A new Star Wars happened, and opinions are released upon us like nibbling hounds demanding biscuits

[bartholen_v1legacy]

And yeah, this being still so much a rehash (right down to the red armored guards in the throne room!) after the kicking TFA rightly got for that just goes to show what state of creative bankruptcy this property is.

In what way is TLJ a rehash exactly? One of the chief praises/criticisms (depending on the view of the person speaking) is that it breaks a lot from the conventional Star Wars mould and only very superficially resembles ESB (the rebels are on the run, the jedi goes looking for a mentor). It keeps a bunch of things as throwbacks to ESB, like a fight between walkers and guys in trenches on a white planet, but the narrative structure is entirely different and the beats are not even in the same realm.

Just to highlight the most obvious: In ESB Luke leaves Yoda despite not having finished his training, in TLJ Rey leaves Luke because he's unwilling and unable to teach her more then he has. There's literally no plot line in TLJ similar to the Bespin plot and ESB has nothing like the Star Destroyer heist. You can accuse TLJ of a lot of things and disliking it is fine (as the Film Crit Hulk claimed that Tarantino once told him: Never hate a movie), but getting too grandiose in your criticism or criticizing things which aren't even there just makes you look like someone crazy or someone with an agenda.

The best way I can describe it is that the film felt like it was made by the member berries from South Park:

"'Member the red guards? 'Member the Emperor's throne room? 'Member Hoth? 'Member AT-ATs? 'Member puppet Yoda? 'Member how a jedi in training went to a place of the dark side? 'Member how Luke tried to get Vader to turn? 'Member when the heroes had to infiltrate the enemy base? 'Member the Millennium Falcon coming to a last minute rescue? 'Member how Yoda dies? 'Member the Leia recording with R2-D2? 'Member C-3PO (why the hell is he in this movie)?"

Maybe rehash was the wrong word. In terms of narrative and structure it is rather different. But for all its talk about letting old things die it's still 10 feet deep in nostalgia and fan pandering. By referring back to things like Yoda and Darth Sidious the film also raises questions about its universe TFA didn't because it ignored them: how exactly did the First Order gain such power? Who is Snoke? Where does he come from? How did he reach Kylo Ren and what did he do to him that made Luke Skywalker give him less a chance than Darth Vader, a genocidal tyrant who'd been steeped in the dark side for decades? And why in the flying fuck is this rebellion resistance consisting of precisely one major cruiser and a severely reduced fleet such a threat that the greatest military power in the galaxy needs to send all their biggest guns after them, with their supreme goddamn leader in tow? Oh, they keep talking about how there's dissent across the galaxy. Telling, not showing. One scene with a bunch of slave kids ain't gonna cut it. And now that the thing the whole resistance banked on, ie. Luke Skywalker, is dead, how are they still the saviors of the galaxy?

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

1) So in addition to being a simple ground troop Finn is also a super engineer, trully masterful writing.

Or he's a guy who does basic maintenance and was sharp enough to be earmarked for Stormtrooper training. There's shades between utter incompetence and genius master.

EDIT:Seriously, the idea that a starship's primary systems all have dedicated circuits isn't the part that was obfuscated in any way. That's true of damn near every ship. What Rose and Poe didn't know was where on an FO Star Destroyer those primary circuits would be located. Finn, presumably, knows where the circuit breakers are. Plus, Facists are stupid.

2) The fact the writing is bad shouldn't have us take it in face value.

"I refuse to believe military personal could be combat effective if their face is round"

3) Who said "too fat to be believable"? I simply said she has an insane physical disadvantage for the job and can be beaten by a taller person wielding a 2 by 4 without problem. Or simply two people encircling her. The fact they will try to run away doesn't mean they turned off their brain cells.

And, obviously, that didn't happen. News flash: anybody can be beaten by somebody wielding a 2x4. But there's a fair bit of difference between somebody wanting to escape and somebody being willing to murder a comrade to do so. But I'm glad you don't think it's unbelievable that somebody with an insane physical disadvantage would be given guard duty because they're "short and stocky" (despite not being fat). The stun gun, apparently, still isn't rated, nor the idea that people who routinely engage in physical labor tending to have more muscle than average. Starship engineers probably lift a fair number of things over the course of a day. Cabling, power couplings, radiation shields, etc...

And it still has the question "why the fuck an engineer is relegated this task?".

