Star Wars: The Last Jedi

The modern Star Wars Disney era has had quite the impact ever since that famous $4 billion purchase from George Lucas. The anxiety of what would be produced plagued the fanbase until they viewed the results from the beginning of this new trilogy. The Force Awakens managed to satisfy audiences with old and new characters but not without retreading familiar story grounds from A New Hope. The following year Rogue One demonstrated a much more grounded story that helped fixed a plot hole from A New Hope, in addition to being the best shot Star Wars film with the best action (my personal favorite). However, now we find ourselves back to this trilogy with the 8th episode, The Last Jedi, which has some worries. For starters, the public concern of whether this is going to be a rehash of The Empire Strikes Back, which is the best entry of the franchise, since that's what the previous episode did. In addition to that, what's going to happen with Leia due to the passing of Carrie Fisher, who thankfully managed to complete all of her filming. With most critics giving it positive reception, I entered the auditorium having avoided the trailers ready to see what the next step is and left it very disappointed in this frustrating, underwhelming Star Wars film.

Please note that there will be spoilers posted below the non-spoiler area due to the abundance of material to talk about. 

Plot: The story takes place directly after the previous episode where the Resistance is being horribly decimated by The First Order and our heroes split off into their own subplots in the process. The biggest problem facing this is how mismanaged the narrative structure is played out in trying to give these stories substance. There are 3 four subplots throughout the film: Rey-Luke-Kylo, Poe-Holdo-Leia, and Finn-Rose. Only one of them is the most effective due to how the script was the least hindering in comparison to everywhere else. It's rather difficult to feel invested with the stakes at hand because the focus of the film is following other meandering subplots that results in any tension feeling very minuscule. For those of you looking for any meaningful answers to pieces from The Force Awakens (such as learning more about the villains), this might be disappoint some by most of those resolutions.

To say there are pointless aspects would be an understatement since the writing for most of the arcs is extremely sloppy for a 2 hour and 30 minute space epic. The tone is rather inconsistent as the attempted comedy is awkwardly place in serious moments, which disrupts the flow and makes 2.5 hours feels like 3. It also doesn't help that the main surrounding conflict is a sluggish slow burn (whenever its on screen that is). What also makes this uneven is the attempted mix of wacky, comedic scenes for children and serious moments for adults, which heavily contributes to the aforementioned tone problem. Franchise films like these tend to trip over there own feet in catering to different demographics where it could feel like there are too many cooks in the kitchen whether there are too many writers or (most likely in this case) some studio executive meddling in other parts such as the Kathleen Kennedy effect. Overall the story is a cluttered mess with written choices needing to be fine tuned and an unfocused sense of tone with catering to demographics getting in the way of consistency.

Newbies: The returning people to focus on are Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). Rey is a Force sensitive scavenger and member of the Resistance who endeavors to have Luke teach her how to become a Jedi and to have him come back to the group. Daisy gives one of the best performances in this crowded craziness as she demonstrates confidence and determination to train for the upcoming dangers. Kylo Ren (or Ben Solo) is Supreme Lord Snoke's servant, Leia's son, and Luke's nephew who seeks to crush the Resistance. Adam gives a fairly solid performance as this individual finds himself in a peculiar situation with Rey while exhibiting interesting growth.

Dishonorable mentions go to Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), Finn (John Boyega), and Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran). Poe is a high-ranking X-wing pilot in the Resistance finding their efforts in a trapped situation by The First Order. Oscar is mostly one-note as this Han Solo wannabe stereotype with a disobedient temper and a horrible casualty track record. Finn is a former First Order stormtrooper and Resistance member who wakes from a coma caused by a fight from the previous episode and embarks on a bizarre mission. John does what he can with his portrayal, which is unfortunately slightly reset a bit by this Rian Johnson script compared to the fascinating growth provided by JJ Abrams before. Rose is a maintenance worker for the rebel group who finds herself on a mission with Finn. Unfortunately, similar to Oscar Isaac, Kelly is hindered in her acting by the script, though you can tell she's trying at times.

