Last Jedi could have been the last movie in the skywalker saga if they left Leia dead. The main issues I had with it personally were how corny things were. Particularly that opening scene with Poe and the casino world stuff. But when you go back to the original trilogy, there’s plenty of corny stuff in those too, we just set the bar too high for what Star Wars is now. We don’t want Star Wars the kinda goofy space opera any more, we want Star Wars the life changing event. They can’t all be that way any more because we get Star Wars content so frequently now it’s watered down. Johnson made some decisions that went against expectations and went against the grain. That’s what you have to do to keep things fresh and exciting and unexpected. And that’s what you have to do if you’re going to end on a high note. Sadly people didn't accept those choices and consequently even the sensible choices he made got thrown out with the studio panic and the third movie was forced to backtrack on things and ended up making as many mistakes as Johnson was accused of making.

Dude… Treasure Planet?

also it’s a shame what they did to the creator of Lilo and Stitch. He fleshed out a story called American dog (which can now be found on his own webpage as a serial comic of sorts) full of amazing characters and weird homages to movies and culture and the art style of his storyboards is so beautiful and unique amongst the Disney canon. And they canned him and made his movie into Bolt because lilo and stitch didn’t hit the marketing targets Disney was looking for, despite it being one of their best films all time (the ending gets a little out there, but understandable given the plot of the movie and the fact that they made a last minute change from a hijacked commercial jet due to 9/11 or so I heard) but they had such amazing and unafraid talent working for them in the weird period and they punted, mainly by buying Pixar and letting them do the heavy lifting and non-traditional stories while Disney returned to musical princess crud. Oddly, looking back at disneys output since the beginning of the weird period, the weird period itself is their best work, and Brave, which is at its core a Disney princess story, is one of Pixar’s most underrated movies.

I stand by the fact that the last Jedi could have been the final movie and it would have been a good send off - even better with a few minor tweaks. My biggest problem with that movie is Leia not dying. Otherwise it’s a great send off. It’s been a while since I’ve thought about this but I’ll try to explain: Finn becomes a full-fledged hero, redeeming himself from his past character flaws. Poe learns the lesson of what it takes to be a leader and then is left with a rebellion that HE can be the leader of after Laura Dern sacrifices herself. Had Leia died, this point would resonate even more. Rey learns the ways of the Jedi, but with the caveat that the Jedi need not be beholden to these strict essentially religious rules of the past, but she also learns that her lineage is “nothing” which makes the point that anyone can be a hero, not just “chosen ones”. Ren double crosses his master, killing Snoke, but actually falling deeper into dark side corruption when Rey denies his offers to take power together. Yoda and Luke destroy the remnants of the outdated Jedi order. Luke confronts Ren and allows himself to die, showing Ren that selflessness is the way, but also defeating him by destroying his ego, taking away his chance for “revenge” by proving that there is no value in revenge. If Leia had died, Luke would have arrived to the cave to learn he would not see her again in this life and it would have been an extra twist of the knife in our hearts. We end on this: the original trio are all dead in meaningful ways. The new trio are all matured as characters and established in a new order in their lives (Poe the military leader, Rey the Jedi, and Finn the scrappy hero). The villain has fallen and is on a path to potential redemption, and yet the conflict of the universe remains in place with a small faction of rebels left with new hope and the first order still established but without strong leadership.

Agreed. I know when I don’t like a movie because it will put me to sleep, I’ll stop paying attention, or constantly talk about parts bug me. The marvels entertained me all the way through. Then again, so did Quantumania, and I’m bummed the negativity around that movie contributed to Kang and that storyline being sidelined. I also haven’t forgotten that the “glorious” first three phases of the MCU were largely middling or often bad movies. But if people just have patience and let the creatives do their thing, the payoff can be worth it pushing through some weak entries.