“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
8. Attack of the Clones
9. Star Wars Holiday Special
10. Ewoks HBO television show
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!
3 comments:
You're right. This movie did do things that hasn't been in the Star Wars cannon, but were they necessary things? Did Leia have to float through space? Couldn't Luke have done what he did at the end as a Force Ghost? I will say, the idea of Force telepathy was good.
Here were my thoughts that I left on Shane's Blog. Obviously, you address some of them above, but it was my initial reaction, and I think that first impression is always interesting for stirring up discussion. I'll probably admit I'm wrong on one or two things.
Likes
1. Adam Driver's acting. That guy's choice on how to be a bad guy is brilliant. He's not menacing. In fact he charms/mesmerizes Rey. When he's not throwing temper tantrums (which is written in the script...not the actor's fault). I really like his low, calm, smooth voice….and nipples.
2. Probably my favorite part is when Kylo Ren kills Snoke and talks about starting a new world/universe. With Rey’s help, they could lead a new way of things. He talks about doing away with the Empire and the Resistance and starting anew with them as a balance. How refreshing. I think I physically nodded my head in agreement as he was speaking. That moment took things into a completely original direction. Before, even the most powerful Star Wars characters had to make a choice of one side or the other. This was a powerful moment that breathed new life into worn out lungs of telling the same story through how many 3-quals?
3. The chemistry between Rey and Kylo Ren. It went from intense to subtle and back with such velocity that it made for some good drama and suspense.
4. Benicio Tel Torro’s character/acting. Great new character…though, the way he was introduce and exited was sloppy…but that later.
5. Laura Dern’s character. I like it when characters are made to look like villains then they come through and get redemption.
6. Yoda
7. Some of the great lines. I read that Carrie Fisher had a hand in rewriting some of the script. I’ll have to read further to see which lines were hers, but there were some real winners. Yoda’s line about “failure [being] the greatest teacher” might go on my classroom wall…for me. I’m not a very good teacher. Or the line about “believing in the sun until morning” or Luke’s explanation of The Force. “Don’t fight what you hate. Save what you love.” Good stuff that kept the tone and believability alive.
8. The look. He’s a better director than George Lucas…if that’s saying much.
Dislikes
1. WHAT THE FUCK was up with Leia’s space flight!?! That was a slap in the face to Star Wars fans and regular moviegoers. I’m going to have to search the internet for someone to defend that stupid move. I need to know a reason.
2. Underdeveloped and underutilized characters. Wow, there were a lot. Captain Phasma, Snoke, Benecio Del Toro’s character. WHO ARE YOU? WHY SHOULD I CARE ABOUT YOU? WHY ARE YOU IMPORTANT? As much as I think their characters are interesting (and well-performed…especially Del Toro’s), they were certainly not necessary for the story. Not even a means to an end. They were superfluous. They were decoration and wall dressing at best. And why even have Chewbacca or Fin or Rose? Those subplots were useless overall. They never even shut down that damn tracker thing!
3. This movie introduced some things that have never happened in the Star Wars cannon (to my knowledge). Like Luke being able to show up somewhere, hand a tangible object to someone, kiss/hug/hold hands with/wink at people…Be a mirage for all to see. And it kills you apparently. Why didn’t he just die and show up as a Force Ghost? I was waiting for that. People being able to live in a space vacuum. That’s bullshit. I don’t care how long ago this story takes place or how far away the galaxy is. You can give me 9 movies explaining and building up the idea of a magical force that allows for superhuman things to happen, but you can’t pull that nonsense out now. Now I’m too mad to stay focused…moving on.
4. The comedy. Too much of a good thing. All of the weightiness was lost with all of the knee-slappers.
5. The wannabe parts. The Casino wanting to be the Cantina (it had over-the-top characters, a feeling of immanent danger, and goddamn Ragtime music). The Porgs wanting to be Ewoks. Stop giving us “adorable” creatrues for the sake of getting new merchandise. Snoke’s wannabe Emperor. Poe’s wannabe Solo. Again, I’m not blaming the actors. They did their jobs. In fact, I think they were good actors delivering a bad script. I they did a helluva job. But who ok’d all of that? Did no one say, “We’ve seen this before?”
6. The CGI got in the way sometimes. First of all, Leia floating in space with her eyes open made me go, “Well, that’s fake.” But then we get into those big dog-horses, or those crystal foxes, or the overabundance of Porgs. Thankfullly Yoda wasn’t all CGI. I’m glad they went back to their roots on some of his shots. I mean, I know Andy Serkis is the master of acting in a unitard with dots on his face, but did he really need to for this movie? Did Snoke absolutely HAVE to be a completely CGI character? I was totally convinced of The Emperor’s power, and he was just an old man with a frog in his throat. If Chewbacca can be done without CGI, then so can a lot other things that were just ended up being a distraction.
7. The overall story telling. I don’t know. Maybe stuff just sounded better on paper, and then didn’t end up on the screen like they thought it would. Whatever happened, I blame the writer/director for giving us a movie that didn’t raise the stakes or do justice for the characters he was handed. Luke got an ok farewell, but even that was a little sloppy until the end. After The First Order unloads on Skywalker, I rolled my eyes and sunk in my seat. Seriously, he’s gonna “dust his shoulder off…?”
Did I like the movie experience? YES. Will I watch it again? YES. Will it stand the test of time? PROBABLY NOT. Is it the best Star Wars film to date? NOT EVEN CLOSE.
That is a lot to respond to. I will say the physics of space in the Star Wars universe is different than that of our own. From what I've seen the idea is that Leia is able to use the force and it was an unconscious reflex that saved her life. That said even I said it was stupid.
Force projection has been used before, but only in sanctioned comics. Also he didn't actually give her a tangible object that disappeared once he did.
I did not mind the casino world as I saw it as just another attempt to expand the Star Wars universe. I will say; however, that the not so veiled message didn't really land the way they wanted it to...
The idea was Rose/Finn create all this destruction/chaos and that will somehow hurt the Oligarchy on that planet, but in my mind I'm saying "they can just rebuild". It's a defeating narrative of Star Wars as a whole. Blow up the Death Star they build another, blow up that one they build star killer base, and on and on.
As a mirror to our own world those that have money, that have power can take more unfortunate events and continue on whether they are evil or good. The rebels take a huge hit and they are absolutely devastated (forces scattering etc.) It will take much more to rebuild or to overcome their obstacles.
While I'm all for the message of hope in Star Wars it was a little deflating for it to be so transparently temporary & fleeting for them to make the oligarchs suffer.
I think a lot of the other things you've highlighted I would chalk up to opinion and that's fine. There's never going to be a standard good/bad answer for film it's extremely subjective.
I thought the different creatures were neat although the Porg love seemed to be a Disney directive.
I don't think I can honestly outright dispute very much of what you said other than to say the unfortunate thing with a vast world like that presented in Star Wars & trying to condense that into a 2 hour film makes for a difficult task.
Especially to flesh out a plethora of new characters and that's not really an indictment of this movie specifically. For instance we did not know much of anything about a character like Boba Fett until after the prequels were released. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but there is only a certain level of detail that can be attributed to each character. I think Disney is doing a wonderful job of filling in a lot of detail in their novels, comics, and other media; however, not everyone has the time to follow up with all of that.
Thank you for your thoughts and your comments are always welcome here at The Comic Shop!
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