Before I dive in any further I just want to let you all know that I AM NOT A HARDCORE STAR WARS FAN. I AM SIMPLY A CASUAL FAN. I have watched all the 3 originals, all the prequels except “Episode I: The Phantom Menace,” and “Episode VII: The Force Awakens.” I have also watched Rogue One. I pretty much remember what happens in all of those movies. Being a casual fan of it my take on this will not be TOO biased.
Scroll down to conclusion if you don’t want any spoilers.
“THE LAST JEDI” IS NOT A PERFECT MOVIE:
- Obviously the action, CGI, acting, casting, world, and visual are all spectacular but what about the story? I notice that the Star Wars movies have soooo much action and the ones that are really good are the ones where the Death Stars are blown up like in Episode IV-VII. Also you might be offended but a lot of things goes on in the war not the story which is why you have the trilogies with the Prequel, Original, and the Sequel. For “Episode VII: The Force Awakens,” it was simply taking many of the same elements from the Original and redoing it again and that’s okay because it was the beginning of a new story/trilogy. “The Last Jedi” obviously needs to have different elements and that is what the new film accomplishes.
- If you have already watched it you can already tell that the new characters come and old characters go but it can look and feel too formulaic. I guess Kylo-Ren was right, “Let the past die. Kill it if you must.” Han Solo died in the last episode, Luke Skywalker dies in this one, and actress who played Princess Leia passed away so they won’t show her in the sequel. I guess this is more of a nitpick but they did build it up to the characters death. For me I won’t complain cause they build the story to it but for the hardcore fans they most likely will because they miss the old characters so badly and still suffer from the nostalgia. Still the new characters have awesome moments and they do a good job in keeping the franchise alive.
- One OBVIOUS WEAKNESS in the film is Finn and Rose. Honestly I don’t buy into the side story where they need to go find a hacker to stop the First Order fleet from tracking them. The directors should have just made the story pacing for that much faster but they didn’t. The Finn and Rose trying to find the hacker took plenty of time from that film which is why “The Last Jedi” feels a bit slow in the beginning. I guess the director’s reason is that they wanted to show a scene where Finn and Rose are on the planet to see the undertone of animal cruelty, the gap between the rich and the poor, and that corrupt wealthy people use war to fuel their wealth, etc. Again the directors could have just simply fasten the story pacing before that and after that.
- I am not going to go in very great detail about how the force works like Leia using the force to get back to her ship I will simply say this is her survival instinct or something like that I mean the previous films indicated she had potential to be great Jedi. Also Snoke using the force to make Kylo and Rey communicate telepathically, Kylo-Ren using the force to make the lightsaber cut Snoke, and Luke using the force as a hologram. Hardcore fans will say this is some kind of plot hole about the force or they call it forcehole (*knee slap) LOL. I guess the point of this paragraph is to tell hardcore fans to stop overthinking it. Over analysis causes paralysis.
- This is both strength and weakness and deals with Snoke. Plenty of things happened in between Episode VI and Episode VII but this film never explained exactly or showed how the First Order came into place with the StarKiller Base and where did Snoke come from. Instead they decide to just simply go forward with their story and that is for the better. When a decision is made whether if its just okay or not thought throughly its often better to just go forward and this can apply to life.
- This will connect to the first bullet point. The new element to this film deals with Kylo-Ren. For him his backstory or how this film portrayed him can be seen AGAIN as both strength and weakness. His backstory is not that deep because it is short, simple, and should be kept that way. During the time Luke was his teacher, Luke saw light and darkness battling inside of him. When Luke saw Snoke influencing his dark side within him he got so over paranoid that he tried to kill him in his sleep then when Ben/Kylo escaped, he immediately falls to the dark side. That is the backstory of how Kylo-Ren falls into the dark side. If the writers/directors tried to make a movie of how he fell into the dark side or go in-depth then they would simply recreate the same mistakes from the Prequel all over again which would piss off everybody including the hardcore fans. I am honestly not convinced how Anakin Skywalker turned into Darth Vader. Anakin was just being over paranoid about his girlfriend Padmè being killed that he immediately turned evil then later when she talks to him to snap out of it he accidentally killed her with the force choke cause he thought she betrayed him when she brought Obi-Wan with her. If I had to compare their backstories Kylo-Ren is simplistic but not throughly developed while Darth Vader paranoia didn't make much sense. I guess this is the best decision for the writers. I guess the solid story decision can be the best story decision for this franchise.