Dunno if you noticed, but they're kinda short staffed because of the whole "secretly funded guerrilla warfare unit on the run" thing. 'Course, I know an ICBM mechanic who's done more than one shift of guard duty when the Air Force needed bodies, so that's not weird to me.

 

[Catnip1024]

Meh. I'd give it 7/10, albeit in my own personal ranking system. TFA would have been 4.

Maybe I just accepted it as having a more light-hearted tone than previously, but the characters worked alright. The consideration of a bit more than the typical black and white was quite nice to see, if ultimately a little underwhelming (That cave. Either have something interesting happen, or get her to do a barbershop quartet with the reflections. Come on, Disney).

Just to chuck my tuppence in on the Rose debate, I thought she was a decent character, up to the ludicrous saving Finn part. First, she ain't fat. Get a grip, folks. Second, it isn't racist to call her fat. Seriously. Third, it's made abundantly clear that the Alliance is struggling for people, as you can see from the string of work-experience kids on the desks in the bridge. Why assume they have more people available and trustworthy enough to guard the pods? The saving Finn bit was completely misjudged, though. Even forgetting about the physical impossibility.

In what way is TLJ a rehash exactly?

My problem is, the overall shape of the trilogy is virtually identical as it stands. The continual self-referencing isn't great, but it is the fact that this film only really serves to bridge the gap between the start and the finale. Jedi training, some plot development, and ultimately a sense of not a lot actually having happened. At least in Attack of the Clones, there was some interesting things actually occurring.

I mean, okay, the big bad has died, and that could lead to an interesting direction in the final film. But it didn't stop the sense of deja vu while I was in there.

 

[Catnip1024]

1) But it's not that Finn knew that a place in the ship exists but rather what its the purpose which is far above being a simple janitor and knowing actual circutry is ridiculous for janitors. At best he'll know a circuit breaker for an entire area. Hell, considering the monolithic size of ships, him being asigned the very specific area in the ship is already far fetched.

To weigh into this one - IRL, there are hefty training requirements for working on ships or rigs. Stuff like patching holes, or fighting fires. And to fight a fire, you have to know what are the really important bits you need to protect. You have to know what the consequences of bits being disabled would be. One would expect that the crew of a galactic vessel would receive similar training, particularly as it is designed for combat.

2) Knowing your way around a gun is entirely different from being able to be in combat (especially close quarters combet which is what would have been the case for people running away).

First, she was hidden and out of sight. Second, see above post regarding lack of personnel. Third, she's got a taser. You don't need to be a kickboxer to tase someone.

3) As someone who was in the military that's not the case. Even disregarding her weight, simply her being short is already a massive disadvantage if she is attacked from close by.

But an advantage if you are being shot at. Swings and roundabouts.

 

[Gatx]

I'm just trying not to have an aneurysm looking at Youtube videos and comment sections about the movie (I'm looking at you, AngryJoe) and had to break my years long absence from the escapist to get it out SOMEWHERE.

I saw the movie recently, absolutely loved it but admit that there are problems. I enjoyed the overall message of the film but thought it was handled messily. Luke admitting his failure and Yoda teaching him how to be a better teacher essentially, great. Whole lightning on the tree thing, kinda weird. Like why did Yoda set the tree on fire unless the point was that the books are unimportant, but then if they're unimportant why did Rey need to steal them and teach the things that Yoda thinks is pointless ...

Also loved the message of the Canto Bright portion but Rose's lines were a heavy handed and was a bit hippie/hipster millennial activist, "Yeah we really stuck it to the man because we physically trashed a casino while the rest of the city still functions."

The gray-ness of the conflict, with the Resistance and First Order being funded by war profiteers, awesome, but just seemed out of place since the rest of the plot doesn't go into it. At one point I thought Holdo was going to be in league with these warmongers but nope.

The lore related complaints that I see against this movie though, my god, they are so nitpicky and are, in my opinion, mostly unwarranted. Like the Knights of Ren, Rey's parentage, Snoke, etc. set ups not being followed, I don't think those are TLJ's fault, it's TFA's. J.J. Abrams' mystery box way of film making sets up enticing questions that can never be satisfyingly solved because EVEN HE DOESN'T KNOW THE ANSWER, because for Abrams' the mystery is the important part. He's the one who left fans with all these crazy questions that they pondered over for two years and Rian Johnson did not want that baggage, symbolically shown with Rey handing over the reins to Luke and Luke tossing that shit away. TLJ should not be judged based on how well it answered or didn't answer a question you personally had been dying to know according to your whims. Then again I didn't care for the theories but if you were more invested you might've taken it more personally.

