If you’re a somewhat big Star Wars fan (which is probably where I would categorize myself), I think you’ll still like The Last Jedi. The megafans, though, are where the division lies. There are some things that happen in this episode that have upset a lot of people. Director (and writer) Rian Johnson was given an unprecedented level of freedom to make whatever he wanted with what will undoubtedly be the highest-grossing film of the year. I can really respect Disney/Lucasfilm for doing that. I also think that people got way too into The Force Awakens. I’ve watched a few videos of people listing their complaints about The Last Jedi, and when they get to their “missing Episode VII story lines complaint,” they start rattling off things that even I have no memory of. Really? You’re upset that they didn’t include the 45th subplot in TFA?
The Last Jedi has its weaknesses, but the good moments of this film still far outweigh the bad. Episode VII played things really safe. That’s J.J. Abrams’ style. He’s a crowd-pleasing director. Episode VIII isn’t perfect, either, but it took risks. Johnson played fast and loose with the Star Wars lore, and I can’t help but respect his vision of the universe far more than I did with Abrams. I really cannot believe that Disney green-lighted this, but I am glad that they did!
The “new school” class of actors in The Last Jedi are awesome once again, even better than they were in TFA. Poe is still my personal favorite. Oscar Isaac is so charming and charismatic, and continues to be one of my favorite actors. I hope he ends up with a career as distinguished as someone like Harrison Ford. Domhnall Gleeson, who fueled one of my complaints from TFA, fills out his shoes far better here as General Hux. I like Hux in this movie. He’s not as awkward as he was the first time around, and the fact that he doesn’t have to deliver that really forced Hitler-like speech helps. The big newcomers, though? Benicio Del Toro, Laura Dern and Kelly Marie Tran are all great in their roles, though none of them have very fleshed-out character arcs.
John Williams knocks the score for The Last Jedi out of the park! I felt that he failed to capture the magic of previous Star Wars scores in TFA; fortunately, The score for Episode VIII is awesome. There’s one sequence in particular involving the Millennium Falcon linked with a classic theme from Episode IV that made me grin from ear to ear. It was one of my favorite moments of the film.
The cinematography is also fantastic. And if that sequence with the Falcon isn’t my favorite moment of the film, then this one is: an absolutely beautiful shot combined with a stunning moment of silence right in the middle of the climax of the film. Yes, silence! I love that Rian Johnson wasn’t afraid to have the (objectively) best moment of this film be accompanied by total silence. I’ve seen this film twice, and both times you could hear a pin drop in the theater during this moment, despite it being a full room both times. It’s a haunting and beautiful sequence.
The set piece on the mineral planet was amazing. Thanks to the red salt against the white ground, we get some absolutely gorgeous shots throughout the segment.
Kylo Ren has some great moments in this film. His character goes in a direction that I wasn’t fully expecting, and I love it. Give me more Kylo Ren, please! Additionally, (and this is one of the more polarizing arcs in this film) I like Luke’s story tremendously. Mark Hamill plays Luke exceptionally well, and I really appreciated what his character goes through and where he ends up. Luke’s final scene in this film is, in my opinion, perfect, and I can’t wait to see what part he plays in Episode IX. Also, I like Snoke in this film, and I really appreciated where that character goes in The Last Jedi. However, Vice Admiral Holdo (Laura Dern) is a mere plot device, and Johnson does make her have this silly little subplot with Poe that doesn’t add too much to the film.
There are some other misfires in the story. One is with a rather large subplot involving Finn and Rose. I wasn’t on board for much of any of this long sequence (it does throw the pacing off in the middle of the film), but I will say it had some good CGI and cinematography, and it had a good score to back it up. The worst misfire, though, is with Leia. Her entire story arc feels wrong and out of place, given what happened to the late, great Carrie Fisher (RIP). Fisher herself is great, but Leia has quite possibly the dumbest moment of the entire Star Wars saga (a saga which has also produced Jar Jar Binks and the casting of Hayden Christensen).
Most of the CGI is pretty good, but there is one sequence where it is terrible. The CGI comes off as hilariously bad and corny in one of the bigger moments in the film. The other major complaint I have is with the humor. Most of the time I laughed, so it wasn’t all bad. But there were a few sequences where the humor felt forced, especially surrounding Finn. He has a lot of forced gags in this film.
I do believe The Last Jedi surpasses its predecessor overall because it doesn’t play things safe. There were a lot of silly J.J. Abrams story lines that Johnson wasn’t afraid to do away with, and I respect him for shaking things up as much as he did. I wish Johnson was directing Episode IX instead of Disney handing the reins back to Abrams, because I fear he may try and undo a lot of what Johnson did in VIII. It could lead to a tonal mess between the three films. I really prefer the balls-to-the-wall creative style of Johnson. I will admit that nostalgia got the better of me when I was reviewing TFA, and I ended up giving it too high a score. The Last Jedi is a good film, with some faults, but it’s its own thing. See it with confidence, but maybe temper your expectations just a tad.
