Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017)

Director:

Rian Johnson

Starring:

Daisy Ridley

John Boyega

Mark Hamill

Adam Driver

Oscar Isaac

Carrie Fisher

Domhnall Gleeson

Gwendoline Christie

Kelly Marie Tran

Laura Dern

Benicio Del Toro

Plot:

Rey develops her newly discovered abilities with the guidance of Luke Skywalker, who is unsettled by the strength of her powers. Meanwhile, the Resistance prepares for battle with the First Order.

Review:

First off ***SPOILERS*** I could try and write the review without them, but I don’t feel like being vague and want to explain why I liked and didn’t like some parts of The Last Jedi.

I’ve had the opportunity to see the film once as well as read most of the visual dictionary. Something that’s become increasingly more necessary with each Star Wars movie is reading those dictionaries. There is a lot glossed over in the films or not even addressed period. Like the New Republic, how did they go from being in control of the galaxy and then destroyed so easily? Well it’s briefly explained in the dictionary, it’s not a very satisfying explanation and really points out how deficient they were as a government, but at least there’s something there unlike in the movie where nothing is mentioned.

I was not a fan of The Last Jedi. I liked Rey’s story, I loved her fight with Kylo and the Praetorian Guards, her interactions with Luke were fine, but he was very much angry man shouts at cloud. I think I’m actually fine with Luke in this film and I certainly don’t mind the way he went out. It was actually pretty cool and it was at least foreshadowed at the beginning of the movie. I’m curious to see if he’ll return as a force ghost and I assume we’ll find out if force ghosts can bug non-lightside users of the force.

Poe was a massive disappointment. He started off kicking butt and then went too far. He was stupid, he deserved his demotion, and then he didn’t learn. He had to be taught the same damn lesson all over again. It was frustrating. Leia trusted Vice Admiral Holdo, he trusted Leia, he should have trusted her. He’s a nobody, demoted for being an idiot, why should she tell him what her plan was?

Then we’ve got Finn who’s story was a complete waste. Sure we got to see a new side of the galaxy which was nice, but it didn’t matter story wise. They went there, got caught, got sold out by Benicio Del Toro who’s character seemed like a throw away, and just ended up getting more people killed because the entire fucking plan was stupid. This is the future of the Rebellion. If they were up against Darth Vader and the Emperor they’d be screwed, thank goodness it’s Kylo Ren the dumbest dark side villain.

Kylo is again not fear inducing in the slightest. I was a bit surprised that he killed Snoke, but when I thought more about it, it made sense. Kylo is like a teenage boy, he thinks he knows everything, hates that people don’t respect him, and decides to prove that he can do better. He also just happens to be super powerful with the force which means he’s worse than your normal teenage boy.

My least favorite scene might have been the beginning where Poe is stringing Hux along to buy more time. It made Hux out to be so freaking stupid, made it so that I will never fear him ever, and was just too silly. There were so many silly elements in this movie, too many little one liners.

Favorite scene was easily when Rey and Kylo were working together to kill the Praetorian Guards. So awesome, loved their weapons, especially the whip. It was so cool to watch, it actually had me kind of hoping that they’d surprise me further and make Rey turn bad, but she didn’t, so oh well.

I wasn’t a fan of the Carrie Fisher superman scene, however, because of the actress and her death I’ve decided to give it a pass. We got to see her use the force, even though it kind of looked silly.

There were no more Finn and Poe love connection scenes which was a bummer and I really hated that Rose kissed Finn. Why couldn’t they have a friendship going? Why did she have to try and make it romantic? Doesn’t she realize Finn is already conflicted with Rey and Poe? I mean, clearly Poe is the superior match even with how stupid he acted in the movie.

My hope is that there is a significant time jump between Episode Eight and Nine. It will give this C tier Rebellion time to become A tier, though, there’s nothing that will make me fear Kylo so that’s just a lost cause. At least there’s no way Captain Phasma is dead, I refuse to believe she went out like that, she will be back.

3/5