The inconsistency of the universe though, like what's the deal with the First Order, the Resistance and the New Republic is also TFA's problem. The fact that the Resistance exists under the command of Leia to counter the small but growing threat of the First Order because the New Republic doesn't want to keep fighting (Basically the plot of the later Harry Potter books) is something that should have been in the opening crawl because it's the main source of conflict in the galaxy, but TFA never addresses it outside of who's good, who's bad and that they are fighting.

Why did luke make the map? IDK.

I see this around a lot but I don't think Luke is the one who made the map. If he wanted people to find him why wouldn't he have just told Leia through the Force or even let her know before he left. The found him against his will thinking he wouldn't mind coming back to save the galaxy, but he was actually hiding because he was ashamed that he actually sparked the problem.

 

[runic knight]

Why did luke make the map? IDK.

I see this around a lot but I don't think Luke is the one who made the map. If he wanted people to find him why wouldn't he have just told Leia through the Force or even let her know before he left. The found him against his will thinking he wouldn't mind coming back to save the galaxy, but he was actually hiding because he was ashamed that he actually sparked the problem.

Then, if not Luke, who made the map? Who else knew where he was when even Leia and her force-connection could not find him? Makes less sense if it wasn't Luke, since R2 had half the map in the first one, didn't he? It is just confusing.

Honestly, it looks like the director in this one just wanted to shit on all the potential of force awakens by giving clear ends to all the questions raised by it, or cutting away any unanswered bits in the worst way possible.

 

[wizzy555]

Quick Mary Sue round up:

Spoiler

Not Mary Sue- Ray didn't really contribute to killing Snoke apart from serving as a distraction.
Is Mary Sue- Ray sought out the only person in the Universe capable of improving her character and it turned out he needed her to improve him and she didn't even need to even open a book after all.

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

Quick Mary Sue round up:

Spoiler

Not Mary Sue- Ray didn't really contribute to killing Snoke apart from serving as a distraction.
Is Mary Sue- Ray sought out the only person in the Universe capable of improving her character and it turned out he needed her to improve him and she didn't even need to even open a book after all.

Spoiler

That was Yoda. Rey didn't change anybody's mind that movie

 

[Dazzle Novak]

Rose and Finn jack themselves off for freeing the rabbit-horses, but leave the children behind in child slavery. This while, as far as they knew at the moment, failing to accomplish their mission in service to the resistance's survival.

That about sums up the moral depth of the film to me.

And no, the corporate juggernaut known as Disney isn't going to be the one who provides a vehicle for any sort of meaningful critique of capitalism. Come on, people... "Let the past die! [Solo: A Star Wars Story coming this May.}"

 

[bastardofmelbourne]

The best way I can describe it is that the film felt like it was made by the member berries from South Park:

"'Member the red guards? 'Member the Emperor's throne room? 'Member Hoth? 'Member AT-ATs? 'Member puppet Yoda? 'Member how a jedi in training went to a place of the dark side? 'Member how Luke tried to get Vader to turn? 'Member when the heroes had to infiltrate the enemy base? 'Member the Millennium Falcon coming to a last minute rescue? 'Member how Yoda dies? 'Member the Leia recording with R2-D2? 'Member C-3PO (why the hell is he in this movie)?"

The thing is, it brings up all those visual and narrative cues so that it can play with your expectations of how they turn out.

So you see the Emperor's cool-looking, red-clad bodyguards actually getting to fight instead of just standing there and looking imposing. The Emperor gets killed by his apprentice, but not because his apprentice seeks last-minute redemption, and the Emperor's death changes nothing rather than resulting in instant victory. The AT-ATs show up and the rebels have to get on old speeders to go fight them, but the sally fails, the AT-ATs are completely unharmed, and most of the speeder pilots die for no reason. Puppet Yoda shows up and surprises Luke with a lecture on the positive aspects of failure, a bit of a contrast to his earlier "do or do not, there is no try." Rey visits a place strong in the Dark Side, but rather than getting some grand and terrible revelation like Luke did in Empire, she simply sees her reflection. She tries to redeem Kylo Ren, but he decides to stick with being evil. The rag-tag team of misfits infiltrate the enemy base, but fail, get caught, and make the situation much worse. The Millennium Falcon comes in and shoots up some TIE fighters, but that achieves basically nothing overall - the Resistance guys are still basically doomed when the laser-ram fires - and the eventual rescue later on would've been impossible if the survivors inside hadn't decided to try and escape on their own. And Luke dies, but not passively like Yoda did - he dies after taking action, re-living Obi-Wan's last stand in an unexpected way. (Seriously, in the lead-up to that my friend was like "ugh, they're doing Obi-Wan," and then when they didn't, he went "oh.")