Old Originals: Returning favorites featured here are Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher). Luke is Leia's brother and a former powerful Jedi Master who exiled himself in seclusion after his failure with Ben Solo and the temple he forged to teach potential Jedi the ways of the Force. Mark is competent enough to work off being gruff and cranky about swelling in his own past dangers he wouldn't want anyone else to undergo, though there are some details that are off-putting at times (more about that below). Leia is the leading general of the rebellion trying to get her crew away from the approaching enemy. Compared to her performance from episode 7, Carrie has slightly improved her acting, but, her role deserved better and (I don't like to speak ill of the dead, especially since it's one year after her passing) she's among the weaker actresses, though again bad direction might also be a factor here (more about her in the spoilers).

Overall Consensus: Star Wars: The Last Jedi attempts to be meaningful as it takes risks, however, its execution leaves much to be desired due to unorganized structure, long runtime, tonal inconsistencies, numerous subplots, and lack of stakes for an emotional impact. ⭑⭑1/2💻

Reasons to watch it: You like any of the aforementioned actors. You like Star Wars. You don't mind 2.5 hour movies that have a slow pace. You want to see how the Kylo Ren conflict develops. You have seen The Force Awakens and want to see how this moves the story. You want to see if your theories with this film are true. You like films with multiple subplots. You enjoy watching creatures that are made for product placement. You want to judge it on your own after hearing about its divisive nature.

Reasons to avoid it: You dislike any of the aforementioned actors. You dislike Star Wars. You hate 2.5 hour movies that have a slow pace. You aren't interested seeing how the Kylo Ren conflict develops. You have seen The Force Awakens and don't care about seeing how this moves the story. You are annoyed with multiple subplots. You dislike watching creatures that are made for product placement.


