Star Wars: The Last Jedi Review

No, there will not be spoilers. Yes, there's a lot to say about this one.


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The process of actually writing a review is something I've never given much thought about when I first started out writing. Back then, I would just write about my own opinion and tell it like it is without much finesse. To me, writing a review was just getting my thoughts down in a somewhat cohesive matter and just letting it stand. Sure, I would go back and edit a review for grammatical mistakes (and fail at that), but I never really went back and rewrote a review before. My opinion tends to stay exactly as it was when I first saw it, unless I look back on it later in the year or a few years later.

I had to rewrite my Last Jedi review three times. I was never satisfied with how I wrote it, and even then I'm still not 100% satisfied with it now, but it's the best barometer of my feelings at the moment.

The Last Jedi has opinions that range all over the place. Some people adore it and call it the best Star Wars movie since Emprie Strikes Back. Other people have been calling it the worst Star Wars movie since The Phantom Menace. There are two very distinct groups voicing there opinion, but the fact that there's such backlash against this movie is fascinating. The Last Jedi has become both the best and the worst movie in the franchise, and even if you are an ardent fan of the series, you have to at least admit that The Last Jedi deserves some examination as to why a person would hate it that much. Yes, some fanboys can whine and moan about pointless aspects as the reason for it's lack of quality, but there's something substantial here. People have legitimate points on both sides, but diehard fans have to admit that maybe The Last Jedi can ruffle some fan's feathers.

I'm not going to spoil anything here, but let me just try and explain what the hell is happening here.

Now when I say no spoilers, I'm not even going to give a plot synopsis. This is a movie where you need to go into it blind to fully appreciate it, and if you're reading this review now it either means that you saw it already or you just want to hear what an cynical New Jerseyian has to say about The Last Jedi. 

Anyway, first let me get the good out of the way. This is a phenomenally shot movie and has several moments that are just jaw dropping to see. Never before has light speed been so engaging and delivering such a beautiful series of shots. Even when I was sitting in the theatre, all I could think about was how good the movie looked. The sets, the planets, the little tiny character moments, all of them were just beautiful to witness.

But a movie is more than just visuals. It's about plot, and characters, and themes, and ideas. This is where The Last Jedi gets trickier to talk about, because the entire point of this movie is to subvert your expectations. The movie zags where it should zig, and overall I don't really mind that to be perfectly honest. The twists that are implemented here lead the franchise into new and different territory that was never explored before and it's exciting in a way. However, while the movie may take the series into a new direction, there is some fallout from it.

It took me a while to really pin down what got under my skin so much about this movie, but it was more or less that everything that happened here was pointless. Characters didn't progress from where they were at the end of The Force Awakens. Rey is still in the same position that she was in, Finn had a subplot that dragged and didn't amount to much, and Poe's presence literally amounted to nothing. Oh sure, each character did things, but what did they really amount to? When Poe is flying around in a X-Wing, what did he really do? When he's on the ground, does he actually do anything? A huge chunk of this movie could just be cut entirely and it would have flowed much easier.

And that's just our heroes. When you look at the villains, outside of Kylo Ren, who is easily the best character in this new trilogy, they really amounted to nothing. Captain Phasma, General Hux, and Snoke amount to nothing and legitimately hurt the movie for their lack of purpose. Years of hype and anticipation have all been built up to this and because the movie attempts to do something different, it throws away any ideas that could have had potential. It seems like concepts that were presented in The Force Awakens were just tossed aside in favor of this new direction. Were you interested in Snoke, the rise of the First Order, the Knights of Ren, why Luke left a map to his self exile when he said he never wanted to be found, the visions that Rey received when she touched Luke's lightsaber, how Luke's lightsaber got to where it was, and Finn's backstory getting some explanation? So am I.

I would argue that this was the weakest Star Wars has ever been with its characters with the exception of the development that Kylo Ren goes through. Its characters exist just to meander through the story, but there's no development here. Rey is in the same place at the end of The Last Jedi that she was in The Force Awakens. She goes to Luke for training and she does undergo some training, but it doesn't change her fighting style or allow her to gain some new perspective on the Force. And let's talk about Luke, shall we.