The Leia recording and C-3PO, I got nothing. I don't know why C-3PO is in this movie. But Luke does call out R2-D2 for shameless exploiting his nostalgia. Overall, the film was working very hard to screw around with all your expectations as to how the film was going to turn out, and it largely succeeded.

It succeeded a little too much in my mind, because while having the characters waste a whole bunch of the audience's time on a casino planet for no reward may be very effective at deconstructing the success rate of the average just-crazy-enough-to-work plan, it does still waste a lot of the audience's time.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

The Leia recording and C-3PO, I got nothing. I don't know why C-3PO is in this movie. But Luke does call out R2-D2 for shameless exploiting his nostalgia. Overall, the film was working very hard to screw around with all your expectations as to how the film was going to turn out, and it largely succeeded.

I think this is the core contention that fans face in regards to TLJ. Whether you like it or not largely seems to come down to whether you are fine with it playing with audience expectations, subverting the traditional Star Wars narrative set up by the previous seven movies and moving the focus and themes in a new direction or not. A lot of the fan criticism seems to be, largely, that the movie didn't give them what they wanted, focused on the wrong things and was and wasn't Star Wars enough (at the same time too).

Just like ESB before it, it moved the series in a different direction from its' predecessor, introduced a bunch of new plots and themes that weren't there before (in AHN Luke and Vader were not related, the Emperor was never seen and mentioned just once and Han and Leia were not hot for each other) and dared strike out on its' own instead of remaining in the mold. Whether TLJ will be vindicated by history like ESB or will remain the divisive movie that overstretched remains to be seen.

 

[Hawki]

I think this is the core contention that fans face in regards to TLJ. Whether you like it or not largely seems to come down to whether you are fine with it playing with audience expectations, subverting the traditional Star Wars narrative set up by the previous seven movies and moving the focus and themes in a new direction or not. A lot of the fan criticism seems to be, largely, that the movie didn't give them what they wanted, focused on the wrong things and was and wasn't Star Wars enough (at the same time too).

I get that, but surely one can accept that the movie has flaws in it regardless of expectations. Off the top of my head I can name:

-The power structure is just weird at this point, how the Republic apparently has no navy whatsover now, yet the First Order apparently has enough manpower to size control of the galaxy in a matter of weeks (I know the EU kinda explains this, but if your film needs to rely on external materials...) Also, if they do have such a large fleet, why can't they send another group of ships to intercept the Resistance from another angle?

-The Canto Blight arc feels superfluous, or at the least, goes on far too long (seriously, what was the point of the horse stuff? And what was DJ's plan, if he could leave the cell at any time? Just wait for a client to be thrown in with him before he uses the key card?)

-Holdo has no reason to keep Poe in the dark. I get that it's part of Poe's arc (less trigger happy), but it's a case of character stupidity being used to drive the plot.

-The humour. Honestly, I was fine with it (I even liked the porgs), but I could get why someone would find it grating.

-Subversion aside, the film feels weird structurally in the context of a trilogy. If anything, its ending kind of reminds me of Revenge of the Sith, of ending a trilogy, with the promise that in the next trilogy, things will get better. This could be lumped in with the subversion of Star Wars idea, but in terms of overall story structure...this film is kinda weird.

There's other little things that bug me (e.g. Luke tells Rey that he has three lessons for her, but only gives her two - apparently the third was cut from the final version), but those are the main ones. We could debate this all day, but I think it's fair to say that the film has its share of narrative problems, regardless of whether they're subverting Star Wars or not.

 

[Catnip1024]

-The power structure is just weird at this point, how the Republic apparently has no navy whatsover now, yet the First Order apparently has enough manpower to size control of the galaxy in a matter of weeks (I know the EU kinda explains this, but if your film needs to rely on external materials...) Also, if they do have such a large fleet, why can't they send another group of ships to intercept the Resistance from another angle?

