Star Wars: The Last Jedi is the eighth episode of the Star Wars saga. It takes place right after The Force Awakens and has been highly anticipated for the past two years. That’s literally all I can say without spoiling it.
This installment is directed by Rian Johnson, and he brings a unique voice to the Star Wars universe. He manages to make it feel like it belongs in the universe while giving us something we haven’t seen before. There are numerous gorgeous shots in the movie that will stick with you for days. He also sets a slightly darker tone in comparison to the last film. There’s a sense of hopelessness that elevates the stakes, and ultimately makes the film more emotional.
The title of the film is The Last Jedi, so many fans are wondering how it handles Luke. Mark Hamill gives his best performance ever as Luke Skywalker without a doubt. The trailers have hinted at a more reluctant and weary Luke, who might not be the hero that people remember him as. Thankfully, the film goes for this and it really works. The storyline between Luke and Rey was, personally, the best part of the movie. Daisy Ridley gives another fantastic performance as Rey in the film. She has some great scenes in the movie with some of the other characters in the movie. As she explained in The Force Awakens, Luke has become so infamous throughout the galaxy that he has become a myth, so she has dreamed of meeting him her entire life, and when it’s not what she expects, we get an interesting dynamic between the two characters.
Adam Driver reprises his role as Kylo Ren, and his story arc was also very compelling. It’s hard to talk about him without spoiling anything, so I’ll say he has to deal with certain things, and it creates a conflict that brought about a great character arc. Adam Driver definitely has much more to work with as an actor than in Force Awakens, and his character has more of a role to play as well. Overall, I still love his character just as much, if not more, as I did previously. Supreme Leader Snoke also plays a bigger role, and the performance capture is unbelievable in this film. It’s hard to believe that he’s not played by a live-action actor because it looks that good. Andy Serkis proves that he is the king of performance capture as he gives a dark, menacing performance as Snoke.
Everybody involved with the Resistance does a great job as well. Oscar Issac is great as Poe Dameron and is given a bigger and stronger storyline, making him one of my favorite characters in the movie. He also has a great relationship with General Leia in the film. This will sadly be Carrie Fisher’s last performance as Leia, and she does a wonderful job with it. If you’re like me, it’ll be tough to get through some of the scenes, but she played a great leader in the Resistance. She still feels like the same character from the original trilogy, but a little bit older… in a good way. The film reminds us why we love Leia as a character and serves as a great remembrance to Carrie Fisher.
There’s one thing people every fan wants to know about, and that’s the porgs. I’m happy to say that the porgs really work They don’t over do it to the point where they feel like Jar Jar Binks, but they do add some humorous moments to the film. There are surprisingly a lot of funny scenes in the movie. The vast majority of the jokes land really well, even though some feel a little out of place. For example, there’s a gag near the beginning of the movie that was funny but took away some of the weight to the scene for me.
The action scenes are exceptional in this movie. Johnson uses wide and long takes, which gives you the full scope of the battles. There’s one scene that is definitely one of my favorite action sequences of all the Star Wars movies. The space battles are also extremely exciting. There are quite a few of them, and they all left me on the edge of my seat.
One problem I had with the film was the Finn and Rose storyline. John Boyega is great as Finn again, and Kelly Marie Tran is a great new addition to the Star Wars universe, but whenever it cut to them it took me I was taken out of the film. Even though the planet they were on was interesting, it didn’t feel like it belonged in a Star Wars movie. Benicio Del Toro plays a character they meet, and I thought he was great. I really loved his character, but just not their storyline. The movie is 2 and a half hours, making it the longest Star Wars movie to date, and the only times I felt the length of the movie was in the Finn and rose storyline.
The Last Jedi might be the best Star Wars movie since Empire. They build on a lot of ideas and characters from The Force Awakens and give us a great sequel that will make fans very happy.
Rating: A
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