Discussing the StarFortress SF-17 Bombers from The Last Jedi aka WHERE THE HELL ARE THE Y-WINGS?!?!
Posted: Sun Apr 28, 2024 4:46 am
It's no secret that I strongly dislike The Last Jedi, for me it was something of a Trilogy killer as many of my issues with the Trilogy can be traced back to this film. It's equally guilty of many of the same issues the Disney Sequel Trilogy suffers as a whole, a lack of original ideas, not taking advantage of the ideas that ARE original, fan service without meaning and just undoing the Original Trilogy's major story beats so to relive the past.
However, it also has a bunch of issues that are rather unique to itself. An unneeded 4th act that completely derailed the Trilogy by resolving every major plot point which left the third film with little to nothing to use. Demeaning Finn and Poe due to Rian Johnson's dislike of the characters, Rose being basically abusing Finn for the hence crime of not living up to her imagined version of him she created and Rey being relegated to tool to bridge the gap between Luke ad Kylo Ren aka the only characters Johnson had any real interest in developing because he apparently disliked every character and plot point from The Force Awakens except Kylo and Luke.
Combine that with his disregard to the lore of the series in favor of cool visuals without meaning, continuing derailing Rey, Finn and Poe to the point of them just relearning their lessons from TFA and yeah, not found of this film.
But one thing really has always stuck out to be that really captures this films obsession with contrived melodrama, disregarding the lore of the series in favor of contrived BS to make a point even that point doesn't really go anywhere. And that thing in question is the stupid bomber scene from the film's opening.
So, to recap, the first Order is heading to the Rebel Base to try and destroy the Resistance who are in the middle of evacuating said base. After a stupid crank call scene and the First Order deciding to shot at the mostly abandoned base instead of the rebel fleet that's literally right in front of them Poe calls in the StarFortress SF-17 bombers to destroy the Dreadnought.
These things are so stupid. They move at the speed of snail, they're more vulnerable to damage the Mass Effect's Hammerhead that's covered in Dynamite and Gasoline, look terrible and on top of all that these things are basically suicide run use only since the one that does manage to destroy the Dreadnought is itself destroyed in the process meaning that using these things are effectively a death sentence. And while watching this scene when it first came out there was only one thing on my mind, why they hell are they using the Y-Wings?
In the time it takes these bombers to fly up to the noise of the Dreadnought the Y-Wings could have destroyed the Bridge, the docking bay and the main weapon three times over. And they're less likely to blowup if you glance in their general direction.
Seriously when the film goes all slowmo and dramatic when Paige is trying to get the detonator (BTW why was the guy who had said detonator dead? I watched the scene Paige's Bomber is the only one that doesn't take a hit. Did he die? Or was he just knocked out) I just kept thinking, "No seriously where are the Y-Wings?"
This really did set the mood for me, as I kept going "Why are they doing this, wouldn't this be easier and save more time? Why are you all being so shit to one another? You know you all wouldn't be in this situation if you took the time to have a 1 minute conversation?"
One thing I've noticed about a lot of Rian Johnson's films over the years, he tends to write movies that are filled with idiots and assholes. That's not a criticism it's an observation as that works in many of his other movies like Knives Out, Glass Onion and Looper. But the problem here is he's taking character from other movies who weren't really stupid or assholes and making them stupid and assholes. Poe was a competent leader and loyal solider, until TLJ decided to make him a reckless hothead. Finn had overcame his need to remain neutral in the war by going to save his friend and take a direct stand against the First Order, even fighting Kylo Ren directly. Until TLJ just reused that plot and he's not trying to stay out of the fight as much as possible until forced to work with others. Rey had every reason to hate Kylo which is more then justifiable after he murdered Han and put Finn in a coma. Until TLJ where she's now in love with him... for some reason.
And with all this I keep looking back to those dumb bombers and it's kind of perfectly represents my issues with film. There is an easy solution that already exists in-universe and it's being ignored for contrived drama that frankly I don't even find compelling.
However, it also has a bunch of issues that are rather unique to itself. An unneeded 4th act that completely derailed the Trilogy by resolving every major plot point which left the third film with little to nothing to use. Demeaning Finn and Poe due to Rian Johnson's dislike of the characters, Rose being basically abusing Finn for the hence crime of not living up to her imagined version of him she created and Rey being relegated to tool to bridge the gap between Luke ad Kylo Ren aka the only characters Johnson had any real interest in developing because he apparently disliked every character and plot point from The Force Awakens except Kylo and Luke.
Combine that with his disregard to the lore of the series in favor of cool visuals without meaning, continuing derailing Rey, Finn and Poe to the point of them just relearning their lessons from TFA and yeah, not found of this film.
But one thing really has always stuck out to be that really captures this films obsession with contrived melodrama, disregarding the lore of the series in favor of contrived BS to make a point even that point doesn't really go anywhere. And that thing in question is the stupid bomber scene from the film's opening.
So, to recap, the first Order is heading to the Rebel Base to try and destroy the Resistance who are in the middle of evacuating said base. After a stupid crank call scene and the First Order deciding to shot at the mostly abandoned base instead of the rebel fleet that's literally right in front of them Poe calls in the StarFortress SF-17 bombers to destroy the Dreadnought.
These things are so stupid. They move at the speed of snail, they're more vulnerable to damage the Mass Effect's Hammerhead that's covered in Dynamite and Gasoline, look terrible and on top of all that these things are basically suicide run use only since the one that does manage to destroy the Dreadnought is itself destroyed in the process meaning that using these things are effectively a death sentence. And while watching this scene when it first came out there was only one thing on my mind, why they hell are they using the Y-Wings?
In the time it takes these bombers to fly up to the noise of the Dreadnought the Y-Wings could have destroyed the Bridge, the docking bay and the main weapon three times over. And they're less likely to blowup if you glance in their general direction.
Seriously when the film goes all slowmo and dramatic when Paige is trying to get the detonator (BTW why was the guy who had said detonator dead? I watched the scene Paige's Bomber is the only one that doesn't take a hit. Did he die? Or was he just knocked out) I just kept thinking, "No seriously where are the Y-Wings?"
This really did set the mood for me, as I kept going "Why are they doing this, wouldn't this be easier and save more time? Why are you all being so shit to one another? You know you all wouldn't be in this situation if you took the time to have a 1 minute conversation?"
One thing I've noticed about a lot of Rian Johnson's films over the years, he tends to write movies that are filled with idiots and assholes. That's not a criticism it's an observation as that works in many of his other movies like Knives Out, Glass Onion and Looper. But the problem here is he's taking character from other movies who weren't really stupid or assholes and making them stupid and assholes. Poe was a competent leader and loyal solider, until TLJ decided to make him a reckless hothead. Finn had overcame his need to remain neutral in the war by going to save his friend and take a direct stand against the First Order, even fighting Kylo Ren directly. Until TLJ just reused that plot and he's not trying to stay out of the fight as much as possible until forced to work with others. Rey had every reason to hate Kylo which is more then justifiable after he murdered Han and put Finn in a coma. Until TLJ where she's now in love with him... for some reason.
And with all this I keep looking back to those dumb bombers and it's kind of perfectly represents my issues with film. There is an easy solution that already exists in-universe and it's being ignored for contrived drama that frankly I don't even find compelling.