The Star Wars: The Last Jedi, More Questions than Answers? (SPOILER-ALERT)
Like most Star Wars fans, a significant part of growing up was watching the movies, both the original trilogy and the prequels. After Revenge of the Sith, I always hoped for new Star Wars movies and ten years later, Disney granted that wish. Despite The Force Awakens having many elements from A New Hope, I still loved it and made me super hyped about The Last Jedi and the rest of the sequel trilogy. However, the only thing I knew about it before watching it was the disparity between critic and fan ratings so I knew something was up. After watching it, I can understand why.
Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed the film as a general movie-goer and a Star Wars fan. But I can see why The Last Jedi has created such a divisiveness in the community. Did it make a lot of interesting calls? Of course. Would I make those calls? Perhaps not. But one thing I did get out of it for sure was that it may have created more questions to ask than answers we wanted from The Force Awakens.
Among the eyebrow-raising moments throughout the film, one of the first was right after the bridge of the Resistance flagship, the Raddus, being destroyed by TIE Fighters (RIP Admiral Ackbar) and you see Leia’s body floating in space. While watching this scene, I thought, “So this is how Carrie Fisher’s character dies, it makes sense.” Now, I get that she is Force-sensitive as indicated in Return of the Jedi when Luke told her she could use the Force as well, her reaction when she felt the death of Han in The Force Awakens, and well, the fact that she is a Skywalker after all. But the question raised here which threw me into a loop is that how developed are her powers that she can use the Force to pull herself back to the ship in the bleakness that is deep space? Was it the Force itself bringing her back to the ship while she was simply unconscious? Are there certain instances where her Force abilities awaken or has she always known how to use them in such a way? Who knows? It seemed a bit ridiculous at the time, but this does highlight a point that the sequel trilogy is exploring and that is the mystical nature of the Force. It is a notion that was departed from during the prequel trilogy (sorry Midichlorians) but in actuality, the Force works in mysterious ways and sometimes we, as normal human beings in the real world, are not meant to truly understand it. It’ll be interesting to see though, what Leia’s role will be in the next film. Will they use unused footage of Carrie Fisher, will they have killed off in the opening crawl, or will they turn to CGI? Hopefully not that last option but I am sure JJ Abrams will do justice to her character and her fate.
Next up is Vice Admiral Holdo. While I am sure her previous accomplishments supported her taking command in Leia’s absence, I was just as skeptical as Poe was when her plan was to just stay outside the range of the Star Destroyers while loading up the survivors in the defenseless transports. I understand that she may not be as exciting as the Resistance/Rebellion leaders we’ve seen but I mean this was probably the most boring chase scene I had ever seen in a movie which took up like half the total length. On the other end as well, General Hux could have just sent TIE Fighters and Bombers to destroy them once and for all. But anyway, the question raised here is why didn’t Holdo just tell Poe and the rest what the plan was, why all the secrecy? I’m sure Poe would’ve agreed it was a good plan given the resources they had but if she told him, then a whole mutiny would’ve been avoided. This whole situation even made me think at the time that she could be an actual traitor, how else could the First Order track them through light speed? In the end, I would say her last move in jumping to lightspeed directly into the First Order fleet was quite the heroic deed and it redeemed her character for me. This scene was also probably my favorite part of the entire film with several seconds of breathtaking silence, even inside the theater hall, with only the sound of my intensely beating heart. A truly cinematic masterpiece.
One thing I know we would’ve all liked to learn more about is Supreme Leader Snoke. Who is he? Where did he come from? Is he a Sith? How did he become the Supreme Leader of the First Order? Unfortunately, The Last Jedi had no plans for all that, during this film at least. Perhaps it wasn’t important enough to include here but I’m sure Disney will reveal information about him through the comics, or other media at some point. However, when you compare Snoke to the Emperor, Darth Sidious, from the original trilogy, it makes sense why not much information was given about him in the first place. The only reason we know anything about the Emperor and his rise to power is through the prequels. Otherwise, there was not much information about his backstory in the original trilogy either, which is what leads me to believe that Snoke’s character is in the same position.
Snoke’s death changes the relationship between Kylo Ren and Rey as well. Kylo Ren’s conflicting decision to kill Snoke to save Rey ensued in an epic lightsaber battle in throne room against Snoke’s Elite Praetorian Guard. However, he is quick to blame Rey for Snoke’s death and assume the Supreme Leader command once General Hux shows up. After crushing Darth Vader’s influence by destroying the wanna-be mask and killing Snoke, he sets out on his own mission to end the Jedi, Sith, all of it. During his Force connections with Rey throughout the film, he knows he fears the path he treads, which is why he genuinely pleads to Rey to join him, only to lead into the classic, “Join me and together we can rule the galaxy,” spiel. The same goes for Rey in that she realizes that there is still good in him and that he can still turn. I personally think this relationship is one of the best designed dynamics Star Wars has created between characters. Kylo Ren is not an established villain from the get-go, unlike Vader in the original trilogy, and he gets a significant character development arc in The Last Jedi. His sense of good and his family do tempt him to the light, which has been more notable and gradual than Vader. On the flip side, Rey firmly holds on to the belief that the Jedi are key to saving the galaxy but her personal quest to find out the truth about her parents leads her to the dark side, without resisting it whatsoever. Just a side note, I really don’t believe when Kylo Ren told Rey that her parents are nobodies. To me, that was just an effort in convincing Rey to join him as we don’t know what credibility he has in knowing who her parents really are. Maybe we’ll find out about her background in the next film. All in all, The Last Jedi deeply explores how these characters’ fates intertwine so well, while developing their roles as the villain and hero for this saga.
