*Insert General SPOILER warning for anyone who hasn’t seen this movie yet.
Yes, The Force Awakens had plenty of hype since it was the first Star Wars project in some time. As such, I was pretty sure the story was gonna play it safe. Ergo, my REAL excitement was for The Last Jedi. Why? Well, with the resuscitation of the franchise, this film could really do anything it wanted; it replaced JJ Abrams (known for good casting but not super interesting stories) with Rian Johnson, who has crafted one of the great sci-fi stories of this decade; and, in a time when Star Wars stories have been written and rewritten or replaced directors, The Last Jedi’s crafting has been 100% worry free and untouched, nearly impossible. Does the movie live up to its crazy hype? You’ll see….
Our 3 leads: Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega), and Poe (Oscar Isaac) are split apart on 3 different journeys. Poe is trying to keep hope for the dwindling resistance alive, while running into issues from General Leia (Carrie Fisher) and Vice Admiral Holdo (Laura Dern) and being hunted by the psychopathic General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson). Finn awakens to find Rey missing, but before he goes to find her he gets stopped by Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran), who helps him realize his real mission is where he is. And finally, Rey finds Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), whom she hopes to recruit to bring his legend back into the fight against the First Order, but Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) hope to put a stop to this by all means necessary.
The Last Jedi represents a turning point in the Star Wars franchise. Until now, Star Wars movies have been relatively simple affairs with simple themes. Bad guys were super evil (Vader/The Emperor), good guys were totally good (Luke Skywalker) with minor exceptions. The most complex theme is in Empire where there’s the slightest suggestion that the world is not a simple place. The Last Jedi eliminates simplicity from the Star Wars universe. Our good and bad guys here act in real, conflicted ways. Arguably, the greatest moment to benefit the good guys in The Last Jedi comes from Kylo Ren, who MURDERED Han Solo! The Last Jedi is the teenager of the Star Wars universe: it wants you to actively question why exactly are you rooting for the Resistance (they are causing upheaval), the Jedi (think about the awful stuff they did), and why you loathe Kylo Ren (the kid seems like he’s been parented pretty terribly) and General Hux (ok, he sucks). Part of the reason we all LOVE Star Wars is because it is easy to understand, especially for kids. Rian Johnson is taking big risks here introducing grey to the black and white, and I’m not quite sure how this will play over time. That being said, the movie for adults is MUCH more interesting, and puts enough mistrust in the world as constructed that I have ZERO idea where the story will go from here, which is exciting for the future.
And now for the fun stuff: Rian Johnson must have taken a list of things that are used in the world of Star Wars, and finds the best new way to use all of them: hyper space travel, using the Force to turn on something, connecting with someone using the Force, use of apparitions…all of these things get turned on their heads in The Last Jedi, and all used to great effect. There’s much more weird humor here than even the Force Awakens: the movie opens with Poe just hilariously mocking Hux’s seething preachiness. It mostly fits into the story instead of the Forced prequel jokes. The giant fight on the salt red planet has just amazing tracking shots of red trails, and just looks gorgeous to help emphasize how high the stakes are on this planetary stand. Rian Johnson’s direction pushes The Last Jedi to feel much bigger than everything other than the prequels, helping push each of the 3 stories to Shakespearean levels of importance.
Rian Johnson gets the short end of the acting stick, replacing Harrison Ford with Mark Hamill, by far the weakest actor in the first trilogy. Time has done wonders to Hamill’s acting acumen: he plays Luke as if he carries the world’s burdens with him everywhere, conflicted and haunted by his past, by far his best non-Joker performance. Daisy Ridley is fine, but mostly just continues to act as the innocent; not as much development for her here (ditto for walking hissy fit Gleeson’s General Hux). John Boyega, like Rey, continues to push his redemption arc to greater heights; this time it’s not fear based, its understanding based growth (who is more important, Rey or the Resistance, who needs him?). And God bless Andy Serkis: with all these characters, Serkis has to prove Snoke’s menace and power with very limited screen time, and like the CGI hero he is, Serkis makes the audience really feel like this guy exists. Adam Driver and Oscar Isaac get the most juicy material to work with in the Last Jedi. Both are super talented thespians: you can see Isaac getting a crash course in learning to balance heroic and smart behavior, trying to grow into a leader. But Driver is the star of this movie in my opinion, taking a pretty detestable character and finding the motivating force behind it, making us at times even sympathize or ROOT for him. He’s involved in the two best scenes of the movie. Of the newcomers here (other than the Porgs), Laura Dern also does wonders with minimal screen time, and Kelly Marie Tran is a geek surrogate; mostly fine and easy to root for: her best work is ahead of her. And the late Carrie Fisher is calming as ever as Leia, just a beacon of strong leadership.
The Last Jedi will be seen as one era of Star Wars ending, and a new one beginning. While I have mixed feelings about this transition, I applaud the movie for taking big swings and giving us a path forward that I think will help make this story continue to connect with audiences. The biggest risk was when Voldemort showed up and killed Luke Skywalker, I definitely didn’t see that coming, Rian Johnson!