Star Wars: The Last Jedi Review

Starring: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Lupita Nyong'o, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie, Kelly Marie Tran, Laura Dern, Frank Oz, Benicio del Toro

The Last Jedi was always going to be the biggest movie of the year. $220 million in three days is good for the second-biggest opening ever, behind only previous installment The Force Awakens. Everyone went to see it, but that does not necessarily reflect its quality. In fact, if you were to look online, you would see a clear divide between critics and fans. 91% on Rotten Tomatoes ties it with The Force Awakens. Yet the audience score is a "rotten" 50%, the lowest of any Star Wars film and even lower than the prequels. There are some very vocal detractors of The Last Jedi, and I tried to push that from my mind as I saw the film myself. However, now that I have seen The Last Jedi I can understand where the divide is coming from, even if I don't always agree with the naysayers myself. Rian Johnson, director of Looper, makes bold artistic and creative decisions that fly in the face of almost everything J.J. Abrams built in The Force Awakens. Popular theories are destroyed, characters killed, and the tone takes a very sharp turn. I appreciated some of the decisions that Johnson made, but I understand how jarring it is for diehard fans of The Force Awakens who did not expect such a shift. Before I go into detail, this review is full of SPOILERS. Since so much was hidden, it's impossible to talk about The Last Jedi without spoiling key details. So if you haven't seen the film, turn away. And if you don't want to read every plot point or character that I am analyzing, you can scroll through. I am going to try to analyze this film at every level.

Contents:
The Island
Admiral Haldo
The Resistance Conflict
Finn & Rose
General Leia
Yin and Yang
Kylo Ren
Snoke
Rey's Parents
Luke
Convenience
Looking Back & Going Forward

The Island

I expected Rey's training to be the most interesting part of the film. I was disappointed to find that Rey's time on the island with Luke was mostly useless filler. Luke (more on him later) was not the grizzled veteran I expected, nor did he have any internal light and dark conflict. He was the same boring Luke from the original trilogy, just slightly more tired. He didn't really train Rey at all. She guided herself while on the island, and then left when the two found themselves at odds. If she had never landed on the island, the movie would be no different. Luke's stunt at the end (while awesome) had nothing to do with where the plot ended up. The fish nuns were weird and never funny. I loved the porgs, but I was manipulated to love them. It's a blatant attempt to sell toys. I've already bought one, so I guess the joke is on me. The sea monster milk scene was reminiscent of some of the worst moments in Star Wars, and the "dark side cave" was a blatant copy of the same cave from The Empire Strikes Back. My feelings about most of The Last Jedi can be summed up in the scene where Rey sees multiple "copies" of herself in the dark cave. It's visually stunning, but is it necessary?

Admiral Haldo

Hands-down, the best scene was when Haldo drove the ship through Snoke's at light speed. The startling beauty of the seconds-long clip, in silence and shown from every angle, drew gasps from the crowd. For a diehard Star Wars fan, it marked something never seen before. A maneuver I would never imagined possible. Haldo was a complex character and proves that this new trilogy is moving forward in its complexity. As an audience, we instinctively hated her because she was taking the reigns from an unconscious Leia, and bossing around Poe. What a surprise, to realize she was right and our hero was wrong. We had been led astray, and our intense fandom taken advantage of. And lastly, as far as acting goes, Laura Dern kills it. Very rarely does she turn in a mediocre performance, and this is another fine addition to her resume.

The Resistance Conflict

As much as I loved Haldo and Laura Dern's performance, I felt the conflict was very thin. Most of the issues revolved around miscommunications. Had Haldo communicated the plan to Poe (and there was no real reason to not simply tell him) he would not have acted irresponsibly and endangered everyone. Nobody was communicating and it seemed artificial, and created only to spark conflict. A script should be able to mold this to seem realistic, yet this was so painfully obvious. And the most idiotic of conflicts was the fuel problem. In a Star Wars film, the chief conflict is the Resistance's ship slowly outrunning the First Order as it runs out of gas. Think about that. Ships are running out of fuel and just barely out of reach of the enemy's fire. How exciting is that? I admire that the film is trying to be realistic here when it cannot be anywhere else, I find it hard to believe no one could come up with any better ideas. It is inorganic, boring, and forced. A failure if there ever was one.

Finn & Rose

Finn has zero redeeming qualities. He is the worst character in this new trilogy. He is a coward, and cares for no one but himself. The stormtrooper angle could be fascinating, but it seems as if this director just brushed that aside in favor of a convoluted plotline with Rose Tico. Kelly Marie Tran does a great job in the flat role, but she is unnecessary. At every moment of their adventure, I would have rather been watching what was happening with the Resistance. At the end of the day, their mission was useless. It felt like a complete waste of time in an overlong film. Their inclusion may only be for diversity, and I've said this before: Diversity simply for the sake of diversity misses the point.

General Leia

To see Carrie Fisher a year after her death is remarkable. To be able to forget that she died (sans the first scene) is a true testament to her ability. After all these years, she still is Princess, or rather General Leia. If I were to only critique Fisher's performance, I would have nothing but positive remarks. However, the scene of her flying Mary Poppins-style is ridiculous. The entire theater laughed at it, and it was supposedly serious in tone. It looked cheap and the idea is just dumb. I have waited years to see Leia finally use the Force, and to see it like this was heartbreaking, bizarre, and stupid. It's not Fisher's fault, but rather director-writer Rian Johnson, for writing such a ridiculous scene.

