Hot off the heels of Disney effectively taking over the film industry, Star Wars: The Last Jedi has released and continues the story of Rey, Finn, Poe, Kylo Ren, and the true her of the Star Wars saga, R2-D2. Within 24 hours of its worldwide release the Internet is already divided on it and after giving it a day to stir, marinate, and finish cooking in my mind, I'm ready to talk about it and not give anything away.
This...will be difficult.
Right away I feel, quite assuredly, that this is a narrative step-up from The Force Awakens. The previous film did take its risks, but relied heavily on the familiar SW elements to bring everyone back in the fold (most everyone, I should say) and let everyone know that, indeed, "Star Wars" is back.
It's certainly a tone-shift, despite a lot of the modern-humor interspersed throughout the film. The film takes a darker look at not just old characters, but new ones as well. The film's strongest points come from the continuing story that is the Skywalker saga and what that means for the narrative of "Star Wars" as a whole.
The Last Jedi, will, narratively, quell a lot of problems that people may have had with the last film. There were some who were skeptical about bringing the old cast back, but this movie shows that they are important players in this galaxy still and will be for, probably, ever. They're the heroes of the rebellion, the ones that thwarted the strongest Empire seen in centuries. These are legends in the canon and the movie makes a point of that, adding both to the old and new mythology of the saga.
For the most part, too, a lot of complaints were addressed. "Not enough Poe" was answered with him getting his own subplot. "Rey is too strong" was answered with a training arc (although that's still a ridiculous argument). Plus there are story beats that are addressed with weight and with gravitas that I've seen some people say are weak, but, I think they fit the tone. They fit the scene, they fit the moment.
The story of The Last Jedi relies less on plot and more on character motivation, similar to The Empire Strikes Back. I mean, think about it. In "Empire" the only things that really happen are the Rebels being chased off Hoth, then Luke goes to Dagobah, then the Falcon has to continue fleeing and find a place to get fuel. Then Luke fights Vader and the "story" wraps up. But there are so many character beats and moments that drive the character's story forward that makes it such a remarkable film.
The Last Jedi is similar. The plot is good and compelling but it isn't the thing you stick around for. It's harrowing action scenes, incredibly dramatic set-pieces, great character interaction, and very well executed direction on all sides.
Let's start talking about the characters. First up: Kylo Ren. Good Lord, Kylo Ren.
There is so much depth to his character and Adam Driver deserves every bit of recognition for it. Kylo Ren evolves in such interesting and unexpected ways based on where he was left in The Force Awakens. We learn much about his backstory and motivations as well as what he actually wants with his destiny. We see more of him displaying his skills with the Force and that once the man is focused and in control he's the most powerful weapon in the galaxy, not even Rey could defeat him if he were at his full potential. But he never is, and that's what makes him so interesting. Kylo Ren is a character caught at the most important moments in his life and his life is conflict, he's never known peace, he's never known happiness. He can't know resolution; we saw that in The Force Awakens and it's heavily explored here.
And he is a serious threat. When he steels his resolution it's quite terrifying because it's unclear what he's going to do. We know what he wants but we don't know how he's going to get it. He's still very much a loose cannon, but someone in control of his powers now that he knows there's another threat out there. In The Force Awakens he could afford to be relaxed, to be sort of lazy with his abilities. After his duel with Rey, though? No, it's serious.
For me, Kylo Ren's story is what carried me through the movie. I wanted to see more of him than almost any other character, and I certainly didn't expect that at all going into this movie. It does, at times, feel like there are four separate stories going on and Kylo Ren's really stole the show for me.
The companion piece of all this comes with Rey's training with Luke Skywalker, who makes his return to the saga. And, again, what great performances. Daisy Ridley once again shines as the young Force-wielder Rey, and Mark Hamill delivers his best Luke Skywalker performance to date. Luke is bitter, he's old, he doesn't care; he's Yoda from The Empire Strikes Back but with a bad attitude on life. He's ready to give up on it all, but he holds on, and seeing why that is, seeing his struggle through Rey is so interesting.
Rey does get a lot to do in this movie and no, it isn't like Luke's training on Dagobah. This is a struggle, both physical and mental, for her as a person trying to learn not about the Force, necessarily, but about her place in the Force. About her place in all of this. She's being trained by the most famous Jedi, from now on probably, of all time. Luke Skywalker is the legend who defeated Darth Vader, outlasted Darth Sidious, and led the final charge of the Rebellion. And what's Rey?
