Well, well, well... The time has finally arrived for me to share my thoughts on my most anticipated film of the year... Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle... Wait a second, that's not right... Of course, I mean Star Wars: The Last Jedi, a film I've been eagerly awaiting since December of 2015. The two year wait has been long to say the least, but it's over with, and we now have a two year wait to eagerly anticipate the arrival of Episode IX, so without further ado, I proudly present my NON-SPOILER review of Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' Review
Nominated For: Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Original Score.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi begins where Star Wars: The Force Awakens ended. The Resistance are evacuating their base as they flee from the formidable First Order, while Rey seeks Luke Skywalker to teach her the ways of the Force, so that she may use her extraordinary power to aid the Resistance in their struggle against the First Order.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi begins where Star Wars: The Force Awakens ended. The Resistance are evacuating their base as they flee from the formidable First Order, while Rey seeks Luke Skywalker to teach her the ways of the Force, so that she may use her extraordinary power to aid the Resistance in their struggle against the First Order.
If your biggest issue with The Force Awakens was that it played things too safe, then you'll be pleased to hear that writer-director Rian Johnson defies convention at every turn. I absolutely adore Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but even I can admit that film stuck to the safe side of things. Johnson, however, takes bountiful bold risks in his middle entry to this Star Wars sequel trilogy. Johnson implements ideas and style completely foreign to the franchise, yet manages to present them with enough assuredness that you'll quickly become convinced it was all meant to be.
The new characters, creatures, and planets are incredibly abstract and unlike almost anything else that has ever existed in the Star Wars canon. It's difficult to express exactly how unique everything is while avoiding spoilers, but it reminded me of George Lucas' own original universe-building, and I loved that. It's no wonder Lucasfilm had the confidence to sign him on to oversee an entirely new Star Wars trilogy before The Last Jedi was even released.
If I were asked to choose one line of dialogue from the film to encapsulate the experience of watching The Last Jedi, I would certainly choose Luke's warning that "This is not going to go the way you think!" Johnson continuously took me by surprise with every ballsy decision made. The story flows naturally, but Johnson brilliantly subverted my expectations time-and-time again over the film's two and a half hour runtime.
It's worth noting that The Last Jedi echoes certain elements from The Empire Strikes Back, but Johnson never rehashes the quintessential sequel in any way, shape, or form. In fact, I'd go as far to saying Johnson distances his film a great deal from the structure of The Empire Strikes Back. The closest The Last Jedi gets would be that the First Order bounces back triumphant after a critical loss of a super-weapon similarly to the Empire after the first Death Star's destruction and the plot centers on the training of a Jedi who's only just discovered their extraordinary abilities. Other than that, I can't think of any other startling similarities... Even the Force training narrative drastically differs from what has come before. I won't go into too much story or character detail though since this is a spoiler-free review, but I can assure concerned fans that there will not be an outpouring of fans claiming The Last Jedi ripped off The Empire Strikes Back like what happened to The Force Awakens in relation to A New Hope.
In the technical area, the departments responsible for the film's visual effects, sound editing/mixing, production design, and costuming prove to once again be remarkable, as we've come to expect from Lucasfilm. However, it's Johnson's cinematographer, Steve Yedlin, and editor, Bob Ducsay, who interject a frenetic energy and style to the action sequences that truly make The Last Jedi stand out among its franchise family members. This is just as much a Rian Johnson film as it is a Star Wars sequel, and Yedlin and Ducsay ensure that his stylized sensibilities shine through this installment. And, of course, I cannot go without applauding John Williams on another spellbinding score. Williams is a legend, so what else could you possibly expect the man to compose other than another musical masterpiece?
Among the exceptional ensemble of performers, there are many notable characters worth discussing. However, seeing as this is a non-spoiler review, there will likely be many I'm either purposely vague in describing or leave out all together. Daisy Ridley delivers another show-stopping performance front-and-center as Rey, further fleshing out her character while traversing the tricky path between the Light and Dark sides of the Force.
Mark Hamill's long-awaited return as Luke Skywalker is just as amazing as you could have possibly imagined. Luke Skywalker has always been one of my favorite Star Wars characters, so seeing him onscreen actually speaking this time around was a real treat. Johnson's interpretation of the character at this point is quite different than the Luke fans are accustomed to seeing. Hamill himself has mentioned in interviews he didn't at first agree with the take on the character. However, the Luke we know and love is still in there... He's simply been reshaped by experiences that took place in the thirty year gap between Return Of The Jedi and The Force Awakens. What Hamill's able to accomplish through this is simply astounding. It's not only his best performance as Luke, but I believe it to be the best of his entire career. If there's any justice, he'll get an Oscar nomination at the very least.
Oscar Isaac's Poe Dameron flies straight back into the mix with the charming, cocky attitude that won audiences over in the opening minutes of The Force Awakens and his trusty droid, BB-8. Isaac has a substantially larger role this time around as Dameron in comparison to The Force Awakens, so those who wanted more from him and BB-8 will be overly exuberant. On that front, BB-8 rolls in right alongside his suave master, and is intent to bestow audiences with as much joy as a droid can possibly provide. People made a big deal out of his First Order counterpart, BB-9E, but I'll outright let you know the First Order droid is insignificant in the grand scheme of things as I suspected.
Now for the tough part... Carrie Fisher's tragic passing last year probably affected me more than any other recent celebrity death because she was just as integral to this franchise as Hamill and Ford. While I won't quite go as far to saying Leia has a "substantially larger" role, she certainly feels more important this time around and some scenes were very emotional for me because of what had happened (if you sit through the first portion of credits, there's an especially sweet dedication to her). Fisher once again imbues Leia with the traits that had audiences fall for a Alderaanian Princess in the first place. She's strong, insightful, and most importantly of all, she inspires hope.
Elsewhere among the Resistance, John Boyega's back as Finn, and his pleasant personality is very much the same. Alongside him, Kelly Marie Tran enters the fray as we're introduced to Rose, and I'll say she really impressed me as what I can only assume will be the break-out performance of the film. While she won't be the character everyone talks about upon leaving the theater, she won't be easily forgotten either. Laura Dern and Benicio Del Toro are two especially accomplished actors who join the franchise in the intriguing roles of Vice Admiral Holdo and DJ respectively, but I won't say anything else about them for fear of unintentionally spoiling something.
As for Snoke, I think those who wildly speculated about his identity and backstory will be extremely disappointed with him, but we do finally see the Supreme Leader in the flesh quite a bit and he's certainly powerful. Andy Serkis offers as incredible of a motion-capture performance as you'd expect from the man, but I wouldn't go as far to saying Snoke holds a candle to Caesar or Gollum among Serkis' magnificent motion-capture career.
Gwendoline Christie returns to desperately redeem Captain Phasma, and while she plays a part in the story, her character's role is minute once again. To me, this doesn't really matter because she was cool when onscreen and had enough of an authoritative presence to satisfy me. However, if you're eagerly awaiting a tremendous return for the chrome-plated captain, you may be dreadfully disappointed. Her battle with Finn is awesome though. For that matter, this film has some of the greatest action sequences in the entire saga, and that's really saying something...
Last, but certainly not least, I've left space to briefly discuss droids and creatures. C3PO and R2D2 are both in the film, and there are some especially satisfying moments for both droids that will delight fans. The mighty Chewbacca roars his way onscreen again, and is strong and lovable as you remember. Meanwhile, the Porgs are as adorable as you'd expect them to be, and never in an obnoxiously overbearing sense, so no problems there.
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