In the grand scheme of things, I was delighted to see Yoda’s Force ghost appear in this film as Luke found himself in a dilemma between maintaining the Jedi Order and destroying it all. One of my friends told me afterwards that Yoda looked “kinda goofy” but I really appreciated that they used the original trilogy version of him. It makes sense as that is how Yoda looked when he passed instead of his younger self used in the prequels. And just as his “Do or do not, there is no try” was his important lesson to Luke in Empire Strikes Back, he leaves him yet another lesson that is “The greatest teacher, failure is.” His presence reminded Luke, and even us as watchers, that the Jedi don’t necessarily have to be all temples and books. The concept of the Jedi can exist anywhere, even within children working underneath the posh Canto Bight as shown at the end of the film.
Also, my personal favorite Star Wars character of all time, Obi-Wan Kenobi, does receive an important shout-out. In an effort to convince Luke to help the Resistance, R2-D2 plays the iconic message Leia entrusted it with to give to Obi-Wan back in A New Hope. When Luke’s Force clone/projection faces off against Kylo Ren on Crait, Luke even brings back the “Strike me down” bit that was originally presented in the Darth Vader vs Obi-Wan battle in A New Hope as well. As a big fan of Obi-Wan, I’m quite happy that his influence on Luke and the rest of the trilogy remains strong even now. I still can’t believe that they used Alec Guiness’s voice from A New Hope and called in Ewan McGregor for “Rey, these are your first steps” for Rey’s vision scene in The Force Awakens. To go through such a genuine effort only proves the importance characters like Yoda and Obi-Wan in the series, despite The Last Jedi’s theme of departing from precedents.
Finally, I’d like to acknowledge that the environments created for all Star Wars movies, including this one, never fail to impress me. From the porg-filled green islands of Ahch-To, to the lively casinos of Canto Bight, and the red and white mineral planet of Crait, The Last Jedi brought our heroes to colorful and exciting settings. It was even interesting to find out that the reason porgs exist at all was because of all the puffins that were filmed on location so digitally removing them would have been too much!
The music used throughout the film had a nice balance of new themes, original trilogy themes, and even some elements from the prequel music as well scattered throughout the movie. The First Order theme, Rey’s theme, and the March of the Resistance all have prevalence, but it was nice to hear original TIE Fighter Attack theme as the Millennium Falcon zoomed through the mines of Crait, Yoda’s theme on Ahch-To, and Leia’s theme as Luke connect through the Force. The space battle music, especially during the bombing of the Dreadnought, was very reminiscent of the Battle of Coruscant from Revenge of the Sith with the seemingly-flying trumpet and flute melodies. What was truly extraordinary though, was right there on Ahch-to, as Luke stares into the Tatooine-esque twin suns and peacefully fades away while the original Force theme resonates. A very powerful scene to end the tale of one of the most legendary Jedi of all time.
The Last Jedi was a mind-blowing film and I am happy to have written my very first article about it! Please let me know what you all thought about the film, what you liked/dislike, etc., in the comments below!
Also, my personal favorite Star Wars character of all time, Obi-Wan Kenobi, does receive an important shout-out. In an effort to convince Luke to help the Resistance, R2-D2 plays the iconic message Leia entrusted it with to give to Obi-Wan back in A New Hope. When Luke’s Force clone/projection faces off against Kylo Ren on Crait, Luke even brings back the “Strike me down” bit that was originally presented in the Darth Vader vs Obi-Wan battle in A New Hope as well. As a big fan of Obi-Wan, I’m quite happy that his influence on Luke and the rest of the trilogy remains strong even now. I still can’t believe that they used Alec Guiness’s voice from A New Hope (insert link) and called in Ewan McGregor to do some lines for Rey’s vision scene in The Force Awakens. To go through such a genuine effort only proves the importance characters like Yoda and Obi-Wan in the series, despite The Last Jedi’s theme of departing from precedents.
Finally, I’d like to acknowledge that the environments created for all Star Wars movies, including this one, never fail to impress me. From the porg-filled green islands of Ahch-To, to the lively casinos of Canto Bight, and the red and white mineral planet of Crait, The Last Jedi brought our heroes to colorful and exciting settings. It was even interesting to find out that the reason porgs exist at all was because of all the puffins that were filmed on location! (insert link) The music used throughout the film had a nice balance of new themes, original trilogy themes, and even some elements from the prequel music as well scattered throughout the movie. The First Order theme, Rey’s theme, and the March of the Resistance all have prevalence, but it was nice to hear original TIE Fighter Attack theme as the Millennium Falcon zoomed through the mines of Crait, Yoda’s theme on Ahch-To, and Leia’s theme as Luke connect through the Force. The space battle music, especially during the bombing of the Dreadnought, was very reminiscent of the Battle of Coruscant from Revenge of the Sith with the seemingly-flying trumpet and flute melodies. What was truly extraordinary though, was right there on Ahch-to, as Luke stares into the Tatooine-esque twin suns and peacefully fades away while the original Force theme resonates. A very powerful scene to end the tale of one of the most legendary Jedi of all time.
The Last Jedi was a mind-blowing film and I am happy to write my very first article about it! Please let me know what you all thought about the film, what you liked/dislike, etc., in the comments below!
