I’ve now seen the Last Jedi twice (the first time was at the
midnight screening at my local
Picturehouse cinema) so I thought it was about
time for me to write a review of it and let you know my reactions and thoughts.
Now, as a warning to those of you who have yet to see the
film this review will include SPOILERS so if you haven’t seen the movie and don’t
want to find out what happens I suggest not reading any further then this point,
so don’t say I didn’t warn you!
My overall reaction to this movie is that I absolutely loved
it. It took me a while to process this opinion
as so much happens in the movie which I think will divide fans, and it was only
really after the second viewing that I cemented my thoughts and emotions to
what I had seen. Now this is not to say
that the film is not without its flaws (which I’ll talk a more about later) but
for me personally I felt this movie delivered exactly what I wanted and expected,
and Rian Johnson has now set the Star Wars franchise off on a new direction.
SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT.....
Okay so now we can get down to the details of this movie and
why I enjoyed it so much. Ever since we were
introduced to Rey and Kylo Ren (Ben Solo) in The Force Awakens we were clear
that Luke Skywalker was going to play a big part in their narratives. For Rey he would be her new mentor, the
person to help her understand who she was and what her destiny will be whilst
for Klyo Ren he is the target of his rage and anger, the person he must
confront and defeat to fully embrace the darkside.
Rian Johnson delivers this in the Last Jedi, but not in the
way some fans expected.
When Rey finds
Luke he is a broken man who has cut himself off from the force and wants nothing
to do with the galaxy. He blames himself
for Ben Solo turning to the darkside because he sensed the growing darkness within
him and considered (all be it for a few seconds) ending Ben Solo’s life to
spare the galaxy of a new Vader. This
emotional decision haunted Luke (and ultimately pushed Ben towards Snoke) and
caused him to isolate himself. When we
meet Luke it’s clear he is full of shame and regret. He refuses to re-join the Resistance and to
train Rey. This is not the Luke
Skywalker we were expecting, he is fallible, and has made mistakes.
Rey in return is shocked at who she finds. She’s expecting the Luke Skywalker of legend,
but instead this Luke is more human. She discovers
more about Luke and what happened between him and Kylo Ren, which in turn makes
Luke reconsider his actions. There is a
lovely scene after Rey leaves the island where Luke speaks to the force ghost
of Yoda, who has returned to throw some much-needed perspective on his plight
and help him to be at peace with the decisions he has made.
Then we have the showdown between Luke and Klyo Ren at the
climax of the movie. This was more of an
emotional showdown rather than a physical one, with Luke coming to terms with his
mistakes, the destiny of Ben Solo and the fact that he will not be the last
Jedi. His force powers are shown to full
extent and as Rey says he is “at peace” by the time the film ends.
Things are not going smooth for the Resistance either, who for
the first time in any Star Wars movie genuinely feel under threat and are almost
wiped out off the face of the galaxy by the end of the film. We get some great moments from Poe, who’s arrogance
and hot headiness costs the resistance dearly and his reluctance to trust
anyone who isn’t Leia almost derails the rebels hope of survival.
We also get to learn who Rey’s parents are and when the reveal
comes (thanks to Kylo Ren), it is one of the best twists in the film. The fact that Rey is a nobody, that her
parents sold her for money to aid their drinking and that deep-down Rey knew
this tells us that anyone can be special, you don’t have to be a Skywalker or a
Kenobi to be strong in the force. I know
this reveal will annoy a lot of fans who were hoping that Rey might be Luke’s
daughter or a relative of a powerful Jedi but the fact that she is no one
adds so much more to her character. This
reveal also mirrors that of Kylo Rens upbringing. A powerful force user with Skywalker blood,
which added pressure on him and his destiny.
For what I loved about the movie there were also some things
I hated. Snoke was a big disappointment and the fact
that his backstory was not explored or explained meant we were left with a very
two-dimensional villain that we still know nothing about such as how he managed
to bring the Empire back.
Captain Phasma
was also once again underused, being in this film less than she was in the
Force Awakens. Although her showdown
with Finn was entertaining the whole thing felt forced and almost thrown in because
a board member said, “Hey we need to sell more Phasma toys!”.
Again, they also missed an excellent opportunity to put
Lando into this film as he could have easily have been the codebreaker or taken
the place of Maz. Hopefully we’ll get to
see him pop up in Episode 9.
But besides from these minor quibbles I really enjoyed the
movie and think it’s a great addition to the franchise. I’m excited to see where the trilogy will go
next as we are now truly in uncharted territory.