Spoilers Below!! Approach at your own risk!
  • Pros
    • Luke-Rey story arc
      • Even though Mark Hamill disagreed fundamentally with the script around his character, when it comes to the storyline with Luke and Rey, it manages to hold up pretty well. Luke has cut off his connection to the Force after he contemplated killing Ben Solo since he sensed Snoke driving him to the dark side of the Force. Her learning about the Jedi from his perspective is pretty good drama to show. Rey's determination in getting him to teach her is rather interesting to watch, which isn't saying much considering everything else. 
    • Rey-Kylo dynamic
      • While Rey is with Luke, Supreme Leader Snoke created a telepathic connection to Kylo Ren (basically using the telephone via the Force) and they use the time to learn a little about each other. Those conversations allows Rey a chance to try and bring him to the light side of the Force. 
      • Kylo ends up killing Snoke and then (after The battle in Snokes chambers) offers Rey the chance to join him in destroying both The First Order and The Resistance so that they can form their own legacy, which also sparks a fascinating growth for his own internal conflict as the best developed character here. Rejecting this offer, both of them use the Force to grab Anakin's light saber, splitting it in half as a result. 
      • If the outside clutter wasn't in the way, the interesting impact it has would have been bigger. It's unique enough to be further studied as it may appear that he could have lied to her about her parents and that the connection 
    • The battle in Snokes chambers
      • When Rey arrives at the dreadnaught cruiser, Kylo takes her to Snoke, who proceeds to smack talk his servant until he's killed by the former during the taunt. Suddenly his elite red guards attack Kylo and Rey in response, resulting in an entertaining brutal light saber fight (though it does expose her Mary Sue arguments again). The setting of this area is fascinating with bright red that gets trashed pretty quick in the ensuing chaos. 
    • Holdo ramming into the large imperial
      • For someone who's made annoying by horrible writing, Holdo was at least given one awesome moment. With the escape shuttles fleeing toward a new planet for their operations base getting shot down by The First Order powerhouse ship, she decides to ram the main cruiser she's occupying at light speed into the enemy. Everything is silent with fantastic coloring as this visual spectacle shows how far the good guys are willing to sacrifice for the greater good (though there's one issue with this). 
    • The beginning battle
      • The eighth episode opens with an assault on the rebels escaping their current base as the enemy closes in. It does a solid job showing just how screwed this rebellion against the vast amount of resources and control of the villains. It follows the classic tug of war pattern of small rebel victories before a powerful comeback from the enemy. Notable examples of this include how badly structured the bombers are from a strategic position, which one of the enemy fighters shoots down to a cool chain reaction, and Kylo shooting the hanger bay within one of the cruisers. 
    • The fourth act where Luke "confronts" Kylo Ren
      • During the final act taking place at the Battle of Totally-not-Hoth, the First Order manages to pierce a whole into the gates of current holding grounds of what remains of the rebels (due to badly written character arcs and plot convenience). Suddenly Luke appears looking a little different and comforts his sister a bit before leaving outside on the front lines. It may seem like he's extremely powerful as Kylo orders firing at him and he emerges without a scratch. Acting on his obsession with his former master, Kylo goes out to face him in a fascinating standoff. After exchanging a little bit, their battle begins and it's revealed that Luke's using Force projection an image of himself to distract the enemy long enough for the rebels to escape. This entire sequence carries an appreciation for that Star Wars feeling that this film as a whole struggles to maintain. 
    • The interesting visual style of a lineup of Rey
      • During Rey's training, she encounters this space with a lineup of many copies of her. The way it moved and was constructed is visually fascinating to watch. Watching her getting deep within that way helps her arc standout from the clutter of everything else. 
    • Luke's death
      • After exhausting himself creating a projection of himself in front of The First Order to buy The Resistance more time, Luke's final time using the Force was a neat way for his end as he disappears by Obi-Wan Kenobi. For a man who exiled himself to a planet after previous failure so that he could die and has cut off his connection to the Force, finding some sense to help one last time was a nice way to leave the franchise. 
  • Cons  
    • The amount of Force training:  
      • When Luke told Rey he has 3 lessons to teach her, the potential of what was possible to emerge from those sessions wasn't utilized enough. Sure he lectured he a few scenes on the nature of the Force and the history of the Jedi, it also puts into question what else he taught her because by the time she leaves for Kylo, suddenly she can hold her own against Snokes elite guard and lift rocks with the Force. 
      • Honestly, due to the other subplots, training becomes forgettable because we need to see Rose and Finn on their pointless adventure. If they had cut out the comedy and that subplot, we could have had more time to see what she had learned from him
    • Luke's approach to Ben's connection to the dark side
      • It was revealed the he contemplated killing Ben after fearing his nephew's link to the dark side. But then it was a matter of bad timing when he was in the room that prompted Ben to leaving the temple to ruin. In a sense, this does kind of conflict with Lukes character as he's trying to avoid following the failures of the past Jedi but thinking about killing his nephew is a bit much. Similar to Holdo, if he had discussed this situation with Ben, then perhaps this debacle could have been avoided and complex topic would have been more unique for Star Wars to handle, instead of painting Luke in good light (aka the easy way out).
    • Finn-Rose story arc
      • The biggest notable flaw is where Finn and Rose embark on after Poe frustratingly decides to send up a secret mission (see Holdo-Poe conflict). They decide to go to a casino to find a hacker and bring them to the imperial cruiser in order to disable it from tracking their own cruiser so that they can escape without being followed (because that's not complicated for anyone to follow). 
