Star Wars: The Last Jedi

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This is an 8~9 movie, but rating 10 as to offset all the delusional veteran fans.

This film was spectacular! It kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. It's exciting, epic, funny, nostalgic and all those other cool things. I can't wait for it to be released on home media!

best star wars movie after rogue one

[spoiler]Yoda[/spoiler] 'nuff said

After the hugely entertaining Force Awakens, Johnson is more keen to explore new territory than tread down familiar paths and what makes The Last Jedi so successful is not just that he is willing to subvert expectations that come with a Star Wars film, but also that he has a singular focus on developing all the central characters and it is this that makes this film so emotionally involving and gripping to watch. Johnson has picked up on the key story threads from the last entry, but unlike Episode VII which relied heavily on nostalgia and familiar scenarios, he has chosen to use his legacy characters to create a rich and thematically compelling entry into the saga that doesn’t simply rely on the audience’s nostalgia for previous films. It is to his credit that he has challenged not just the new characters but also the old, none more so than Luke, whose past and our awareness of it allows the filmmaker to contrast the nature of myth and legend with the reality of flawed character and all too human failure. Indeed, much of The Last Jedi’s central theme revolves around not just failure, but how each central character deals with it. Everyone from Luke to Hux experiences failure on some level during the film and Johnson is keen to explore each character’s central flaw, from Rey’s loneliness and need for a father figure/companion to Poe’s hot-headedness, and emphasise how each character develops as their flaw is exposed and challenged in some way. It makes for a fascinating film and for the first time since The Empire Strikes Back, there is palpable sense of tension that comes from a story moving into unfamiliar territory for every single character.

The performances across the board are strong and both Hamill and Fisher do some of their best work as Luke and Leia, without ever overshadowing the new characters. Indeed, every moment with Leia is tinged with sadness, given the cold reality of real life, but one of the many tragedies is that Fisher is no longer here to earn the plaudits for her performance that would have made her presence in Episode IX such an exciting prospect. Unfortunately it is not to be, but this is a wonderful note to go out on.

Like Force Awakens, there are some minor flaws - it’s one of the funniest Star Wars films, but the humour occasionally feels oddly anachronistic with the setting and classical nature of the series. Whilst the adventures of Finn and Rose on Canto Bight serve a purpose to expand on the themes of the film, they do feel extraneous and affect the pacing.

Perhaps the greatest flaw however that has been exposed by this film is in fact the central flaw of the entire sequel trilogy - the audience’s understandable desire to see Luke, Han and Leia again has ensured their happy ending from Return of the Jedi was inevitably going to be challenged and perhaps all of them would have been better utilised as legends to inspire the new. It is to the credit of both Abrams and Johnson that their inclusion has never felt wasted or betrayed, but as the saga inevitably moves beyond the past and embraces new characters, one can’t help feeling regret and sadness that the fairy tale nature of a happy ending has been exposed by age and inevitable death.

But that shouldn’t detract from a film that delivers everything one would hope for in a Star Wars film. It is the balance of old and new elements that Johnson has got spectacularly right, delivering the requisite moments of adventure, fun and spectacle, but at the same time delving into new territory that leaves the saga at an interesting turning point. As the film closes with an indelible image that will surely speak to every fan who grew up with a childhood dominated by the series, the mysteries of Episode VII may have largely been answered, but Episode IX is wide open and it’s anyone’s guess where the films will go. That is an exciting prospect.

My favorite Star Wars film ever

My oldest son, as well as myself of course, wanted to watch this movie already before Christmas when it went up Geneva but it was pretty much sold out (unless you wanted to sit at the very edge of the theatre). I manage to book tickets for yesterday though so…here’s my ramblings about the movie.

As usual with these kind of movies, where there is a large following of fans, there is also many dissenting voices. Some people apparently are going as far as to want this movie to be undone. Well, my take on that is that these people need to grow up or let go or both. Luke is no longer a young farm boy running around saving the universe. The Star Wars universe and its characters are evolving and that is the way it should be and the way it is. Time for the next generation to pick up the torch.
Both me and my son really liked this movie. After the abysmal episodes I to III (Jar Jar Binks still haunts me in my dreams) I have really enjoyed the Star Wars movies.

I quite liked The Force Awakens but it is true that it felt a bit like a rehash of A New Hope. Not only does this one not feel like it is reusing old material (too much) but it also feels like it is opening a new chapter in the Star Wars universe.
The FX is as good as you have the right to expect from a Star Wars movie. The story is fresh and well developed. It will not win any Oscars of course but I liked it. It makes things evolve while at the same time giving enough room for action and a wee bit of humor.

The characters are almost all good and well played. I am looking forward to seeing more of most of them, especially, Rey and Poe. I’m not 100% convinced about Finn and Rose but I can live with them. Kylo Ren do not yet fill up the shoes of Darth Vader but he is showing promise. Contrary to Snoke I do feel he should put on a mask though.

The two characters I did not really like was General Hux and DJ. The first one was just incompetent. I’m not sure if he was supposed to be a bit of comical relief or not but, as far as I am concerned, we can do without him. DJ, well I guess he was supposed to not be liked so he did a good job of that but these kinds of assholes just frustrate me to no end. We never saw him actually meet his demise in this movie so if he is brought back I hope it will be for the sole purpose of rectifying that oversight…as violently and painfully as possible.

Of course, we saw a few new ships as well and as usual with the Empire bigger is better…or maybe not. Not sure what to say about these new designs. At least they did not look like a enlarged (except for the bridge) Star Destroyer like Darth Vader’s Super Star Destroyer.

One thing that really bugged me in the first battle though was the rebels’ so called “bombers”. What kind of bloody moron designed those? They were just so wrong in so many ways. The design itself was just silly looking. They were slower than a flee on a patch of tar. Seriously, a space bomber that crawls along? Actually, why make a “bomber” in space at all? That brings us to the biggest gripe of them all with this ludicrous design…dropping bombs vertically? In space? How the fuck do they fall?

Sure they looked somewhat cool when they dropped their bombs…if your knowledge of physics is on the level of your average politician (and obviously a few Hollywood employees as well).

Anyway, on the whole me and my son had two and a half hours of great fun watching The Last Jedi. I hope the next movie expands on the threads this one started. I have to say that I was a bit sorry about the feeble state of the resistance at the end, so I do hope the next writer will not let this drag on. One way to ruin Star Wars for me would be to turn Star Wars into some Battlestar Galactica variant with resistance survivors on constant run from the empire. Now it is time for the resistance to strike back, and for Rey to evolve her Jedi powers.

The Last Jedi tore a lightsaber through my expectations, but delivered in so many ways. It's very rare these days for a movie to be backed so packed full of storyline and intrigue...especially one that runs at 153 minutes.

The cast were universally brilliant, but Adam Driver's stand-out performance was masterful, and Kellie Marie Tran was a surprise hit for me.

There were some strange comedy beats that didn't quite sit right for me, but I suspect this was still when my assumptions about The Last Jedi were still being screwed with.

Rian Johnson's direction was wonderful with so many beautiful visual treats woven together by an utterly captivating story. I can't wait to see what he has in store when he gets his own Start Wars trilogy.

Best Star Wars movie, sorry not sorry.