See, my understanding (albeit possibly missing some of the lore) was that the Alliance is not the Republic. They are a faction within it. The Republic would be fractured and bickering in the power struggle that follows the fall of the Empire.

As for the intercept, I guess it takes time to travel through hyperspace, and they weren't expecting to need more ships. You'd probably be talking a good couple of days even if a fleet was at a convenient position to start with, judging by some of the hyperspace sequences. That, or they didn't feel they needed it, what with the limited fuel and complete inability to fight back.

-Holdo has no reason to keep Poe in the dark. I get that it's part of Poe's arc (less trigger happy), but it's a case of character stupidity being used to drive the plot.

You could justify that by assuming that Holdo kept everyone in the dark because they don't know if there is a traitor in the ranks. Having been chased across the galaxy, including through hyperspace, it's not an unreasonable precaution.

The rest I pretty much agree with, though.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

I get that, but surely one can accept that the movie has flaws in it regardless of expectations. Off the top of my head I can name:

Absolutely, it is not a perfect movie (which movie ever is?). However, the outrage against it can not be chalked up only to its' weird pacing, few weird character moments (Holdo's adamant refusal to tell Poe, Rose and Finn's joy over crashing a casino etc.) and attempt at including humor at least every other scene. As far as editing goes it could absolutely stand to shed at least 15 minutes of running time without feeling rushed or cramped. On the other hand it is better edited then Rogue One, which has an incredibly messy and unfocused first act that does first time viewers no favors in its' breakneck pace through multiple scenes that lack context and only become understandable once you reach the much better structured second act about 40 minutes into the movie.

So when people complain about the movie being bloated, it is also telling that they get hung up on things the movie doesn't do, like give us the origin story of Snoke, more scenes with Holdo explaining her deal or an elaboration on the Resistance's place in the Republic (something which was covered by a tie-in novel to TFA by those that absolutely have to know and is covered by at least half a dozen youtube videos, by the way). That tells us that the problem is not so much with what the movie does poorly as much as it is about what the person complaining wished the movie did.

Roger Ebert once said that he never judged a movie based on what he wished it was, but on whether the movie managed to do what it set out to do. That's a useful guideline both in watching movies and understanding where other people's criticism of movies comes from.

 

[BrawlMan]

I get that, but surely one can accept that the movie has flaws in it regardless of expectations. Off the top of my head I can name:

Absolutely, it is not a perfect movie (which movie ever is?). However, the outrage against it can not be chalked up only to its' weird pacing, few weird character moments (Holdo's adamant refusal to tell Poe, Rose and Finn's joy over crashing a casino etc.) and attempt at including humor at least every other scene. As far as editing goes it could absolutely stand to shed at least 15 minutes of running time without feeling rushed or cramped. On the other hand it is better edited then Rogue One, which has an incredibly messy and unfocused first act that does first time viewers no favors in its' breakneck pace through multiple scenes that lack context and only become understandable once you reach the much better structured second act about 40 minutes into the movie.

So when people complain about the movie being bloated, it is also telling that they get hung up on things the movie doesn't do, like give us the origin story of Snoke, more scenes with Holdo explaining her deal or an elaboration on the Resistance's place in the Republic (something which was covered by a tie-in novel to TFA by those that absolutely have to know and is covered by at least half a dozen youtube videos, by the way). That tells us that the problem is not so much with what the movie does poorly as much as it is about what the person complaining wished the movie did.

Roger Ebert once said that he never judged a movie based on what he wished it was, but on whether the movie managed to do what it set out to do. That's a useful guideline both in watching movies and understanding where other people's criticism of movies comes from.

Agreed. I enjoyed the Last Jedi and I put up there with Empire Strikes Back. Like any film it has flaws, but nothing to make me go ape shit crazy like everybody else seems to be doing. Even Maximilian and his pals are mixed about the film

Oh and that is the only ever useful advice Rodger Ebert ever has done.

 

[Silvanus]

However, the outrage against it can not be chalked up only to its' weird pacing, few weird character moments (Holdo's adamant refusal to tell Poe [...]

I thought this was odd while I was watching the film, but after thinking about it, I don't think it was terribly strange after all. Holdo is a commander; Poe is a pilot, not an adviser, vice-admiral, or commander. It is not his job to know the broader strategy behind decision-making-- it's his job to fly an X-Wing.

