage. Then he dies.

It doesn't really affect his original arc and he has a few nice moments. But if you were trying to script the most disappointing return of Luke you could, a lot of these ideas could have been used.

 

[BatLobster]

My thing is...on paper, was this the return of Luke Skywalker I would've hoped to see? No.

But given how it was setup in TFA, I think it was kind of the inevitable route to go and Johnson simply capitalized on the dramatic potential of giving him a huge arc.

If Luke was simply a bit reluctant to train her, but then snaps out of it and is wise and powerful Luke by the end of Act 1, it does kind of beg the question why wouldn't have intervened in TFA. By showing that he had taken his failure with Ben so hard and he had become so disillusioned with the Jedi's failures as a whole that he'd actually cut himself off from The Force, it both made sense of his absence in TFA and gave him a big emotional journey to take in this film.

So yeah, I totally get why a lot of fans weren't happy with the direction, but I really think this was the honest and logical progression from TFA. There had to be a significant reason for him to be missing in that film, otherwise it would've just felt like he was a cheap MacGuffin/cliffhanger. I now accept how he was treated in TFA because this film didn't shy away from why he went to the most secluded place in the galaxy, and gave me something rich and dramatic out of it. If we were going to be just getting a straight forward Obi-Wan version of Luke, there was no reason to write him out of TFA. He should've been there from the start if that were the case. That film sets up a lot of mystery around Luke, and this film gives us the hard answers.

I still have the OT if I want to see the pure, young and idealistic Luke. But, we're being told a story where a lot of bad stuff went down since we last saw our heroes and the victories of the OT have basically been undone, so it is what it is. That was a difficult premise for me to get past initially too, but I've accepted it. What I always loved about Luke Skywalker was he was a human being to me. Not a superhero. I feel like in this film we got to see both Luke the flawed man and then ultimately Luke the legend that I wanted to see when I first heard the ST was getting made. Didn't play out the way I would've initially wanted or expected, but a pretty bold creative choice that I admire. For me it was one of those "I got what I needed, not what I wanted" type of deals. I think that's a storyteller's job ultimately, otherwise it can feel a bit like fan fiction.

 

[DieSmiling]

My thing is...on paper, was this the return of Luke Skywalker I would've hoped to see? No.

But given how it was setup in TFA, I think it was kind of the inevitable route to go and Johnson simply capitalized on the dramatic potential of giving him a huge arc.

If Luke was simply a bit reluctant to train her, but then snaps out of it and is wise and powerful Luke by the end of Act 1, it does kind of beg the question why wouldn't have intervened in TFA. By showing that he had taken his failure with Ben so hard and he had become so disillusioned with the Jedi's failures as a whole that he'd actually cut himself off from The Force, it both made sense of his absence in TFA and gave him a big emotional journey to take in this film.

So yeah, I totally get why a lot of fans weren't happy with the direction, but I really think this was the honest and logical progression from TFA. There had to be a significant reason for him to be missing in that film, otherwise it would've just felt like he was a cheap MacGuffin/cliffhanger. I now accept how he was treated in TFA because this film didn't shy away from why he went to the most secluded place in the galaxy, and gave me something rich and dramatic out of it.

I still have the OT if I want to see the pure, young and idealistic Luke. But time changes people. What I always loved about Luke Skywalker was he was a human being to me. Not a superhero. I feel like in this film we got to see both Luke, the flawed man and Luke the legend. Not what I would've initially wanted or expected, but a pretty bold creative choice that I admire.

I definitely agree with the idea that TFA hamstrung TLJ in terms of what it could do with Luke... But there were definitely ways to make Luke's role more satisfying and true to character for long time fans. Johnson definitely bucked expectations in an effort to do something different (which I respect in theory and in practice in many other ways) but it kind of blew up in his face with Luke IMO.

I mean, seriously, why bring back these beloved characters from the most popular film series of all time if you aren't going to portray them in ways that fans will like? It's weird, TFA was so safe it's almost surprising Disney even let him go this direction after that film was such a huge hit. My biggest fear is that the backlash will cause more "safe" nostalgia filled SW movies that don't push boundaries when the reality is the problems with TLJ are (IMO) more specific.

 

[Mjölnir]

My thing is...on paper, was this the return of Luke Skywalker I would've hoped to see? No.

But given how it was setup in TFA, I think it was kind of the inevitable route to go and Johnson simply capitalized on the dramatic potential of giving him a huge arc.

If Luke was simply a bit reluctant to train her, but then snaps out of it and is wise and powerful Luke by the end of Act 1, it does kind of beg the question why wouldn't have intervened in TFA. By showing that he had taken his failure with Ben so hard and he had become so disillusioned with the Jedi's failures as a whole that he'd actually cut himself off from The Force, it both made sense of his absence in TFA and gave him a big emotional journey to take in this film.

So yeah, I totally get why a lot of fans weren't happy with the direction, but I really think this was the honest and logical progression from TFA. There had to be a significant reason for him to be missing in that film, otherwise it would've just felt like he was a cheap MacGuffin/cliffhanger. I now accept how he was treated in TFA because this film didn't shy away from why he went to the most secluded place in the galaxy, and gave me something rich and dramatic out of it. If we were going to be just getting a straight forward Obi-Wan version of Luke, there was no reason to write him out of TFA. He should've been there from the start if that were the case. That film sets up a lot of mystery around Luke, and this film gives us the hard answers.

I still have the OT if I want to see the pure, young and idealistic Luke. But, we're being told a story where a lot of bad stuff went down since we last saw our heroes and the victories of the OT have basically been undone, so it is what it is. That was a difficult premise for me to get past initially too, but I've accepted it. What I always loved about Luke Skywalker was he was a human being to me. Not a superhero. I feel like in this film we got to see both Luke the flawed man and then ultimately Luke the legend that I wanted to see when I first heard the ST was getting made. Didn't play out the way I would've initially wanted or expected, but a pretty bold creative choice that I admire. For me it was one of those "I got what I needed, not what I wanted" type of deals. I think that's a storyteller's job ultimately, otherwise it can feel a bit like fan fiction.

I don't think it was the inevitable route to go at all. There were many choices on the table as to why Luke had gone away, how he would react to being found and hearing that his friends and family were in danger (and that his mistake and absence has caused Han's death), etc.

For example he could have tried and failed to deal with Snoke and gone away to find the first Jedi temple to gain something needed for that. I'm not saying what I would want, I'm just giving one example with two second's thought that makes the context of TFA entirely different.

They could also have had him go away in shame for a while but still keeping closer to the core characteristics he always had. There were many options left that neither contradicted TFA and also could keep more in line with the OT.