As I write this we're less than a week away until Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker finds its way to a theater near you. The film claims to be the end of the nine part Skywalker saga and is sure to simultaneously please and enrage fans equally. In preparation for the film I, like I'm sure many Star Wars fans, embarked on rewatching the entire series. Today I am revisiting The Last Jedi. As I watch i thought I would jot down my thoughts because I'm on the internet so of course my opinion is super important. Seriously though, I have friends who hate this film. My wife hasn't wanted to watch it since we saw it in the theater. Despite the many jokes and comments I make on Inavsion about The Last Jedi there are a great many things I like about the film. Obviously there are also things in the film I'm not crazy about. But much like the prequels I think the film is a mixed bag (as is The Force Awakens). With that in mind please know that my intention is not to tear the film down. There are enough people who are happy to do that. I'm just interested in giving my honest reactions as I watch the film. You'll get both the good and the bad. I'm not looking looking to change anyone's mind except maybe my own. Let's hit play and see what happens.
1. The bomber attack - I'm starting with something that I'm not sure counts as something I dislike but it's unclear to me if the bomber plan had been approved by Leia and she's calling it off or if Poe was executing it all on his own. If the bombers received Leia's message calling it off they would have stopped cold. So either Leia never communicated to the bombers to retreat, they were working under Poe's orders all along, or they also disobeyed a direct order from Leia. Nevertheless, those bombers might be the most ineffective attack ships ever designed. I'm not sure why anyone would want to pilot one of those deathtraps.
2. Luke throws the lightsaber away - I admit this doesn't bother me as much as it did on my first watch. Still, I don't care for the execution. I have no problem with the intent of Luke's action. I just wish it had been handled dramatically as opposed to comically.
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| What I wouldn't give for that lightsaber to turn on during this scene. |
3. Mark Hamill's performance - Something I love about this film is Mark Hamill's performance. I think he's great in this movie. Some of that adoration goes towards Rian Johnson as well because he got a performance out of Hamill that is not only his best in the series in my opinion but he got a fantastic performance out of an actor that found himself at odds with where his character should go.
4. Nostalgia - Another thing I love is that while much of The Force Awakens is predicated on nostalgia, the only time Rian Johnson uses it is when Luke boards the Falcon and reunites with R2-D2. His one use of nostalgia is completely character driven, creating a wonderful scene between the two characters. It's also one of the brief moments Luke has of joy in the film so it works even more for me.
5. Rose Tico - I like Rose. I don't understand the hate for her. I know it stems from the ugly side of fandom but it still makes me scratch my head.
6. Flying Leia - This is just one of those things that doesn't work for me. Don't get me wrong I love seeing Leia finally get to use the force and show how powerful she is. Her flight through space felt off to me for some reason. Maybe it's because it felt like something I'd find in an EU book. Maybe it's because we'd seen something similar with characters in space in Guardians of the Galaxy. Or maybe its because I can't help but think that there were just cooler ways to show how powerful she was with the force.
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| I believe I can fly. I believe I can touch the sky..walker. |
7. Rey's training - These are some of my favorite scenes of the film. I think Ridley and Hamill work well together and I wanted more of them together. I have a feeling that Luke will probably only get one scene in The Rise of Skywalker and hopefully it's with Rey.
8. Long distance force calls - I enjoy these scenes. I loved the way Johnson explores's Rey and Kylo Ren's relationship to each other in the film.
9. Canto Bight - If I were going to cut anything from this movie I would cut all of Canto Bight out. I said earlier that I like Rose Tico and I do. It's just unfortunate that her and Finn are stuck in this subplot. Some people really like these scenes. Some people also love the trade disputes and senate scenes in the prequels. I find both of them boring. Canto Bight also gives me my least favorite character of this film but we'll get there momentarily.
10. Luke contemplates murdering Ben Solo in his sleep - This is the one story point I can't get behind. It ignores the character Luke arc has at the end of Return of the Jedi. I have had many interesting discussions with friends on this scene. For some people, maybe even most people, it works. Johnson even writes some pretty compelling dialogue as Luke explains what happened, "And for the briefest moment of pure instinct I thought I could stop it. It passed like a fleeting shadow and I was left with shame." I admit it's a strong argument. I think as a character however Luke's pain would have him so hard that he would have recoiled. Or even fallen to the ground as many people do when confronted with real life pain of loss. More importantly I think he would have tried to save Ben first. He didn't even try. He saw good in his father who was for all intents and purposes "space Hitler". But one look into Ben's soul and he considers murdering a sleeping teenager. Even if it is brief it still feels out of character to me. I think the only way this scene would have worked for me was had Ben woken up and interpreted Luke standing over him as Luke coming to kill him. Luke would then strike his lightsaber in reaction. Ben attacking him and Luke reacting to what he had just seen in Ben makes more sense to me for the character.