Yin and Yang

So far, it may seem like I hate The Last Jedi. Here is something that I love. Rey and Kylo Ren have been painted as a Yin and Yang of the Force, and I think the idea is absolutely fascinating. When Ben came into this world, there was this inherent darkness about him. Luke sensed it, as did Snoke. I love the idea that Rey was the Force's "answer" to Ben. I enjoy that both contain such raw ability, possibly more than any Jedi or Sith before. Rey is light, and represents inherent good. Yet as demonstrated in her training, she willingly enters the dark cave, and is guilty of giving in to temptation. She is Yang, further proven by the piece of darkness inside her. In contrast, Ben is evil. I watched as the movie tried to convince me of a struggle within him, but reveled in his descent into pure hatred by the film's end. He is the villain, even if there is a little bit of light inside him. I think Johnson's portrayal of Rey and Ben as characters not always at odds is interesting. Sometimes they are working together, (that scene in Snoke's throne room was cinematic perfection) but at other times they are fighting. Much like Yin and Yang, they are involved in a constant struggle. It will be interesting to see where they land by the trilogy's close. Even I haven't the slightest idea.

Kylo Ren

One of my biggest complaints regarding The Force Awakens was Kylo Ren. I felt that he was a whiny villain, did not move the plot forward, and was an extremely uninteresting character. The fact that he killed Han Solo so quickly also left a bad taste in my mouth. It just felt rushed. I was told by many that they were "setting him up". I am shocked to admit that this is the truth. I don't retract my opinions on The Force Awakens (he should have been set up better) but Kylo Ren may now be my favorite character. Adam Driver perfectly demonstrated the conflict within Ben. It was evident in his eyes, his face, and his body language. The easy way out would be to snuff out the conflict within him and choose the light, and the film would have followed the tropes of many before it. I was pleasantly surprised that Ben chose darkness, and completely submitted to his tendencies rather than his benevolent urges. The light still remains, but he became a true force to be reckoned with in the movie's final act. Maybe it was the mask that held me back, but I'm fully in support of Kylo Ren going forward.

Snoke

I have extremely mixed feelings about how Snoke was handled in this film. And by mixed, I mean that I love and hate different aspects of his appearance. I will never criticize Andy Serkis' acting ability, for he will likely never turn in a bad motion-capture performance. Snoke was a mysterious character in The Force Awakens. J.J. Abrams is perfect at teasing the audience, and Snoke was a big question mark that I sought the answer to. It's clear that his demise was a huge twist and a beautifully filmed action sequence. I was excited at the spectacle and the adrenaline was pumping. But Snoke was set up as a huge mystery by Abrams in the previous film. If the questions posed by Abrams were not to be answered, let them at least be set aside for the third film. For the series to just throw him away after maybe a half hour of screentime is careless to say the least. He was the main antagonizing force. I suppose it paves the way for Kylo Ren's ascension, but it all feels sloppily executed. His identity was never revealed, his powers never really demonstrated. In all honesty, he was a useless character with no payoff. Abrams built him up, and I do not fault him. I believe that he expected Snoke to be a big character. It's the director of The Last Jedi who sloppily tore down what he built.

Rey's Parents

Aside from Snoke, the other open-ended buildup that director Rian Johnson destroyed was Rey's parents. I actually enjoy this reveal, for it proves that a powerful Jedi need not be a Skywalker or Solo. The fact that the entire source of drama in the galaxy is from one family is a little unrealistic, and simple Rey is a welcome addition. That being said, it is again sloppy continuity to have a plot point that was as important as Rey's parents (re-watch The Force Awakens and they definitely hint that her origins are important) and just squash it in a blunt reveal. "You always knew it", Kylo Ren says. When? When has this ever been evidenced, other than a way to soften the twist's blow. While I personally enjoy the idea, I understand how fans feel betrayed by how seemingly abrupt this new development is, and how it slights them.

Luke Skywalker

Mark Hamill told Rian Johnson that he fundamentally disagreed with everything Luke is in The Last Jedi. I agree, this is not the direction Luke was going in. If Luke was dark and brooding he would be a fascinating character. Instead we have the same boring Luke as in the original films. Even with his boring features, Mark Hamill turns in a great performance, specifically towards the end. He isn't a deeply developed character, nor does he have the spark that Hamill brings to his voice acting. But I did enjoy the journey we took with Luke, and his trick at the end was pure brilliance. That scene, and the epic shoulder-brush, was the only glimpse of the Luke that I know. I saw the reveal coming a mile away, but was astounded nonetheless. Then he kind of evaporated into the atmosphere, which I don't quite understand. That plot point is a little vague as well, and probably could have used more attention.

Convenience

Some of the biggest praises I can give The Last Jedi lie in its willingness to break conventionality. You may note that I criticized Snoke's twist, but that is because it is poorly written. Rey's twist breaks convention in that not everyone needs to be related. Many other things surprised me. When Finn and Rose are on their mission, the convenient code breaker ends up turning against them. Not everything goes the way they planned, for possibly the first time in any Star Wars film in history. As previously mentioned, the new authority figure (Haldo) does not end up being a flat antagonist. Finn was about to destroy the weapon, and he failed. I appreciated the willingness to break from expectation. There were multiple moments in which I was genuinely shocked and surprised.

Looking Back & Going Forward

Overall, I had a great time at The Last Jedi. It's a very polarizing film, and justly so. I think the only person who could walk away from this loving every single second is someone who went in knowing that they would like it. Star Wars is very near and dear to my heart. Certain liberties were taken that I appreciated, yet others were unnecessary and hurt the franchise. I'm certain that changes need to be made in the next installment. Star Wars in this twenty-first century thrives on its ability to harken back to the past while paving forward new paths. This film sacrificed nostalgia and character development in favor of edgy decisions. While characters like Kylo Ren went in some interesting directions, many of the others fell victim to missed opportunities. Snoke and Captain Phasma both died without every becoming necessary. The Last Jedi is a good movie. At times, it's even a great movie. But the large public outcry is warranted. The good outweighs the bad, but it's still a deeply flawed film.

Ranking: