The Last Jedi had all the fixings to be the dark second chapter of the sequel trilogy. The Empire Strikes Back to The Force Awaken’s A New Hope. It was set to feature the return of fan favorite Luke Skywalker and fans were practically salivating with excitement. So many questions were poised in The Force Awakens and while no one expected all of those questions to be answered, we were hungry for even hints. Needless to say, when the movie finally hit and Rian Johnson decided to subvert expectations, the fan base was decidedly mixed and it has led to a huge ugly nerd war that still rages on to this day.
Perhaps neither side is completely right or wrong. The fans who applaud the movie have every right to do so. The film is fun and a pleasing popcorn film. The fans who dislike the film for not respecting the previous installments are correct as well. I would argue that any sequel should respect the source material of previous films. A Star Wars fan can not ignore the fact that Luke Skywalker’s character went from someone willing to risk everything to redeem his father to someone ready to murder his nephew over a vision of what may come to be. Luke Skywalker wouldn’t do that. Mark Hamill even expressed the same feeling during the development of this film. The movie also took all the questions we had and basically said those answers don’t matter.
The movie picks up almost directly after The Force Awakens and finds Rey trying to convince former Jedi Master Luke Skywalker to train her which he is very reluctant to do since he also trained Ben Solo who later became Kylo Ren. The Resistance is on the run and things are looking dark for our heroes.
Much of what makes the film so entertaining is it’s cast. With Harrison Ford no longer in the new films, Mark Hamill takes up the role of the wise mentor. Daisy Ridley once again delivers a strong performance as Rey, a young Force sensitive whose powers scare even herself. This film is also noteable for being the final film Carrie Fisher shot before passing way.
While the cast is undeniably talented, the script leaves a lot to be desired. I am not sure the reason for some of Johnson’s choices but I feel like he went for the easiest solutions to questions set up by J.J. Abrams. Who is Snoke? It’s too hard to explain how he is more powerful than Palpatine so let’s just not explain it and get rid of the character. Rey was hinted at having parents of importance, well that would be hard to explain so let’s just say they were nobodies. So many seemingly lazy script writing decisions beyond what he did with Luke.
The Last Jedi is a good movie but just isn’t a great Star Wars film. I feel like it’s the type of chapter that will be mainly glossed over in the future. I just hope the next episode is a step in the right direction for a change.
Grade: C+
The movie picks up almost directly after The Force Awakens and finds Rey trying to convince former Jedi Master Luke Skywalker to train her which he is very reluctant to do since he also trained Ben Solo who later became Kylo Ren. The Resistance is on the run and things are looking dark for our heroes.
Much of what makes the film so entertaining is it’s cast. With Harrison Ford no longer in the new films, Mark Hamill takes up the role of the wise mentor. Daisy Ridley once again delivers a strong performance as Rey, a young Force sensitive whose powers scare even herself. This film is also noteable for being the final film Carrie Fisher shot before passing way.
While the cast is undeniably talented, the script leaves a lot to be desired. I am not sure the reason for some of Johnson’s choices but I feel like he went for the easiest solutions to questions set up by J.J. Abrams. Who is Snoke? It’s too hard to explain how he is more powerful than Palpatine so let’s just not explain it and get rid of the character. Rey was hinted at having parents of importance, well that would be hard to explain so let’s just say they were nobodies. So many seemingly lazy script writing decisions beyond what he did with Luke.
The Last Jedi is a good movie but just isn’t a great Star Wars film. I feel like it’s the type of chapter that will be mainly glossed over in the future. I just hope the next episode is a step in the right direction for a change.
Grade: C+
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