Now that The Last Jedi is now out in cinemas, it's clear that the audience reaction has been largely positive - but a number of people are having issues with a few parts of the film that were left out of a number of reviews.

With that in mind, we're going to run through some of The Last Jedi's spoilers and render an opinion on them - and we want to hear from you, too.

Let's begin with the most obvious one...

 

REY'S PARENTS

Admittedly, this one was just a bit too hard to swallow - primarily because so much had been built up and teased about who they were that by the time the eventual answer was revealed, it became anti-climatic. Sure, it makes sense in terms of the themes of the overall story - they were nobodies, they sold her into slavery, she rose above it and exceptional power / talent / whatever can come from anyone - but didn't it just feel the teensy bit like a rug-pull?

Let's not forget, everyone was expecting her to be revealed as some sort of relation to Obi-Wan Kenobi or even Luke Skywalker's daughter. Still, so much of The Last Jedi was about taking people's expectations and inverting them - Luke Skywalker being a wise Jedi Master, when in fact he was a broken-down husk of a man who was effectively hiding from the rest of the galaxy.

 

SNOKE-ING SECTION

For sure, Snoke wasn't given much in the way of development as to his larger place in the story - or even who he was. Again, so much had been made of who Snoke really was and it all eventually was dismissed as needless. All he was in the grand scheme of things was someone who tormented and belitted Kylo Ren, but we never saw any kind of explanation as to how Snoke and Kylo Ren came to meet or how they met. Granted, when you saw Return Of The Jedi, it was the same thing.

Darth Vader was just a servant of The Emperor - it wasn't until you saw Revenge Of The Sith that it was explained in any kind of meaningful fashion. That said, the whole scene involving Rey and Kylo battling Snoke's bodyguards and killing him was one of the most engaging visual moments in the film. Speaking of...

 

HOLDO ON A MINUTE, SHE'S DEAD?

One infuriating trope in films is how you know something can be solved if people just talk to each other and explain what they're up to. The Last Jedi is an example of this. Holdo and Poe Dameron could have easily sorted out their differences and the like if they just talked. Still, you wouldn't have such key moments like Holdo describing Poe as a "flyboy" with the same kind of passion. Now, let's talk about Holdo's kamikaze moment. This, in our mind, is about demonstrating what courage can look like. Sometimes it's small gestures, such as the small children on Canto Bight, other times it's big, sweeping gestures. Once in a while, it's the ultimate sacrifice.

Another incredible, engaging visual moment in the film - but why didn't they just abandon ship and set it to do that first? Again, arguing with the logic in a film is ultimately futile. Home Alone's a perfect example of this. Yes, actual robbers would have seen a paint-can flying through the air or clocked that it was a VHS recording, but who cares? You're there for the enjoyment of it all - and it's the same thing here. What's a little bit odd, however, is that the film spends time explaining that Holdo is effectively General Leia's replacement / succsessor, 

 

GET READY, WE'RE GONNA MAKE THIS YODA NIGHT TO REMEMBER

The animatronic, original version of Yoda appearing to Luke Skywalker may have felt like fan-service, but again, it's in keeping with the themes of expectation and legend versus reality. Everyone expected Yoda to appear and scold, berate, whatever Skywalker for setting fire to the remains of the Sacred Jedi Texts - which, if you watch it back a second time, you discover she hid on the Millennium Falcon. Again, Yoda makes the central point of the film in one sentence when - we're paraphrasing here - he talked about how she had everything she needed to continue. The structure, the formality, the teachings - it wasn't important. You could read this as Rian Johnson's commentary on Star Wars as a whole - that while there are huge swathes of existing lore, logic, expectation, whatever about the franchise, but it's being set on fire and going off in a completely new direction.

 

ALRIGHT, SO WHAT WAS UP WITH LUKE SKYWALKER'S ASTRAL PROJECTION THING

Again, this is a complaint against the ending that some people have made. There is quite literally a scene at the very beginning of the Battle Of Crait where a Resistance soldier looks at the footprints left behind by one of his colleagues. When we saw Luke Skywalker step out in front of the First Order's assault, did you see footprints? You didn't. THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT. HE WASN'T THERE AT ALL. THEY LITERALLY SHOWED YOU FOOTPRINTS.

 

SO IS LUKE SKYWALKER DEAD?

Let's go back to The Empire Strikes Back and Yoda for this one. "Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter." Is he dead? Well, yes - sort of. Obi-Wan Kenobi died in A New Hope, but reappeared in the next two films as a spirit that Luke Skywalker could talk to and speak with. Don't be in the least bit surprised if he turns up in Episode IX to give a bit of guidance to Rey. It was the same in Revenge Of The Sith, too. Obi-Wan Kenobi hid out on Tatooine for two reasons - to watch over Luke, and to learn to commune with Qui-Gonn Jinn through the Force.

 

WHAT HAPPENED TO PHASMA?

That's a really good question. No idea. There hasn't been a character this badly handled since Boba Fett in the original trilogy. Here, you've got this chrome-clad elite soldier who has a snazzy cape and talks like she's ready to rip your head off your shoulders at a minute's notice. What happens? Well, she gets a pretty decent fight sequence and the whole "You were always scum. - Rebel scum!" was a cool scene, but having her fall to her death in the explosion?

Well, it fits with Fett - he died after Solo accidentally tripped off his jetpack and sent him flying - Charlie Chaplin-style - across the screen and into the Sarlaac pit. Granted, later novelisations and comic-books had it that Fett exploded out of the Sarlaac right after, but it still was a goofy way for him to go. As for Phasma? This.

 

WHAT ABOUT LEIA?

Yeah, that's a tricky one. As we know already, Lucasfilm have said that Carrie Fisher / Leia will not be digitally added to Episode IX - so our guess is that the opening crawl / scene will have to address where her character has gone. The film does sort of leave it on the idea that she was the lone, surviving leader of the Resistance - but given how they were pretty much wiped out by the end and barely escaped, who even knows anymore?

 

So, that's our rundown / breakdown of some of The Last Jedi's spoilers that we left out of our review. You can read that review here, but in the meantime, let us know what you thought of The Last Jedi in the comments!