There's no way that I'm going to write a fully
clear-eyed Reaction of a Star Wars movie. There's too much baggage. I'm
a fan first and there's no getting around it. That's going to cloud everything.
And let's be honest. No one wants to read the critical assessment of a Star
Wars movie like it was something out of the Cannes Film Festival. Even the
most ardent Star Wars fan would have to admit that none of the movies in
the series are anywhere close to perfect in the way that, say, Raiders of
the Lost Ark is the perfect adventure movie or Die Hard is the
perfect action movie*. No, Star Wars is more of a glorious mess. People
love it despite its shagginess. It's a space opera filled with big characters
and even bigger emotions. Given that, I can safely say that with The Last
Jedi, Rian Johnson and company have delivered a pretty spectacular
installment in the series.
*Arguments for another day, if you want to have
them..
Episode VIII picks up not long after the end of Force
Awakens. Rey is still on Acht-To, trying to convince a very unwilling Luke
Skywalker to help defeat Supreme Leader Snoke and Kylo Ren. Meanwhile, Poe,
Finn, Leia, and the Resistance find themselves unable to shake a First Order
assault. They are biding their time, looking for a way to escape before their
resources, namely their fuel, run out. If I need to explain much more than that
for you to follow, then I'd advise you to just watch The Force Awakens
if not the whole series, since there's an assumed buy-in with this movie going
in. What matters is that all the characters established so well in The Force
Awakens are back and several new characters are integrated well.
The most notable character present is Princess Leia.
Carrie Fisher was done with her filming before her death last year, so there's
plenty of her. The Last Jedi does right by Leia, who didn't have much to
do in The Force Awakens. I couldn't be more pleased with her final entry
in the series. It was especially nice to see Fisher's humor on display. Also
finding himself with more to do this time is Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac). He
cements himself as the Han Solo of this trilogy, including a nod to the
comparison during an exchange he has with Rey (that I am probably reading too
much into). Poe is heroic and foolish. Despite his skills, the movie is happy
to make him wrong as hell at times. Speaking of Rey, Daisy Ridley is just
terrific. She really is Luke without the whining. The film works hard to
explain the things in The Force Awakens that had many [not me] calling
her a "Mary Sue". Rey is overflowing with raw potential, much like
her counterpart, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and her struggle is learning how to
harness it. A large part of the film involves Rey and Kylo Ren exploring a
connection they have with one another, and Ridley and Driver do a wonderful job
selling scenes that could be ridiculous with less capable actors (think,
Smeagol in The Two Towers). Hell, just look at how great Ridley is a
yelling. Seriously, there are a lot of close-ups of Rey screaming and it never
comes off as silly. That's a skill. Kylo Ren also gets some context for how he
acted in The Force Awakens. He's much more than the [intentional] Darth
Vader impersonation he was when he was first introduced. That was just his way
to understand his own strength. Finn (John Boyega) spends most of the film on a
mission with the most prominent newcomer, Rose (Kelly Marie Tran), a Resistance
technician looking to live up to her heroic sister. Finn doesn't get much
development this time around. The Force Awakens built him up pretty
well, and he mostly coasts on that for this episode. That's nothing against
Boyega. It's just not his turn, like it's wasn't Poe's last time. More of that
focus is on Tran's Rose who I came to like very quickly. There's obviously a lot more Mark Hamill this time. The film plays more to Hamill's strengths as an actor rather than trying to recreate the Luke Skywalker from the original trilogy. A lot of time is spent reminding everyone of the man, rather than the legend. The same could be said of having Hamill there at all. That still leaves
Benicio del Toro as an underworld code-breaker and Laura Dern as a prominent
Resistance officer among the new characters, not to mention the return of
Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis), General Hux (Domhnall Gleeason), Maz Kanata
(Lupita Nyong'o), Chewie, and Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie). The cast is
huge. There are so many characters to service, which leads me to some of my
issues.
This movie tries to do too much. It's over 2.5 hours
and feels like it. Similar to The Dark Knight or Django Unchained,
there's an extra act that didn't feel all that necessary. Unlike those movies
though, it's an awesome extra act with some of the most stunning visuals in an
already great looking movie and one of the best badass moments of the entire
series. But, by the time the movie gets there, I was feeling the length.