      • What follows is a waste of time for Rose to remind us that animal abuse and child slavery is a real thing that apparently needs paying attention to instead of actually getting the task you've been assigned over with. In addition to that, they end up being caught in the end by the enemy aboard that ship while making things even worse along the way. Furthermore, due to (Holdo ramming into the large imperial) the work they did was ultimately made pointless. 
      • To add more insult to injury, during the Battle at Totally-not-Hoth, with more people being shot down by The First Order, Finn decides to attempt a kamikaze using his speeder to destroy the mini-Death Star. However, instead of letting Finn have a meaningful death to send him off after being butcher by the script, plot convenience dictated Rose to crash into him to save his life (while endangering The Resistance) because she apparently loves him. All of this heavily drags the pace of the film and is as cringeworthy as the prequel trilogy was. 
    • Freeing the animals sequence
      • With a lot of Finn and Roses arc being tonally at odds with everything else, a runner up for the worst scene is where they end up riding animal horse creatures featuring bad CGI effects away from captivity. It's another case of pandering to children with a wacky cartoon sequence through bad one-liners from Finn such as "You're having too much fun with this!" Rose proclaiming that at the end it was worth saving the animals is ridiculous as they have been wasting time from looking for a hacker to help their mission and leaving the freed animals where they are would allow for their captors to find them, making this venture useless.
    • The casino scene
      • Arguably the worst scene in The Last Jedi is where Finn and Rose travel to a casino to meet a hacker needed for their crusade. The showcase of aliens and gambling shenanigans are reminiscent of the worse aspects of the prequels. One the levels of boring comedy are heightened to watching an drunk creature insert their tokens inside of BB-8. The CGI used here is pretty bland and uninspired to the point of feeling different from the mature Star Wars film being told. 
    • Benicio Del Toro as DJ 
      • During their escapades at the casino planet, Finn and Rose find themselves encountering a different scammer, DJ. He's one of the most annoying pointless characters with Benicio giving this predictably sleazy guy a stutter. He's a very forgettable bland Lando Calrissian copy who's act gets old very quick.
    • General Leia Organa
      • This is presumably Leia's last appearance in the film despite being alive in the end. I'm not going to guess on what's going to happen in the next episode for her character but let's talk about her here. Unfortunately, while some people were amused by her Superman moment (aka being blown out into space and using the Force to survive/pull herself back into the cruiser), for me this is one of many WTF moments contained in this mess and I would have honestly preferred if she did die here instead of more missed opportunities for her. This also calls into question how her history with the Force is here since Disney nixed the Expanded Universe content related this. 
      • She's out in a coma for most of it but manages to have little moments of nice spunk. However, she doesn't even talk about her son who briefly considers shooting where she is during that first battle. That would have been a nice touch for them to examine since Han tried in the previous episode. She doesn't exhibit leadership qualities that could have made Holdo a better leader to avoid a problem getting worse. In fact, if she had taken Holdo's place with the kamikaze move, it would have made for a larger send off for her instead of what we received for the visual spectacles sake. 
    • Holdo-Poe conflict
      • I understand the intent in trying to teach someone hotheaded like Poe leadership. His demotion also understandable after the beginning battle for high casualties on his side since he disobeyed orders from Leia. The problem comes with Vice Admiral Holdo (Laura Dern) who takes the reigns while Leia rests in a coma and refuses to listen to Poes plan, which makes sense on one angle because his antics made them worse off. But because she doesn't tell Poe her overall plan while attempting to escape the enemy, he goes off and not only sends Finn and Rose on a secret mission but also stages a mutiny since he's so frustrated and full of himself. 
      • Honestly, Holdo is a terrible leader since a missed opportunity would be to simply calm him down and explain the strategy both her and Leia have. If this were to happen, it could have taught him more about leadership this film attempted to. It's so infuriating that the script is intent on stretching this out so that it could have a movie. For example, after Leia stuns Poe for his mutiny attempt, she and Holdo remark that they keep him around for liking his spunk and being good looking. 
    • Phasma problem
      • One of the most pointless additions in this trilogy so far has been Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Chrisite aka Brienne of Tarth from Game of Thrones). It's no secret they have been trying to make her the "Boba Fett" archetype and have mentioned she would have a larger role here after her useless two minutes of The Force Awakens. During the third act, she returns to execute Finn and Rose after their failed mission attempt on the dreadnaught ship. That's interrupted after Holdo's kamikaze maneuver and Phasma fights Finn, which is complete with bad dialog and boring choreography. That battle only lasts a minute and ends with her falling into blazing fire having had little screen time yet again while having accomplished nothing again. 
    • Boring awkwardly placed comedy
      • The comedy is pretty cheap and awkward in a lot of places that with reactions ranging from either "Really?!?" to a "WTF?!?". To begin with, Luke tossing that lightsaber away was the first sign of pandering trouble. Then a stupid visual gag of Finn waking up from his coma and his suit leaking. General Hux being slapped around like a Marvel villain was also cheap whether it was Po or Snoke abusing him verbally or physically, respectively. Luke getting his blue milk from a lactating animal creature was cringe inducing to watch, which explains why Mark Hamill "fundamentally disagreed with every decision". (Insert the casino scene). 
    • Lack of emotional stakes 
      • This unfocused mess of pacing and bland comic relief antics take away from any tension. Any potential for a serious dramatic moment is immediately undercut by a joke. It's hard to find any investment where everything be shown is uneven in terms of execution and tone. The script issues affecting the old favorites also play a factor in being unable to care about these problems at hand. For instance, the main pursuit The Resistance is trying to flee from isn't given enough time to settle in on the danger. 

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