If The Last Jedi was re-edited and some parts were done better, it could have been a really really good movie. I want to love it but it's all over the place.
Mikes cut:
Remove the stupid god awful Lea in space scene. Have the explosion but cut it early so you don't really see the extent of the damage. Then go straight to the announcement of the new leader and mention how Akbar died and Lea is just barely hanging on. Make it seem like she might not even make it through this.
Remove Po, Finn, and Rose's plots. Still have their events happen, but skip showing them. Leave it as just a side quest that the present characters are invested in but not involved in. I really liked the idea of them failing and not being the heroes like we expected, but the casino planet and the Finn+Rose relationship were kinda poorly done. Would probably need different footage to edit that into a good enough thing.
Then just make the small changes elsewhere too keep things consistent.
It'd probably be an 8 or 9 if it was done this way imo, just a different edit of the current footage.
Also a general thought
The movie couldn't decide what it wanted to be.
On one hand it was a very serious film that was trying to be big and complex with deep intentions. It had a lot of themes and they were pretty cool.
On the other hand, it tried to be a generic Marvel like action film.
These two did not mix in the slightest. You can't have a pointless sidequest with Finn and Rose that frustrates the viewer because this story is pushing failure as a theme, yet have Lea become a magic space wizard that comes back to life thanks to plot armor. Or similarly you can't have the message about self sacrifice with Finn not being worth it when just a few seconds earlier random other pilots are blowing up in a standard action scene.
The movie tried to be deep yet it didn't fully commit to it.
Spoiler for Hidden:
Mikes cut:
Remove the stupid god awful Lea in space scene. Have the explosion but cut it early so you don't really see the extent of the damage. Then go straight to the announcement of the new leader and mention how Akbar died and Lea is just barely hanging on. Make it seem like she might not even make it through this.
Remove Po, Finn, and Rose's plots. Still have their events happen, but skip showing them. Leave it as just a side quest that the present characters are invested in but not involved in. I really liked the idea of them failing and not being the heroes like we expected, but the casino planet and the Finn+Rose relationship were kinda poorly done. Would probably need different footage to edit that into a good enough thing.
Then just make the small changes elsewhere too keep things consistent.
It'd probably be an 8 or 9 if it was done this way imo, just a different edit of the current footage.
Also a general thought
Spoiler for Hidden:
The movie couldn't decide what it wanted to be.
On one hand it was a very serious film that was trying to be big and complex with deep intentions. It had a lot of themes and they were pretty cool.
On the other hand, it tried to be a generic Marvel like action film.
These two did not mix in the slightest. You can't have a pointless sidequest with Finn and Rose that frustrates the viewer because this story is pushing failure as a theme, yet have Lea become a magic space wizard that comes back to life thanks to plot armor. Or similarly you can't have the message about self sacrifice with Finn not being worth it when just a few seconds earlier random other pilots are blowing up in a standard action scene.
The movie tried to be deep yet it didn't fully commit to it.