Star Wars: The Last Jedi is one of the most decisive movies for Star Wars fans. It has been a week since it hit theaters. Fans on both sides are writing tons of commentary and attempted to change opinions.
Many fans love this movie and rank it as high as the best Star Wars movie ever. Other fans disdain this movie and see it as a huge mess that destroys the franchise. Some fans have started a petition to remove it from Star Wars Cannon.
How would this huge Star Wars fan view this film?
Plot:
(There will be major spoilers– be warned)
Seriously, if you haven’t seen this movie, stop reading now. You have been warned.
The First Order has found The small band of Resistance at their base as they are evacuating. The First Order has Star Destroyers and a Mandator IV-class Siege Dreadnought. Poe Dameron lead an assault on the highly powerful Dreadnought ship. The Resistance Hyperspaces out after they take down this mega ship. But the First Order has Hyperspace tracking and show up right away and the Resistance Fleet is low on fuel.
Meanwhile, Rey meets Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. Things don’t go well from the moment they meet. After Rey hands Luke the light saber, he tosses it away.
Luke Skywalker is no longer the idealistic hero from my childhood. Luke has aged and experienced hurt, loss, and extreme failure as a Jedi Master. He may have PTSD. Instead of pressing through, he shut himself off and became a hermit. He has no interest in training Rey or returning to the save the Galaxy. Eventually, Luke does start to train Rey but get frighten by her level of power.
This movie splits in several different sub plots. There is are several stories going on but they converge back at the end.
One of the sub stories focuses on a connection with Rey and Kylo. This unexplained connection is very strong with them. They talk to each other in usually a combative mode. It does lead both to be believe they can convert the other.
Another side story has to do with Finn and Rose (new character) going to the casino city Canto Bight to find a code breaker. They have a crazy plan to get onto Grand Master Snoke’s flagship to disable the hyperspeed tracking.
I will leave the details of the rest of the plot right here. See the movie.
What I liked: (More Spoilers)
This movie movie zigged and zagged with the plot. Usually, I know what will happen long before it happens in a movie. But not in this movie. They hint and start to go one direction but turn around and go in another direction. I love when a movie keeps me guessing.
I loved Rey’s story and development. She developed further in her abilities and acceptance of her role. She didn’t get a lot of time with a teacher or master. Her time with Luke was very limited. Luke’s time with Yoda wasn’t that long before he ran off similar to how Rey took off and left. She is now clearly the hero of new trilogy and I love it.
Rey has the youthful positive outlook on things. It really reminds me of Luke from the original trilogy. She can see good in people and doesn’t understand when others don’t want to embrace it.
Speaking of Rey, I enjoyed the reveal about her parents. I know many hated this but I loved it. After two years of fans trying to connect the dots, we find out there are no dots to connect. Her parents are no one of consequence. Or so we are told by a Kylo Ren. Not sure we should trust someone trying to covert our hero to the dark side.
Assuming this true, I think it is a wonderful twist. Rey doesn’t need to be a Skywalker, Solo, Kenobi, or Palpatine. There were lots of Jedi, Sith, and other force users that were never related to any of these families. As a guy who came from a a family of “nobodies” in the world’s view, I wanted to think I could be anything I wanted to be. I don’t come from a line of writers but yet I love to write. Rey doesn’t come from a line of Jedi but yet she is very force attuned and has willed her way into becoming a Jedi.
Talking about finding out who someone really is, some are upset about the lack of knowledge about Supreme Leader Snoke. I enjoyed how he died and the circumstances. I didn’t need to know his back story. I never felt the need to know the backstory of the Emperor Palpatine and was rather disappointed with his backstory in the Prequel Trilogy. I loved that Snoke was betrayed by Kylo just like most Sith Lords die at the hands of their pupils.
Part of me hated the Luke Skywalker in this movie. He is not the hero I have always known. But it has been almost 40 years since the events of Return of the Jedi. I am not the same person I was in 1983. It only makes sense that Luke has changed a lot in this time.
I honestly loved how they challenged our view of our past hero. He is not perfect. His arrogance and bad decisions lead to his nephew turning fully to the dark side. He is full of regret and self hate. He has harden his heart because he can’t bear to look anyone in the eye especially his sister. This is a wonderful twist with our characters. I hate it for my childhood hero but I loved the twist of fate for our characters. This leads us to rely on Rey as the hero of our new trilogy.
Talking about Luke, I LOVED how he showed up at the end. I loved how he fooled everyone into thinking he was really there but was some force astral projection. It was a perfect way for Luke to redeem himself and he was brilliant in how he did it.
I can’t see a way that Luke could have survived the full assault on Crait. As a force ghost projection, he is able to take all of the attack of the new Gorilla Walkers without harm. This leads Kylo to face him in person. This fake battle enables the few remaining members of the dwindling Resistance. I love Luke’s smirk and attitude in this battle. And I love his final moments starring at the duel sunset.
Leia using the force to save herself from dying in space was awesome. We have known since Return of the Jedi that the force is strong in Leia. Luke told her so on the Moon of Endor. We don’t know if she ever went through any training with Luke. I know she did train for a while in the old Expanded Universe. But even if she didn’t, we have seen others that are not trained like Rey use their force abilities during crisis times.
What I Did Not Like: (Spoilers)
Unlike a lot of my friends, I don’t have a lot of dislikes in this movie. There are things that I wish would have been different but still enjoyed it the way it was. The Porgs didn’t bother me at all like they did some people. I enjoyed the humor of this movie and felt it helped lighten the burden of the darkness. But there were a couple of things I didn’t like.
If there was one thing I wanted for Luke when I heard about the new trilogy was Mara Jade. The Hand of the Emperor turned rebel and friend turned into wife of Luke in the Expanded Universe. The fiery red head that held her own against Luke but made an even better soulmate would have been awesome to see on the screen. I know the Extended Universe is not cannon but I wish this piece would have been.
The Casino scenes appeared to disjointed and out of sync. It did move the plot along but in a choppy way. Yes, it doesn’t really matter in the long wrong because the mission failed but so did going to Cloud City in Empire.
Review:
This movie has split fans down the middle. Most people either love it or hate it. I understand why some are upset with parts of this movie, the choices for our heroes especially Luke, and the lack of information about some characters. Those things didn’t bother me. I enjoyed the ride and accepted there are parts that weren’t the way I wanted. I left feeling like Stars Wars was back in a serious way.
My Grade: A
Other Reviews
IMDB: 7.7
Rotten Tomatoes: Audience: 53%
Rotten Tomatoes: Critics: 92%
Stay Geeky my Friends!