Perhaps that means some of the middle could've been cut instead, like an
adventure to a casino city/planet that seemed to exist only to underline some
thematic points that could've been made elsewhere. Like a Lord of the Rings
movie, I loved every second of The Last Jedi even as I was aware there
was too much. If the choice is between more Star Wars or less Star
Wars, my choice will always be "more", even if it would be the
detriment to the movie.
And, I don't blame Rian Johnson for wanting to take
on as much as possible. He gets how to make a Star Wars movie. Every new
world, character, or piece of technology The Last Jedi introduces fits
perfectly in the Star Wars universe. The movie goes after big, intense
moments while cutting the tension with comedy just right. The big criticism of The
Force Awakens was that it was mimicry and lacked anything really iconic.
That's not a problem with The Last Jedi. Like any good sequel, it's the
same but different and is packed with great moments: the kind that you
immediately remember when you think about why you love the series.
I've seen the movie twice now. The word I kept coming
back to after the first time was "elegant". I was really bothered
because The Last Jedi isn't elegant at all. It's the kind of movie in
which a bomb will go off and the only characters who get up are the ones with
names the audience knows, and it feels no need to explain itself. Characters
will speechify for no discernible reason. Master plans aren't all that clever
and characters are left in the dark on them for nebulous reasons. I'm sure if
there was a countdown, the clock would stop with exactly 1 second left. This
bothered me for a while, then I remembered: That's Star Wars. As I
pointed out earlier, it's a space opera. It's never been elegant. Everything is
heightened and obvious. The central conflict is literally between the light and
dark side of something generically called The Force. Star Wars is the ultimate
escapism, and the highs I get from that make up for all sorts of ills.
Does The Last Jedi have indelible characters
I can root for or against and who entertain me either way? Yes.
Does The Last Jedi have terrific, inventive
action sequences that take full advantage of the enormous production cost? Yes.
Does The Last Jedi have clear themes
delivered as earnestly as anything in this galaxy? Yes.
The Last Jedi is a great Star Wars movie.
After the Credits
(A few thoughts with spoilers)
-Two things didn't sit well with me at first. Both
are tied to how the Force is used in The Last Jedi. The first is Leia
surviving after the bridge is destroyed. The second is Luke's big fake out at
the end. These both felt like too much, like the Force was being overextended
beyond the established rules of how it worked. I mean, Leia isn't even a Jedi.
I'm still not completely on board either instance, but after a second viewing
and some additional consideration, I'm fine with them.
If dead Jedi can reappear as friendly ghosts and
Sith can choke officers remotely from light years away, then, even if we haven't
seen it happen before, hologram Jedi and a little space floating action isn't
that big of a stretch. Besides, in either case there were consequences. Luke
basically spent his remaining life force on his trick. With Leia, it's good to
remember that the entire Skywalker family is strong with the Force and it isn't
limited to the Jedi. Before the bridge is destroyed, the film cuts to Leia who
does appear to be bracing herself for something. She protects herself first,
not after the fact. And, it does take a lot out of her.
-Two things I'm really hoping for some more
explanation of in episode IX: Snoke and the Knights of Ren. Even though Snoke
is dead and was only a stop gap to get us to Kylo Ren as the lead villain, I'd
still like to know his story. After Vader and Palpatine were killed, where did
this quite powerful Sith lord come from? How did he come to lead the First
Order too? As for the Knights of Ren, what happened to them? The Force
Awakens mentions the Knights of Ren a couple times. The Last Jedi
refers to Luke's pupils who joined Kylo Ren. Presumably they become the Knights
of Ren. It's odd that we don't know more about them yet. I worry that we may
never get a good explanation for Snoke, but it seems very likely that the
Knights of Ren will be addressed in Episode IX.
-I'm really happy to find out that Rey's parents
aren't special. While it was fun to speculate that she was somehow a Skywalker
or a Kenobi or another manifestation of the Force with no lineage at all, I
much prefer that she is just a woman who happens to be strong with the Force.
There were plenty of non-Skywalker Jedi before Anakin, so there should be
plenty after. This explanation actually makes her a lot more interesting to
me. I don't enjoy watching things for the twist, so I'm glad this didn't encourage doing so.
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