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| Luke is seen here trying to take after his father by murdering children. |
11. Yoda returns - I wasn't big on this scene initially. I think it's because I don't think the Yoda puppet has looked the same since 1983. That aside I quite like Yoda's lesson to Luke that failure is the greatest teacher. Luke does kind of look like a dumbass in this scene though.
12. Benecio Del Toro - What was he doing in this movie? He's an actor I really like but I don't get what his character was doing in this movie. I hated the tick which apparently comes from him being constantly electrocuted? I guess his purpose was to show us that there's a lot of gray in the morality of the galaxy. For me he unfortunately drags the already long runtime of the movie out.
13. The iron - It's small but I really don't like the ironing gag. I think Rian Johnson has a little of George Lucas less desirable tendencies when it comes to his humor.
14. General Holdo's plan - Why doesn't Holdo just tell Poe there's a plan? She's clearly in charge. I'm not saying she has to answer to him. Or even give him all the details. I just think any leader would at least tell their crew that there is a plan. Also, her sacrifice later lacks dramatic weight because we barely get to know her. I still think had Leia made that sacrifice it would have been heartbreaking.
15. Captain Phasma - Captain Phasma seemed like a wasted character in The Force Awakens. I thought it was odd that she even survived Starkiller Base. Here though she's just brought back to die... again. She only has a few minutes of screen time. The purpose I realize is to give Finn a fight scene but she's now a character with less competency than Boba Fett.
16. Snoke dies- I actually wasn't one of those fans angry over the death of Snoke. It was a surprise for sure and felt like something you'd save to end the trilogy. I do know for a lot of fans it was one of their biggest problems with the movie. Personally I would have liked to have gotten some sort of back story since he's so important to Ben becoming Kylo or an explanation of how he rose to power. Honestly, it could have come from Luke when he was explaining what happened with Ben becoming Kylo. It's something I think Abrams will have to address in The Rise of Skywalker.
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| I've felt the same way after eating Taco Bell. |
17. Rey's parents - I also wasn't bothered by Rey's parentage. We may see this get retconned next week though.
18. The destruction of the Skywalker lightsaber - This one makes my head hurt a little. I thought it was an odd choice to bring a lightsaber we thought was gone for 30 years back in The Force Awakens. I thought if Luke was missing, it would have made more sense for it to be Luke's green lightsaber from Return of the Jedi that called to Rey. The previous movie however makes that original lightsaber such a big part of its story that it felt odd for it to be destroyed here. I don't understand why it's being brought back in the next one. Couldn't Rey just build a new one? She has a bunch of Jedi texts at her disposal. One of those has to tell her how to build a lightsaber.
19. Luke and Leia's reunion - Even if he's not really there I absolutely love Luke and Leia's reunion. I'd be lying if I said a tear wasn't desperately trying to escape my eye right now. That wink to C3PO gets me every time.
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| I'm not crying, you are. |
20. Favorite moment of the film - Luke wipes off his shoulders after seemingly surviving all of the AT-AT's firing on him. It's not only a highlight of the film but the series overall.
21. We will be the spark that lights the fire that does something and kickstarts something else - Okay, I'm poking fun at this but I really think it's a bit of clunky writing from a really good writer.
22. Luke becomes one with the force - Honestly, I expected Luke to die in this movie. However, I'm not sure I understand why he does. He apparently "forced" too hard?
23. Where are the droids - This was also an issue in The Force Awakens but why are R2-D2 and C-3PO relegated to bit parts in this movie? We love these characters and want to see them more. Also, while it's cool to see all these new alien designs can we throw some classic aliens in too?
24. The broom boy ending - I know ending the film on the legend of Luke Skywalker was supposed to be inspirational but it felt a little too meta for me. I think ending with the previous scene of Leia and Rey in the Falcon would have been a better ending. Leia saying "We have everything we need" was powerful enough to end the film on. Also someone sweeping is just a boring image to end your fantasy film on.
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| This wasn't what I thought I was going to get when they said "sweeping action scenes!" |
Okay, so there you have it. I know after reading all of this it may be hard to discern where I landed on this film. Truthfully, I've gone back and forth on this a lot, and made many a joke about this film, but overall I like The Last Jedi. Are there things I dislike? Yes. But it doesn't even come close to being my least favorite film in the series. I'm looking at you Attack of the Clones. I can also say the more I watch the film the more I like it. I can't say the same for a lot of the movies I watch. So, as I get ready to enter the theater for the last entry in the saga I can safely say I am in a good place with wherever we go in that galaxy far, far away.