Luke Skywalker is a tricky character to discuss here because while he's played phenomenally by Mark Hamill and has some of the best scenes in the movie, this movie decides to both honor him and tarnish his legacy, When we discover why he's in self exile, it may seem cool and interesting at the beginning, but even with the slightest bit of thought it just ruins his character. Luke is a man who even after he fought against Darth Vader, knowing that Vader was his father and knowing that Vader has committed genocide and has subjugated millions, he still believes there is good in his father. He still believes that the infamous Darth Vader can be saved. In The Last Jedi? He's afraid of the dark side and is willing to kill anyone who has been tainted by it. He's older and more wise yes, but Luke if Luke would try to save Vader, that makes his actions here harmful to his character.

But again, he's played phenomenally by Luke and there are a ton of interesting moments with him that expand the lore of the series. We learn more about the Jedi religion, its inception, what it means to be a Jedi, more explanations on the Force, and we get some tantalizing details about the balance between the Jedi and the Sith. When the movie took a step back to doll out more information about the universe, it was some really compelling stuff.

Those moments were then soiled by what's probably the most ludicrous use of the Force I've seen in a while. I know that this may be an unpopular opinion, even by people that have problems with this movie, but I just had to say that now Force users are superheroes. The Force, in the original trilogy, was something more spiritual that only a few people could truly use, but when a person could use the Force they could do some impressive feats with it. The prequel trilogy brought in the Jesus metaphor with the Force, but now the Force is pretty much super powers. If you have the Force, you can do anything. Force users in this movie do some pretty impressive feats, but they eventually get blown way out of proportions. 

When we see one villain use Force powers early in the movie, it proves that they're a threat to be reckoned with. When everyone else uses the Force to accomplish astral projection, mind melding, or flight in the freaking vacuum of space, that's not showing how powerful these characters are; that's just using the Force as a plot device. Do these two characters need to talk? Use the Force. Do we need to see that this character is awesome or cool? Use the Force. Do we want to break every definition of what the Force is because Kylo and Rey are two super uber powerful Jedi and we want to raise the stakes? Use the Force. The Force has become to Star Wars what Nanomachines have become to Metal Gear. 

I would be mad at all of this stuff and it would really let me call this more of a letdown than The Phantom Menace, but the movie is still really enjoyable. I was still on the edge of my seat when I was watching it in the theatre. I wasn't thinking about these plot points or details. I was thinking about how cool everything was and how much fun I was having. Luke may have had his character tampered with, but it was still Luke Skywalker on the big screen again! I'm seeing a lightsaber battle (yes, just one) on the big screen again! I have a permanent grin on my face when fan favorite characters appear on screen and just exist! It succeeds in being entertaining, plain and simple. 

But this is Star Wars. Is entertaining enough? Can it be a good time without much substance? That's really where your own opinion lies and will determine whether or not you like this movie. Some people love the action and the cool character moments and appearances. Others might not enjoy the implications for some characters and how a significant amount of characters are overall pointless to the movie. The only characters that actually accomplish things are Kylo Ren, Luke Skywalker, Rey, and a new character named Amilyn Holdo, played by Laura Dern. That's about it. 

As popular as it may be to call The Force Awakens a rehash of A New Hope, it still created original characters and gave them personalities, some arcs, and told a story that had highs, lows, stakes, and sequences that could make both newcomers and fans happy. I think that The Force Awakens is by far the more superior movie, if only because by the end of the movie I was excited where the story could go. At the end of The Last Jedi, I didn't really care about Episode IX. I just thought I saw a solid movie, but a disappointing Star Wars movie. 

I'm not saying that The Last Jedi is garbage and the worst movie in the series. That's just dumb and it's way too soon to be making calls like that, especially when The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones are just laughably bad in terms of... well nearly everything. The Last Jedi is a movie that I need to turn my brain off to really enjoy it. Star Wars has become an experience, an event. Substance is there, but substance is not the main focus of the sequel trilogy. It's interesting in reliving the series former glory, but with 21st century effects, scope, and grandeur. Make of that what you will. 

If you loved it, I can see where that love comes from. It honor Star Wars, expands it to new and more interesting places, and delivers the best action the series has ever seen. If you hate it, I can totally understand it. Several characters are meaningless, the Force has been cheapened, and the story can fold in on itself ridiculously easily. For me, I'm right down the middle. It's not the best, but it's not the worst either. It's a perfectly adequate film, even though Star Wars doesn't feel like a franchise that should just be adequate. Maybe Episode IX will make up for the letdowns. It's certainly in a strong place to do so.