KYLO-REN & DARTH VADER (Compare/Contrast)
- It seems like PARANOIA is the number one cause of what causes a Jedi fall to the dark side but for Kylo-Ren, his made more sense than Darth Vader which I already explained in the last few sentences.
- Kylo-Ren is characteristically more consistent than Darth Vader because when Rey found out exactly what happened to Kylo she told Luke that light and dark is still battling inside of Kylo and she was somewhat right when he killed Snoke and him wanting her to join him. Nobody expected Kylo-Ren to kill Snoke. I mean Darth Vader killed his master Darth Sidious in "Episode VI: Return of the Jedi" but it was so cliche with very little development showing that he just had a change of heart just like that after young Luke beat him in a lightsaber fight. The Sequel is definitely an improvement over the Original because I prefer the unexpected plot twist over the cliche. They both were under the command of their leader but Kylo-Ren had more balls than Darth Vader and now he has full control of the Empire/First Order. For me KYLO-REN IS THE BIGGER SITH THAN DARTH VADER. I think Sith is the wrong term but you get the idea. KYLO REN IS BETTER THAN DARTH VADER. He is more Darth Vader than Darth Vader.
- Kylo-Ren is his own person. He is young and still has potential to unlock. I mean if he and Darth Vader got into a lightsaber fight he would lose but then again we haven't seen Episode IX yet so who knows. With events happening in this film and no more Snoke, he is now officially the main antagonist for the rest of this trilogy. I wonder how the writers are going to take Kylo in the next sequel?
WHY "THE LAST JEDI" IS AWESOME (BEST MOMENTS):
- Kylo-Ren helped give this movie its own buildups different from the original making it its own movie.
- The telapathy between Kylo-Ren and Rey was pretty cool. I don't know what the hardcore fans think about it but I for one liked it. The connection between them to me felt like the connection between Lord Voldemort and Harry Potter. I guess I am from the younger generation since they say Harry Potter is the younger generation of Star Wars.
- The purple haired woman sacrificed herself to help the remaining ship to get the nearest planet was definitely one of the best moments. When she said she was going to leave herself behind I already knew what was going to happen minutes before it actually happened but when I saw that scene my eyes opened up. She used the big fleet to hyperspace through the First Order's fleet to cut through it. Visually it was beautiful to watch. I never saw that happen in any Star Wars film except this one and it looked so crazy on screen. I guess you can say she went Fast & Furious on that space fleet(*knee slap) LOL. This feels like Star Wars version of Fast & the Furious or the Fast & the Furious version of Star Wars.
- Kylo-Ren and Rey team up to kill Snoke's bodyguards was another one of the best moments in this film seeing how they teamed up with their choreography going back to back satisfies the hardcore fans.
- OLD LUKE IS BETTER THAN OBI-WAN KENOBI. The way how old Luke is portrayed in this movie is similar to the way how Obi-Wan Kenobi is portrayed in “Episode IV: A New Hope.” In “Episode IV: A New Hope” Obi-Wan Kenobi is young Luke’s teacher who sacrificed himself by letting Darth Vader kill him so that young Luke and the others can escape the Death Star. This is how Obi-Wan made his departure. In this movie old Luke is Rey’s teacher who sacrificed himself by distracting Kylo-Ren and his giant Walkers so that the remaining rebels can escape from the First Order. The way old Luke made his departure is WAAAAY MORE BADASS than Obi-Wan Kenobi. Obi-Wan let himself get sliced by Darth Vader just like how old Luke let himself get sliced by Kylo-Ren EXCEPT he tricked Kylo-Ren into thinking he was fighting him but it was his hologram or force hologram. If I remember, Obi-Wan did not have any badass action moments like old Luke but he was more of Hagrid to Harry Potter telling young Luke he is a Jedi just like how Hagrid tells Harry he is a wizard. The old Luke is like Obi-Wan and Yoda from the Original trilogy wrapped together into one in this movie. The end results for both of them is the same but the buildup and how they depart is what matters the most. Also seeing how old Luke uses the powers of the force to trick Kylo-Ren really shows how awesome the force can be. Old Luke went out like a badass.
