Star Wars movies that have been released since the sale of Lucasfilm to Disney can easily be broken up into two categories: trailblazers and followers. Rogue One was a trailblazer. While yes, the overarching plot did feed into the original trilogy, it never felt ruled by the source material, only informed by it. It had new characters on new worlds with an independent story that didn’t lean too heavily on what came before it. Thankfully it was also entertaining, original, well-written and an all-around excellent Star Wars film. The Force Awakens was a follower. It had new characters, but the movie’s entire emotional resonance was based on looking to the past, and only works by robbing the original trilogy for touchstones, callbacks, outright theft of plot elements, and emotions it couldn’t muster the storytelling ability or creativity to earn itself. I am therefore pleased to see that Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi steps further away than TFA was able to from the original trilogy, but still disappointed that so much of it relies on plot for plot and in some cases scene for scene rehashes of past Star Wars films.
There are a lot of great things to say about this movie. The music felt right at home, which is no surprise given that John Williams is the godfather of Star Wars. Deft use of leitmotif and call backs to musical themes of past Star Wars movies combined with brassy new verve gave Last Jedi a distinctly Star Wars feel. The acting was also top notch. Anchored by Daisy Ridley (Rey), Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron), John Boyega (Finn), Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), and Adam Driver (Kylo Ren), with strong support from Carrie Fisher (Leia Organa) and newcomer Kelly Marie Tran as the mechanic Rose Tico, the cast all turned in excellent, memorable performances. The cinematography and art on the film are the best we’ve ever seen in a Star Wars movie. I don’t usually expound at length about a pop sci-fi film’s lighting and set design, but the fact is the movie was visually sumptuous. In fact, there is one scene from the film I hope to have framed and on my wall in the near future it was so striking. I can say with confidence that, technically, across the board, Last Jedi is a solid winner on every aspect of the film that doesn’t involve plot.
But, then there’s the plot, and yes, there will be SPOILERS APLENTY in the following paragraphs. There were some fun surprises. It was funnier than I thought it would be and in all the best ways. I was genuinely on the edge of my seat with anticipation at several moments and enjoyed that Johnson, unlike J.J. Abrams, sought to subvert original trilogy themes rather than just pillage them. However, of the three R’s of conservation, Johnson could have used more Reduce and less Reuse and Recycle. Any film over two hours has to earn every minute over that threshold. Last Jedi did not. A subplot involving Benicio del Toro and a casino was a complete waste of time, and ended up being completely useless to the plot other than giving Finn something to do. Since he wasn’t a Jedi and couldn’t fly a ship, he was rendered useless for long stretches of the movie, forcing the writers to invent a subplot (which I can’t emphasize enough, didn’t matter at all) for him and the new character, Rose, as well as providing an excuse to shoehorn Phasma back into the film.
The jury is still out for me on the film’s young villain, Kylo Ren. Johnson’s work with Ren was a welcome departure from Star Wars scripture. He is youthful, energetic, unbridled, and perhaps unhinged. I was happy for Adam Driver that Johnson gave him this material to work with. With more room to really act–unlike his first go at Kylo Ren–it gave Driver a chance to really shine. It was a bold choice of J.J. Abrams and now Johnson to portray Ren as an overgrown manchild with some vague inner darkness, and a penchant for patricide and temper tantrums. Ren is the Sith who launched a thousand memes online, but there is something compelling about him. We still do not, however, know what makes him tick. It confirms a universal rule about villains: they need to be real people with real motivations and need to be just human enough to identify with on some level. Sci-fi and fantasy villains who are evil just to be evil are boring. At the moment, Kylo hasn’t really passed that test, but I think he has the potential to, and I think this trilogy owes us that explanation in the final film.
A pet peeve of mine is films that get the big stuff right and the small stuff wrong. I might be able to ignore them during the movie but they tend to fester and tarnish a movie after the viewing. There were several small things that bothered me as well because they were just so distracting. I continue to be baffled by every Star Wars movie needing to involve a giant evil ship blown up by a much smaller Rebel ship. It happened twice in this film alone. I don’t understand why the bad guys keep building them, why the Rebels haven’t destroyed them all by now since it appears to be so easy, and how they could possibly be losing given the damage they do with so few resources. Can we invent a new Star Wars plot that doesn’t involve giant ships in any way, shape, or form?
Like Force Awakens, my biggest problem with the film is the overuse of scenes and plot elements from previous films. The series of shot for shot remakes of previous films were the ultimate distractions. AT-ATs fighting on a field of white against rebels in trenches a la Empire, the Millennium Falcon flying through the crystal caves a la the Death Star run from Return of the Jedi, and Snoke’s throne room scene with Rey where he announces his evil plan also from Return of the Jedi were all cringe-worthy. My problem with these scenes or the use of giant ships as a plot device isn’t just that they’re unnecessary or lazy, it’s that I think they misjudge the desires of the diehard fans they’re obviously calling to. Do they think that ultimate fans just want the same movie over and over again, and would shun something new? I can tell you that’s not the case. I cheered every new thing the film had to offer, and rolled my eyes at every heavy-handed callback. A wink and a nod to the past is great for producing a nostalgic smile from the audience. But this level of borrowing is distracting and annoying, bordering on insulting.
I said after Force Awakens that Last Jedi could make up for all that first movie’s sins by being great. I could forgive all the terrible, awful recycling of plot if it was just a set up for something new and exciting. Toward the end of the film, Kylo Ren says to Rey; “Let the past die. Kill it if you have to.” I wish Johnson had taken his own advice. There is a major theme of rebirth and renewal in the film with regards to the Jedi order. Rey is a sign of the future, that Luke is too wedded to dogmas of the past, too afraid of old fears, too bogged down by the weight of history to allow the Jedi to breath free. It was one of the most refreshing aspects of the movie, but it feels meta now in retrospect, like Johnson was crying out for the creative freedom Star Wars needs to really break out of George Lucas’ shadow and forge a new path forward. The original trilogy remains an amazing feat of cinema, but the beauty of what keeps us coming back to Star Wars is how real and expansive it feels. Surely, given the enormity of the universe Lucas created, writers and directors can find a way to tell more than the same story over and over again.
So, after all that, how would I rate Last Jedi? Better than any of the prequels, better than Force Awakens and Return of the Jedi, but not better than Rogue One. However, it gives me hope for the future. Rian Johnson is slated to create three more Star Wars films wholly independent of the overarching Skywalker-led continuum. Johnson has proven he can create a funny, entertaining, artistically excellent Star Wars film. Now, unburdened by the weight of carrying the same story forward and free to chart his own path, I am truly excited to see what he comes up with. The future of Star Wars is bright indeed.
