Movie Review: Star Wars The Last Jedi
Rating: 3 Stars
I marvel at the fact that there is very little wasted motion in a Star Wars film. The Last Jedi is deliberate in delivering a story that invokes imagination, ethical peril, and most importantly, fun.
The Last Jedi rides the train of emotion from beginning to end, but it’s never to crass to stop and wink to the audience and remind us we’re here to have a good time.
What makes The Last Jedi so special is it never plays too high or low in regards to its wide-ranging audience. This is why the series has developed such a timelessness among generations. The deeper context of the Force resonates with adults, while kids get lost in the trials of heroism faced by the rebellion’s cast of characters.
My prognosis to the reader is to go watch The Last Jedi. Go into your local theater, buy some ridiculously overpriced popcorn, sneak a soda in your sweatshirt or purse, and enjoy a sci-fi dramatic cinema epic.
The Last Jedi continues the Star Wars tradition of silently preaching imagination through its elaborate scenes where every detail is toiled over. I caught myself several times glancing into the background despite the action being held in the foreground. There are also some new species with one furry group that’ll provide several laughs. There’s even new ships which are always fun to analyze and scrutinize.
The Last Jedi preaches less silently about the Force, which is given its most concrete definition thanks to the now old curmudgeon Luke Skywalker. We also dive into two other thematic plots based around Finn and Poe that take up a significant amount of screen time. The Last Jedi is really three stories in one, all with their own thematic purpose. I’ll say each story comes full circle by the end, but there are some loose ends that still irk me. I’ll discuss more in the spoiler section.
(Plot and spoilers below)
The Last Jedi pits the rebellion with their back against the wall, indubitably. The rebellion left off in The Force Awakens thinking that Luke Skywalker would appear with Rey and save the day. The First Order is now in place of the Imperials and is off to eliminate the remaining resistance fighters.
Instead of leading with Rey’s trip to Luke’s planet, the film starts with the brash Poe Dameron, commander of the rebel fleet. Poe was the tertiary hero behind Rey and Finn in The Force Awakens. Poe begins the film with an obvious arrogance problem. Poe is reprimanded by Leia after putting the entire Rebel fleet in imminent danger to destroy a First Order dreadnought.
It takes Poe about the length of the film to learn his lesson, but it never stopped me from believing in his convoluted plans. Poe is the character with the best intentions, but his over-confidence is his downfall. I mention this because Poe plays an integral part in the film, and his impact on the story reveals the film wanting to drive home that wisdom is above imprudence.
We finally get to meet the old hero of the rebellion, the now reclusive Luke Skywalker, and considering the dramatic end of The Force Awakens, it’s even funnier to consider our first encounter with Luke in The Last Jedi. Rey’s outstretched arm holding her lightsaber unceremoniously gets tossed over a cliff by Luke as he walks swiftly away in disdain. So we begin with Rey trying to convince Luke to return to the rebellion and restore hope.
Luke discovers Rey’s great power within the force and reluctantly begins to train her until he discovers her connection with Kylo Ren/Ben Solo. The most chilling sequences of the film occur when Rey and Kylo talk to each other, able to see each other, but not their surroundings. Ben Solo’s backstory is complete as we find out that Luke trained Ben and several other kids until he one day Luke found out the power and darkness within Ben. Luke briefly considers killing Ben with lightsaber lit in hand, but Ben sees Luke in his moment of moral peril, swings his saber at Luke, and runs off to become Kylo Ren. Luke considers himself a failure and spends the rest of his life in isolation, until now.
Luke, who has given up on the force and selfishly decides the Jedi Order should die with him, is met by Yoda who does and says what you’d expect. Rey believes if she meets with Kylo Ren, she can access the light within him and turn him from the dark side. Rey turns herself in to the First Order to meet with Kylo.
Finn meets the newest supporting character, Rose, when trying to escape the fleeing rebel fleet. Rose sees Finn as a resistance hero until she realizes he’s trying to abandon the ship. Finn and Rose end up getting wrapped up in Poe’s daring plan to board the First Order capital ship and take down its tracker so the rebels can escape.
Finn and Rose’s adventure develops a romantic interest that was mostly forgettable. I couldn’t feel too much attachment to Rose’s character. The Finn story arc felt like something more geared for kids, with lines similar to an early 21st century Saturday morning cartoon. Rose and Finn team up with a mercenary criminal and end up learning a grave lesson that there are not many people in the universe you can trust. I did enjoy Finn eventually getting his comeuppance.
I must also point out that the chrome trooper character is just about the weakest villain in the Star Wars universe. The chrome trooper got a better showing here but not much.
Let me also mention this is a very long film and there’s quite a bit that happens. All I’ve recounted was basically an exposition of the important events. It could be argued that The Last Jedi is too long, and I could see areas for trimming, but I would also be remiss to say there were two very important people not given closure.
The Last Jedi is not without some questionable decisions and writing.
A questionable scene where Princess Leia on the bridge of the main resistance cruiser, two tie fighters shoot the bridge and Leia and the crew are sent out into space, presumably dead. The significance of the scene was that Kylo Ren did not shoot at his mother when he had the chance. But inexplicably, Princess Leia consciously floats back to the ship where she is saved and in critical condition.
It was a bit preposterous, but I let it go for a time thinking that Leia’s role was critical later in the film and that there may be some explanation. I could accept that she used the Force to return to the ship. Fine. But unless there’s something crucial to Leia’s character in Episode 9, I’m not sure what the idea was for Leia to survive being blown out into space. Also, none of the characters are bewildered to the fact that she’s literally flying herself back to the bridge of the ship. I understand logic isn’t essential in a space opera, but you can only take liberties to a certain degree before your audience feels their intelligence is insulted. And it’s not like there’s no death in this movie either.
There’s actually a lot of death in The Last Jedi. It’s almost disturbing at times. There are two major character deaths, but also a lot of resistance members are blown to smithereens.
My issues with Leia’s inexplicable survival were more fundamental, my issue with the penultimate villain Supreme Leader Snoke are on a contextual level. Emperor Palpatine of the original trilogy had a backstory that was visited later on over the course of three movies. Palpatine was the evil dictator pulling all the strings.
Snoke now assumes the Palpatine role, but is killed by Kylo Ren upon their confrontation with Rey. Snoke was running the show, was the Master to Kylo Ren, but we don’t know who, what, where, why, when, and how? With Snoke gone, what was his significance? I’m not sure we’ll find out.
Neither Leia or Snoke really disbar the movie from enjoyment, but these are the sorts of holes that stick with you during and after a film.
Once Ren deposes of Snoke, he offers Rey his hand in being joint rulers of the galaxy, which is a terrible idea. Ren reverts immediately back to the power hungry kid we know he is. Rey refuses, which causes the best sequence in the film where they fight to force pull a lightsaber to themselves. Meanwhile, Leia’s second in command assuming control of the rebellion, flies her ship straight through the capital ship. In a movie where sounds are abundant and the musical score is magical, silence is powerful. The silence of this scene is gripping.
The film concludes with General Hux and Kylo Ren at the helm chasing the resistance to a nearby planet to finish them off. The resistance appears to be nearing the end until Luke Skywalker returns to trigger Kylo Ren into another fantastic sequence of cinema. The ending is great and sets up for what should be a blistering finale in Episode 9.
My ending thoughts are that I would like to watch The Last Jedi again in a week. I could imagine my thoughts on certain moments and scenes could change. And I’m certain I’d catch things I missed in my first watch.
My hope is that The Last Jedi will continue to spark hope and imagination in young people, and invite us all to seek balance in our lives.
