** Spoilers! **
What a world we live in that there are now three NEW Star Wars films out in the last three years. The great thing about this latest burst of Star Wars movie making is that we have at least two more films to look out for. The third film in this trilogy and then the stand alone Han Solo film. What a time to be alive!With that said, I recently sat down for an early screening (#humblebrag) of the latest installment Star Wars: The Last Jedi and well, I’m kinda 50/50 on it. There are some great moments and there are some… well… interesting choices.
Star Wars Salad
Source
While The Force Awakens was essentially a (mostly great) re-telling of A New Hope, Rian Johnson, while not a re-trodding of The Empire Strikes Back, essentially does the same here with The Last Jedi, only it’s not so blatantly obvious and overwrought. The Last Jedi, in line with Empire is darker, sadder, full of open endings, and a real “best of” Star Wars from cuddly creatures to faux-training scenes to being stuck in a prison cell, it all culminated in a real Star Wars salad of sorts. And not that perfect chopped kind from Trader Joe’s where every part of the salad knows it’s place and builds on the flavor profile. No, it’s kinda like Rian was remembering all this favorite parts of Star Wars as a kid and decided to throw it in the bowl and hope for the best.
.
Poe Dameron is a Mansplainer
Remember when we were all HERE for it with Poe Dameron. Well, I mean I still am cause look at his face and that hair, however, in The Last Jedi, Poe shows his true colors as a real mainsplainer. While I love a take charge kind of person, It’s 2017, we don’t need hot shot guys trying to push their own agendas, over-step women who out rank him and tell pilots to “punch it” when they already are. Poe, take a damn seat and let the ladies save this sinking ship.
We noticed that too: Near the end of the film as the Resistance is speeding away in the escape transports, Poe yells at one of the pilots to essentially fly the ship faster. And in a very Judge Judith Shiendlin sorta way, we hear a small female voice answer “I am sir…” If that moment had a GIF, it would be this:
While past Star Wars movies have been about the men, women are running this show in The Last Jedi and having characters like Poe try to reshift focus is just annoying and obvious. Take the hint, men!
.
Force Ghosts
I don’t want to spoil a MAJOR surprise but we see lots of Force Ghost action in The Last Jedi, some old friends and
.
So Many Jokes
Source
While Star Wars has always had a few joke-y moments, usually thanks to Han Solo, The Last Jedi kicked it into Marvel Movie territory with this latest installment. Even the villains get in on the jokes with General Hux taking the brunt of it (probably because everyone hates this character from Force Awakens). Even Mark Hamill is let loose to bring his IRL Dad jokes, winks (yes, really) and charm to the big screen. While we love a movie that can poke fun at itself, it always was distracting and not in the good Thor: Ragnarok kind of way.
.
New Creatures and Droids and Planets
Source
We’ve all see the Porgs and they are as cute as they make them out to be, but what about BB-8 and his new nemesis BB-Hate? I’ve always wanted to see a bitchy droid, bigger than C3PO.
.
New Characters
While I highly approve of new characters Rose Tico played by the super cute Kelly Marie Tran and the codebreaker weirdo “DJ” played by Benicio Del Toro (what?!), I’m still on the fence about Laura Dern’s Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo. While I LOVE Laura Dern, it just seemed like her purple haired character didn’t fit in the Star Wars universe or really make sense.
Kelly Marie’s Rose and John Boyega’s Finn end up on a side mission to help save the resistance, which takes them to the galaxy’s version of Vegas and sets up some of the weirder plot points and political statements. Namely, that having animals for any reason is bad and the arms race on all sides is bad. It was so oddly placed it made me wonder if director Rian Johnson is a vegan. Besides the odd animal rights moment, the burgeoning relationship between Finn and Rose was exciting to watch in that their “underdogs who aren’t our main heroes” storyline is refreshing in a world filled with hot shot dudes, people with a plan, and families destined to rule the universe. I do have to wonder, after the kiss Rose gives Finn, if they’re setting us up for some dumb love triangle between Finn, Rey, and Rose. And that I am NOT down for.
.
Kylo Ren and Light Saber Battles
One of the bright spots in The Last Jedi is Kylo Ren. Who thought we’d be saying that after his whiney outing in the first film? But it’s true, Kylo ditches the cheeseball helmet and grabs onto the future by both showing us the viewer how he went from Ben Solo to bad son Kylo Ren and it’s played masterfully by Adam Driver. Minus the random shirtless scene, Kylo Ren is exciting to watch and charismatic as he draws Rey to him in a battle for her and the future. Remember the last few (breathtaking) minutes of Rogue One with that badass Darth Vader fight? The battle in Snoke’s throne room with Rey is up there in levels of awesome.
.
Carrie
Oh Carrie. Where do we even begin? In The Last Jedi, Leia is a very central character, with lots of lines and importance. In what should have been a great turn for her as an actor is heavily overshadowed by her tragic passing last year. Leia is even oddly, “in a coma” at one point and it all felt too close to real life and not an escape in a galaxy far, far away. Kudos to the expansion of Billy Lourd‘s (Carrie’s daughter) role in The Last Jedi! Seeing her mini buns made me smile.
.
Student Without A Teacher
I went into The Last Jedi wanting Rey to find a mentor and teacher in Luke, someone who could help her hone her gifts and learn how to use the force inside her for good. Instead, we spend a lot of the movie with Luke going back and forth on whether to even talk to her, let alone teach her anything. When we finally break down that wall and Luke attempts to train her, he is immediately scared and reminded of teaching Kylo Ren and seeing a side of him that is scarier than Vader without the helmet. He instead essentially pushes her closer to him in his attempt to shield her from the Force and in the end, after one of the best scenes of the movies, essentially leaves her without a mentor or direction. I really, really, really, hope that this isn’t Luke’s end and that he will either be a Force Ghost to reckon with, or transported himself to Tosche Station for a little R&R and will be back.
.
It was a solid outting by Rian Johnson who wrote and directed The Last Jedi… is it the best Star Wars film ever? No. I’ll reserve that for Empire and Rogue One but it’s a really fun movie, you’ll laugh, you’ll wanna hug BB-8 or a Porg and you’ll have a great time at the theater. And really, that’s what we need right now.
See Star Wars in Theaters Now!
