Star Wars: The Last Jedi - 9 Major Blunders Fans Can't Ignore
4. The Canto Bight Casino (And Everything Within)
Supposedly included as a window into how war profiteers will always benefit, regardless of the outcome between the Resistance and the First Order, the reality of such bold ideas comes down to an awkwardly-positioned showcase of slapstick gags and a protracted chase sequence. Fans have cherrypicked and focused on such underlying thematics - and good on them for being able to - but the reality of how everything at Casino Bight comes across is focused too much on channeling that detestable "prequel feel" we thought had died with Episode III.
Three things:
1. Tonally, it's supremely jarring when edited next to the war of attrition between the two factions. We go from threadbare Resistance plans and laser bolts whittling down the fleet to shots of aliens that wouldn't be out of place in Dex's Diner from Episode II. As if that weren't enough...
2. Rose and Finn fail to get the person they were sent for. Yes, Benicio del Toro's DJ says he can get the job done (and ends up just doing so, which is nice), but watching the scene unfold feels like someone missed a continuity error during writing. Sure, the film is about failing and picking yourself up after a fall, but when you don't even have the characters acknowledge in the moment that they're discarding the original plan, it feels like a mistake.
Worst of all though...
3. The Fathier Chase has zero threat, weight or enjoyment whatsoever. Despite the supposedly inherent "joy" in watching an entirely CG animal herd bound around a field, the scene ends with a knockout on-the-nose comment regarding animal rights.
Nothing wrong with prioritising animal rights, I'm sure you'll agree, but the reality of leaving the planet without them only means it'll take moments for the authorities to round up all the fathiers and put them back to work.
Imagine the scene where Rose claims that the "real victory" is freeing a fathier, but after having dropped it off on a much nicer planet. That missing element was all we needed, and without, the sequence ends with the audience slowly realising our heroes accomplished nothing.