The Genius of Star Wars Ep. VIII The Last Jedi
First, about spoilers, because as part of the fandom, even whether I like the movie or not may influence people whether or not to see it. I give people 2 weeks before saying anything and that time has passed. I did break my rule when I came out and said I loved it and go see it, which was the extent of my spoiler during the 2 week period, and I don’t even do that much for other Star Wars movies. I did that to counter the small, but extremely vocal fans who were saying it was bad. In general, they were too shocked by Luke’s death, feeling he should have completed the trilogy. Then they went on to find other problems with the movie. Overall, the fandom loved the movie.
Though my favorite remains The Empire Strikes Back, I think The Last Jedi is the most intellectual and sophisticated of all the movies incorporating not only Lucas’s grand mythological concepts but this time introducing some of the deepest vulnerabilities and inner struggles found in Shakespeare — notably Lear and secondarily Hamlet. In 40 years and when talking about his film-making background before SW, I have not heard Lucas mention any Shakespearean influence. Rian Johnson wrote the script and perhaps he is influenced by Shakespeare, but if not, I have no idea where those elements came from but for the fact that they are universal. As Shakespeare wrote, “he simply holds up a mirror to human nature,” so it’s possible his works would naturally make their way into a more intellectually. complex film that has its origins in grand mythological archetypes. Lucas said A New Hope would never have been finished but for the fact he happened to have read Joseph Campbell’s book on mythology.
Also much of the negative criticism did not take into account that this was the 2nd film of a trilogy. As the bridge film, it’s purpose is to pave the way for the final movie, Episode IX, the grand conclusion, 40+ years in the the making of a 9 movie epic saga by one of the greatest storytellers of all time equalled in the 20th century only by J.R. Tolkien. Lucas liked The Last Jedi, and with the many plot twists and turns and intellectual sophistication, The Last Jedi certainly paves the way for many exciting and unpredictable possibilities in Ep. IX, the end to this incredible saga. I am very interested in seeing how. J.J. Abrahms concludes Lucas’s bigger than life saga.
Also important to remember is that Kathleen Kennedy, who was with Lucasfilm for 30+ years and knew George Lucas extremely well and was always in touch with his concepts for Star Wars, stayed on as President of Lucasfilm after the sale to Disney. They were very close friends and as Martin Bryant notes, it’s very unlikely that they were not in constant close contact during the making of the last trilogy, which is probably why Ep. VII The Force Awakens seemed a lot like the first movie in 1977, A New Hope, and why if you see The Last Jedi again (or multiple agains) after the first time and get over the shock of Luke’s death, you notice that The Last Jedi is also quite similar to The Empire Strikes Back, which was the bridge movie in the Original Trilogy.
The Last Jedi was not what I expected or what I wanted, but it was much more than either of those. It assured me that the Star Wars franchise would continue and be adapted for each generation to come ensuring its greatness from generation to generation. What more could any original fan from 1977 ask but for the passing of one of their greatest loves for generations to come.
And for me, The Last Jedi is also a remarkable tribute and testimony to George Lucas, the unparalleled storytelling genius of the 20th century and so far of the 21st century as well, and of the person who has made the greatest contributions of all time to the entire movie industry itself, not just for his movies and not just a single groundbreaking contribution, but time after time after time throughout the 36 years of Lucasfilm Ltd, which he created in 1976 to create the groundbreaking special effects and sci-fi anthology A New Hope. He has revolutionized the entire movie industry itself repeatedly in the last 3+ decades through his technological vision way surpassing anything that was currently possible in special effects by making it so through his creme de la creme special effects company, Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), and lesser known, his groundbreaking advances in audio from movie set all the way to the theatrical experience at almost all movies through Skywalker Sound. (For those who are proud of never seeing a Star Wars films, they are still benefitting from THX, the incredible sound system Lucas created to improve sound quality after A New Hope, and most likely used in the theaters of your favorite movies.)
George Lucas is one of the most influential people of the last 100 years, brilliant with a vision way beyond his time. He did what only J.R. Tolkien did in the 20th century — he created an entire universe populated with beings and technology and all one would expect in an entire universe, all from his own mind. In fact, he and Tolkien are the only two to do such a thing on such a complete and grand scale on their own in the entire history of literature. And unlike Tolkien and those in the movie industry (who may have been great Directors and contributors to the industry), he had far-reaching effects on everyone and created a movie that some would not consider as great as movies made by Directors such as Steven Spielberg , but his story will last way beyond his lifetime and influence many generations to come. From the very beginning, he had a vision to ensure that the story would live on — he chose to use the best current directors, including the latest new hotshots J.J. Abrahms and Rian Johnson, to ensure that the movie would be relevant to the current generation (of 8-year-olds: yes, Lucas intended Star Wars to be geared towards an 8-year-old audience :-)) thus creating generation after generation of new Star Wars fans.
He also envisioned and then created the technology that allowed not only his films to come to life, but made possible many of the great films of the last 40 years to be made by all other producers and directors to the point that through the prequels he perfected CG technology to the point where now almost anyone can make a movie using their desktops at home. It was ILM’s best who went on to start their own special effects studios, such that now multiple generations of good special effects studios exist to create the magic of movies. But even to this day, ILM is unparalleled. One can quickly tell if ILM was involved in the special effects of any given movie and it is now only the very high budget films that can even afford to use ILM, but the movies that do, have most likely impressed you even more with the movie itself.
The Last Jedi is a testament to the genius and visionary who is George Lucas.
May The Force Be With You always.