Some girl from a desert plan. That dynamic is so fascinating to watch, and we really do see Luke's relationship with Rey develop in interesting ways.
A lot of the subversion in this movie stems from these two and their interactions. From the first minute that Luke has screentime you already know that we're going in new places we never thought we'd see. Some of that comes from Luke, and some of that comes from Rey. Some of that, too, comes from the setting and the environment: as far as we know, there are four (Snoke says he knows the ways of the Dark Side in The Force Awakens so it's not a spoiler) genuine, powerful Force-wielders in the universe, so, how will the Force itself react and manifest in such a small population? Will it react, does the Force truly operate as a separate, intangible entity in this galaxy?
While we don't learn much of the religious aspects of the Force, we do really get to see a study of it unlike ever before. We see it used in new ways, old ways, and always very interesting ways. It was so thrilling to watch as we got to see two young Force wielders discover the depths of their abilities and what they were willing to do to discover them. There's one really, really incredible scene with Rey in particular that explores this as well as her character and her motivations that was absolutely enthralling and just provided every reason to fall in love with this character.
But beyond the hokey religions and ancient weapons we have good blasters at our side, too. The late Carrie Fisher delivers a magnificent swan song performance as a grizzled General whose seen it all and knows what to do, but has to deal with hotshot Poe Dameron. Poe and Leia's dynamic was compelling throughout the entire film and was a great surprise to see. Oscar Isaac brought Poe to brand new levels and really created an air of respect for him.
In The Force Awakens he was the standard good guy; he was the handsome, daredevil pilot ready to charge headfirst into battle. In this movie he's the same, but, actions have consequences. Poe's story is really one of the big emotional tentpoles that is subtly built up throughout the movie, but its themes resonate throughout the film for every character on screen, including Rey and Kylo Ren. Leia serves as much a mentor to him at times as Luke does to Rey, and it was neat to see her in that role. While we're used to Leia being in charge, we're not necessarily used to her helping others learn to be in charge.
The weakest aspect of the film is Finn and Rose's subplot. It has resonance by the end of the film but the main thrust of their action scenes really feel like something straight out of The Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones. They're fine enough characters but Rose's development came too late and Finn didn't really develop all that much quite yet, I think we'll see how the events of this story affect him more in Episode IX.
Finn's comedy was also a bit too modern for my taste. It was cute in The Force Awakens but it feels as if they were all-too aware of that, and it stripped away some of his charm. He was still funny and incredibly likable, but not as much as TFA. In fact, I would say Rey was funnier than Finn at times. Daisy Ridley has surprisingly good comedic timing in some scenes that you don't expect to have comedy, it's nice.
It was nice to see other smaller characters get extended roles as well, like Supreme Leader Snoke, General Hux, and R2-D2 (although, like Luke, it's not hard to top that). Snoke has been a figure of controversy over the last day or so, but I think he was handled perfectly. General Hux is a delight; if Kylo Ren is like Baby-Vader, Hux is like Baby-Tarkin, but without the menace Tarkin had. It's clear he was bred for leadership but has no qualities that a leader should have beyond a title, and his character has no idea of it. He doesn't understand his place and it's just really fun to see him and Kylo Ren interacting whenever they share screentime.
R2-D2 and C3PO, unlike in Rogue One, don't have gratuitous cameoes and R2 even contributes to the story again in an incredibly powerful moment. Like, dang, R2-D2 brought it home for a second there.
One of the other major highlights of the movie is the score by series veteran John Williams. It had it all. It hit every musical beat it needed and it was epic, it was fun, it was Star Wars. There's nothing quite like it, and this is definitely one of the more memorable ones.
In the end, The Last Jedi is great, but not perfect. The Finn and Rose subplot could have been significantly reduced or altered to add more stakes to their characters, but I do think that the incredibly dynamic between Rey, Luke, and Kylo Ren easily picked up for that. Poe and Leia shined through in this movie and the movie feels complete, it feels justified in what it's done. I'm going to do a spoiler-filled review next so, if you want to know my thoughts on all that's happened in the film, go check that out; I'll be able to go way more in-depth with my thoughts and feelings over there.
Definitely go check it out, I'd say!
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