Full Review - “The Last Jedi” Might Be The Greatest “Star Wars” Film (SPOILERS)

I’ve been amused by the reaction the past two weeks toward Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Some people love the film, while others seem to have a visceral hatred for Rian Johnson’s creation.  

SPOILERS AHEAD... 

The Last Jedi improves with multiple viewings — at least, that is the prevailing sentiment of many fans online. I agree.

The film is gorgeous. It is crafted with care and is saturated eye candy. John Williams serves up one of his best scores in the franchise (read my review of the soundtrack). 

Two weeks (and two viewings) later, I am of the mindset that Star Wars: The Last Jedi might be the greatest film in the Star Wars saga. I realize this revelation might be as shocking to some as the content is in writer/director Rian Johnson’s narrative for the film. 

For some reason, Star Wars: The Last Jedi reminds me of Kevin J. Anderson’s “Jedi Academy Trilogy” books released back in 1994. In that trilogy, we find an older Luke Skywalker starting a training temple for new Jedi (which will include Han and Leia’s twin children). One of his pupils (Kyp Durron) succumbs to the dark side.

It’s been many years since I have read that trilogy, but what I liked about Anderson’s stylings is that the stories had an energy and a spark — and were wildly creative. 

Star Wars: The Last Jedi should be taken as the story it is — rather than the story you want it to be. All too often these days, movies (in particular, big-budget, tentpole extravaganzas) are fairly rote, and fairly predictable. 

As Luke says to Rey in the movie, “This is not going to go the way you think.”

From the very first scenes of the Resisitance being discovered by the First Order, to the climactic battle on Crait, The Last Jedi is an original masterpiece. Rian Johnson is a skilled writer/director, and I’m happy Disney/Lucasfilm had the stones to give him this much freedom. 

When I viewed the film a second time, I found new things to like about it, and all of the “hang ups” I had from the first viewing slipped away. This shift comes from the fact that I was no longer waiting for “hypotheticals” to come to fruition — such as fan theories suggesting Rey (Daisy Ridley) is Luke’s daughter, or Obi-Wan Kenobi’s daughter, or Kylo Ren’s sister.

It doesn’t matter anymore. 

I simply enjoyed Rey’s time on Ahch-To Island with Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) as she learns about the Force, learns about herself, and communicates with Kylo Ren using a previously unknown ability to appear (as some sort of living “Force Ghost”) from faraway distances. 

Even the moments involving Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) and Finn (John Boyega) on casino-planet Canto Bight — where they are looking for a master codebreaker to help them worm their way onto a First Order ship — worked better. 

Rose and Finn’s exploits — which were the result of Poe Dameron’s hatched plan for the struggling Resistance ships to escape an unwinnable space chase with the First Order — didn’t seem a problem with a repeat screening. For that matter, neither did Poe Dameron’s actions throughout that entire thread — which included a mutiny aboard his Resistance ship that wrestled the reins of command from Vice Admiral Holdo (Laura Dern). 

The question in all of this is why fan ire was enflamed in a such an over-the-top manner. I still believe it has to do with expectations about how a Star Wars movie is supposed to unfold. 

A number of fans I know (die-hard and casual alike) believe that 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is the best entry in the saga since Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.  

I never really agreed with that sentiment. I continue to be fond of 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and it ranks as one of my favorite entries in the franchise. 

For me, Rogue One was a nice diversion, but ultimately unfulfilling. I believe fans like it because it doesn’t tread on any sacred cows in the franchise, and “feels” like a Star Wars movie of old. 

Mark Hamill (who has spent the latter years of his career doing a lot of voice-over work) turns in a terrific performance in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Many fans were ticked off when Luke glibly tossed away his blue lightsaber (which Rey presents to him earnestly at the end of The Force Awakens). The internet is buzzing with people who seem to view that act as a metaphor for Disney tossing away the entire Star Wars franchise. 

This movie goes beyond our preconceived notions of what the Star Wars saga is all about. As Yoda says to Luke in the movie, “We are what they grow beyond.” 

Twice in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Luke corrects the movie’s two youngest “Force wielders” and tells them they are “wrong” about the Force.

In an early exchange during Rey’s training on Ahch-To, Luke asks Rey, “What do you know about the Force?”

Rey answers, “It’s a power that Jedi have that lets them control people and... make things float.”

Luke replies, “Impressive. Every word in that sentence was wrong.” 

Later on in the movie, when Luke has his showdown with Kylo Ren, Ren taunts Luke by saying, “The Resistance is dead, the war is over, and when I kill you, I will have killed the last Jedi!”

Luke calmly responds, “Amazing. Every word of what you just said is wrong. The rebellion is reborn today. The war is just beginning. And I will not be the last Jedi.”

Those exchanges in the movie might as well be a message to fans and viewers of the Star Wars saga. In essence, Skywalker is saying there is more to the story than we ever dreamed. 

Star Wars: The Last Jedi features one of the best lightsaber battles in the entire saga. The showdown in Supreme Leader Snoke’s throne room is beautiful. It really isn’t a lightsaber battle in and of itself, but a battle with the Praetorian Guards — who are basically anonymous, red shogun warriors. 

Any kid who grew up in the 1980s wondering what the Emperor’s Royal Guards were capable of in Return of the Jedi finally get a glimpse in this movie, since the Praetorian Guards are an obvious homage. 

The entire sequence in the throne room (which is drenched in a glorious red tint) is both fun to watch and full of surprises. 

When Rey uses the Force to snatch up Kylo Ren’s unique red lightsaber to take on the guards, it illustrates once again that this isn’t yesterday’s Star Wars movie. Later on in the sequence, when Rey and Ren manage to “break apart” Luke’s original blue saber, it gives us another unique moment in Star Wars lore. 

For a moment, I really thought Kylo Ren was going to heed Rey’s call, and turn away from the dark side of the Force. Rian Johnson had me believing, and the sequence was crafted with a mercurial sleight of hand.  

Another part of the movie I thought was terrific involved Luke looking around the Millennium Falcon on Ahch-To Island. When he discovers R2-D2 on the ship — and the droid projects the old hologram of Leia saying "Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi... you're my only hope" — it took me back. It was a cool nod to A New Hope, and a special moment I wasn't anticipating. 

All of the internet proclamations suggesting that Disney has destroyed the saga seem completely unfounded. This is the first Star Wars movie in a while that fans can’t stop talking about. 

Disney hasn't destroyed anyone's childhood. 

I’m not suggesting that The Last Jedi is perfect. Rather, I’m suggesting that viewing the movie for what it is makes you realize how good it is. 

After I watched Star Wars: The Last Jedi for a second time, it dawned on me that it might have been the most fun I’ve had watching a Star Wars movie.

The movie perfectly captures the experience of being a kid... creating adventures with Star Wars action figures many moons ago... 

Forty years later, you realize movies are different than they were back in the day... and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. 

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