By Contributing Writer- Jeremy Wilkerson.
‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ is finally out, and man, was it worth the hype. ‘The Last Jedi’ is 100% the most unique Star Wars movie we have. Rian Johnson completely reinvents the universe with this film, he doesn’t play it safe and leads the newest installment into unexpected directions that fans will either embrace or disagree with. The choices that he made forced me to step out of my comfort zone, and rethink everything I knew about Star Wars.
Johnson expands on the lore so much in a short amount of time. He introduces you to new aspects of the Force that even the most hardcore fans have never seen in the series. The new planets and creatures introduced are welcome additions to the growing galaxy as well.
‘The Last Jedi’ is extremely intense from the very beginning, from the opening battle to the very end, you are sitting at the edge of your seat for the most part, because this film takes your expectations and predictions and just crushes them. This, along with other decisions Johnson made, makes ‘The Last Jedi’ the ballsiest Star Wars film.
The characters we knew from the last film are expanded on, and they’re all enjoyable, especially Kylo Ren, portrayed by Adam Driver. Ren is definitely one of the more complex characters in canon. He truly shines in this film, and I didn’t expect to like him as much as I did. Another great performance is by Mark Hamill, he absolutely owns it as Luke Skywalker, even if you don’t like the choices made by his character, there’s no denying that this is the greatest we’ve seen Hamill in the role. Oscar Isaac’s Poe Dameron is also greatly improved on, making a far better character than what we saw in the previous movie.
New characters like Rose, played by Kelly Marie Tran, or Laura Dern’s Vice Admiral Holdo are given warm welcomes as well, they help us explore different sides of the Resistance, a faction we didn’t really explore on in ‘The Force Awakens’. Right at the beginning of the film, we know so much about Rose, and I really appreciate that she isn’t just a pilot, she’s just a normal mechanic who goes on this adventure with the bigger heroes.
Some characters don’t always work, however. Supreme Leader Snoke has a much bigger role than the last one, but his backstory and motives are still cloudy, and we don’t get enough of him to call him a great villain. Also, Captain Phasma isn’t really expanded on either. As we see from the trailer, an epic fight with Finn occurs, but really, that’s all we get of her. It’s very disappointing, especially since fans have wanted more of her since ‘The Force Awakens’.
There’s a lot more to praise too, like the choreography, cinematography, beautiful and poetic dialogue, some of the best in the series. It’s truly done with respect to George Lucas and the world he built back in the 1970’s.
The story is amazing as well, the twists and turns feel natural and flow with the story instead of being shock value to get the audience to gasp. The most intriguing storylines are of course Rey and Luke, and Poe with Vice Admiral Holdo, but the subplot with Finn and Rose isn’t the strongest and drags a lot in the second act, but it all pays off once the job is done, and isn’t that big of a negative to hate.
‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ is an incredible and unique film, introducing new and interesting aspects of the universe, while also keeping that classic Star Wars tone and message about hope. With its great performances and impactful twists, I feel like ‘The Last Jedi’ is a movie that’ll last for years to come.
9.7/10
