Star Wars: The Last Jedi

“Let the past die, kill it if you have to”

I am going to try to write this review as Spoiler Free as possible, but there are things I will mention that may spoil parts of the movie so read at your own risk if you have still not seen “The Last Jedi”.

While everyone has their rose colored memories of their favorite “Star Wars” movie, nostalgia was never going to be the mode that Disney would take for the good of the future of the franchise.  Clinging desperately to the Skywalker lineage, the shadowy Emperor figure, Jedi dogma, Etc. and so forth was never a long term strategy for success.  

The narrative structure, storytelling, and hell, even life itself are built upon change.  How do we react when something changes our perception?  How do we react when our own preconceived notions and everything we know are challenged in a meaningful way?  What is “Lord of the Rings” if Frodo never leaves the shire?  What is “Star Wars” if red droid doesn’t randomly explode leading to Luke buying R2D2?  My point is that storytelling is always about moving forward, and while I enjoyed the fun nostalgia trip of “The Force Awakens” it wasn’t satisfying in any meaningful lasting way. 

The way of life, the natural order is to progress and I feel “The Last Jedi” accomplishes that goal more than any other “Star Wars” movie to date.  In 152 minutes Director Rian Johnson did more to open up the world of “Star Wars” than has any director to precede him.  Not only has he cast off the narrative shackles of the trite stories told in past films, he introduced new and interesting uses of the force (ForceTime Chat, force projection), and did a lot to subvert tropes that have been essential to “Star Wars” for a long time.  He also used the last actual trained Jedi in Luke Skywalker to deconstruct the dogma of the Jedi, and to set the table for what the next generation of “good” force wielders will look like.  He took the opportunity to put an end to the self-righteous Jedi Order and all that they hold dear with the assistance of a gleeful force ghost.  In doing so he also found a way to show that there was hope for a brighter tomorrow.   With the death of one symbol of hope another was almost instantly born to exemplify how the force brings balance to the “Star Wars” universe.

“The Last Jedi” is far from a perfect movie.  I think it ran a little long.  It had far too many needless subplots.  The worst offense to me though was the cheesy Disney style humor that just seemed so out of place.  The choice to use characters like Poe Dameron & General Hux to do an unfunny telephone bit just felt so forced (no pun intended) and so out of place in a “Star Wars” film.

The other thing I did not enjoy might be a tad dark, but I thought the whole “granny floating through space” bit was really dumb.  While I have no issue with them showing different uses of the force I just don’t see the point of that particular scene.  While it might have been disrespectful to the memory of the actress involved it may have been better to have had that character peacefully pass away in that moment, because she doesn’t really do anything of note afterwards.  Like I said just my opinion and I understand why they did things the way they did. 

Another thing that I found quite striking was the lack of space battles, lightsaber duels, and pretty much any other real action.  This yfilm was much more about the philosophy of the “Star Wars” universe, and why we must move on from things that we knew were certainties.  I really enjoyed the idea that Rey is not a chosen one, and that as the hero of our story/symbol of hope she has come from humble beginnings.     

As I said the movie was far from perfect, but I think the good accomplished by moving the story forward and making meaningful changes to the “Star Wars” universe far outweighs the shortcomings I have highlighted.  Ironically this Star Wars film “boldy went where no Star Wars film has gone before” and I’m thankful for that.   There are a lot of things I haven’t really gone into great detail on, but I feel like this is one of the stronger “Star Wars” movies of the entire series.  

So my rankings are as follows:

1. Empire

2. A New Hope

3. Rogue One

4. The Last Jedi

5. Revenge of the Sith

6. Return of the Jedi

7. The Force Awakens
8. Attack of the Clones

9. Star Wars Holiday Special
10. Ewoks HBO television show

11. Phantom Menace

Thanks for reading and I look forward to some fun discussion.  See you next time at The Comic Shop!