Military commanders in the real world do not tend to inform soldiers of broader strategy.

[...] Rose and Finn's joy over crashing a casino etc.)

Well, a casino full of arms dealers who helped to make Rose's life very miserable indeed.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

I thought this was odd while I was watching the film, but after thinking about it, I don't think it was terribly strange after all. Holdo is a commander; Poe is a pilot, not an adviser, vice-admiral, or commander. It is not his job to know the broader strategy behind decision-making-- it's his job to fly an X-Wing.

Military commanders in the real world do not tend to inform soldiers of broader strategy.

Agreed. I was like "Yup, that's what my military service was like" when Holdo kept telling Poe to shut up and wait for orders. The one thing I wanted was a short scene or exchange that really made it explicit, by linking it to a fear of spies, Poe's reckless behavior at the start of the movie or anything. As is, the movie makes Holdo seem rather unreasonable to people who doesn't expect Star Wars to suddenly hold to actual military logic (remember in RotJ when 3 generals all go covert to attack a forest moon with like half a platoon of soldiers?).

 

[Silvanus]

Agreed. I was like "Yup, that's what my military service was like" when Holdo kept telling Poe to shut up and wait for orders. The one thing I wanted was a short scene or exchange that really made it explicit, by linking it to a fear of spies, Poe's reckless behavior at the start of the movie or anything. As is, the movie makes Holdo seem rather unreasonable to people who doesn't expect Star Wars to suddenly hold to actual military logic (remember in RotJ when 3 generals all go covert to attack a forest moon with like half a platoon of soldiers?).

Well, Holdo does chew out Poe for his behaviour during the bombing raid, saying it cost them their bombers. She does this just after Poe tries to introduce himself.

I'll concede, though, that after Poe starts actually mutinying, it would've been easier for Holdo to just bloody tell him.

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

However, the outrage against it can not be chalked up only to its' weird pacing, few weird character moments (Holdo's adamant refusal to tell Poe [...]

I thought this was odd while I was watching the film, but after thinking about it, I don't think it was terribly strange after all. Holdo is a commander; Poe is a pilot, not an adviser, vice-admiral, or commander. It is not his job to know the broader strategy behind decision-making-- it's his job to fly an X-Wing.

Military commanders in the real world do not tend to inform soldiers of broader strategy.

[...] Rose and Finn's joy over crashing a casino etc.)

Well, a casino full of arms dealers who helped to make Rose's life very miserable indeed.

See I got the impression that Poe wasn?t just a pilot, but the section commander of the fighter wing so while he?s no admiral he still had a legitimate seat at the big kids table. Now since he was very publically demoted for being a wanker, he shouldn?t have expected to be told the whole shebang but he should have been told something that he could tell his own subordinates who were clearly as dissatified with Holdo as he was. While I?m sure there is military nuance I don?t see, to the untrained observer it looked for all the world that Holdo had her thumbs up her arse and was doing sweet Fred Astaire about the massive capital ship taking potshots at them. Hell I thought she was a traitor who was broadcasting their hyperspace location to the First Order.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

While I?m sure there is military nuance I don?t see, to the untrained observer it looked for all the world that Holdo had her thumbs up her arse and was doing sweet Fred Astaire about the massive capital ship taking potshots at them. Hell I thought she was a traitor who was broadcasting their hyperspace location to the First Order.

The military nuance is that need to know is really strict and when you have a wing commander (or senior air officer after Poe's demotion) who lacks a wing to lead, they will be left out of the loop as to minimize leak potential. But as you point out, the movie fails to make Holdo's actions seem justified and instead makes her come off as a vindictive asshole (though considering the consistent portrayal through multiple scenes, maybe it is intended). This ultimately makes Poe's arc less resonant with the viewers, because we are likely to think that Poe was right to do something when the commander seems to be doing nothing instead of feeling that he learned an important lesson when he didn't listen to the competent and reasonable commander.

As an aside, Holdo's interactions with Poe makes her come off as uncaring and not listening to Poe's legitimate concerns, which is something that's all too common in bad real life bosses. Since most of us are likely to have had a boss like that at some point, it resonates really badly with a lot of us to see the protagonist in a situation that's so relatable, which just further amplifies the feeling that Poe's doing the right thing and Holdo's the one being stupid.