- Before Luke died I like the part where the First Order shoots a barrage of laser beams at him and he came out unscathed with him brushing off his shoulder. Another badass moment from Luke. This is another reason why I love Luke Skywalker. I think I like him better in the Sequel than the Original.
Extra Note:
Because the Original trilogy is so old I already knew Darth Vader is Luke's father before I watched the movies. People said that was the biggest plot twist in movie history or in Star Wars. When Kylo killed Snoke I feel like that is the new plot twist in Star Wars. Also both of the plot twist happened in the second part of the trilogy. Jedis are glamorized which Luke said but in the ending of the film you see kids from the side story of Finn and Rose are inspired to be Jedis. Maybe in the third episode of the Sequel they will provide a better response of Jedi being glamorized. Also Yoda's ghost came back which make people wonder how come its not Anakin since we saw his ghost at the ending of the Original and the part where Rey is in that hole she sees reflections of herself. I don't know much, maybe its filler but it didn't bore me and overall the movie is still awesome.
My Theory:
The third act of the Sequel trilogy probably takes place years after this one. Kylo-Ren is much better with the lightsaber and who knows, the third act probably ends with him losing the battle leaving him physically damaged to the point where he wears a similar suit like Darth Vader and then fans/everyone will see him become the TRUE successor to Darth Vader. Then when he becomes the TRUE successor to Darth Vader there will be another sequel ending this story with the 10th movie. Im pretty sure in the third act of the Sequel trilogy we probably see another Death Star blow up. Hell I think the rebels might try to build their own Death Star that would be another great plot twist. I mean who's knows whichever side builds their own Death Star first will definitely win the battle. If a Death Star can also travel and go into hyperspace I hope we see two Death Stars hyperspace into each other which will be the greatest climax in all of Star Wars history.
CONCLUSION (NO SPOILERS):
THIS IS NOT A PERFECT MOVIE BUT IT IS STILL AN AWESOME MOVIE!!! Also it surprisingly has plenty of humor that made me laugh. This is a true sequel to the Star Wars franchise. “Episode VII: The Force Awakens” copies all the good things about Star Wars Original with new characters with improved CGI with improved action but this movie does the same EXCEPT it threw in a few new twist and turns that help give it a new buildup and one up the same elements from the Original. I say this is not a perfect movie because it does not explain everything BUT it did not repeat the same mistakes like in the Prequels and in the last episode of the Original and keeps going forward with their story decisions. If I had to compare this to all the other Star Wars movies I say goes this one is high up there with “Episode IV: A New Hope”, “Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back”, and "Episode VII: The Force Awakens." I say this is better than Rogue One but you probably reply with “no shit” but I just want to add that. Because these Star Wars movies are CONNECTED like the Original and the Prequel, this movie makes people want to rewatch “Episode VII: The Force Awakens” all over again. At least it makes me want to rewatch “Episode VII: The Force Awakens” all over again. The thing about trilogy movies is that if 1 out of any 3 of them slips in storytelling/action by being the weakest link it can ruin the other two movies like The Matrix, Spiderman (Tobey Maguire), Back to the Future, etc but if all them are high up there like Lord of the Rings (I prefer The Hobbit) then it creates a perfect binge watching experience. I am not going to lie, Darth Vader backstory is not that great because of the Prequel or how the Prequel portrayed him which ties heavily to “Episode VI: Return of the Jedi” and that made it the weakest link to the trilogy. With this movie the mistakes are minor so that it will be better than Episode VI and creates HIGH anticipation for upcoming Episode IX. For regular movie goers this is amazing but for HARDCORE fans of Star Wars there is plenty to nitpick but a lot of decisions made in this film I STRONGLY believe is for the best.
This is the only Star Wars film or one of the two(Episode V+VII) that is amazing without the need of seeing Death Stars blowing up.
My Grade for this Movie:
Extra Comments:
Disney buying Star Wars never really shocked me but what shocked me was how Disney managed to find people/directors/writers who cared about the Star Wars Franchise to make it a worthy successor. I mean Star Wars is a money making machine generating BILLIONS of dollars because of the huge amount of fans and its rich mythology but how come large corporations that owned it before screwed it up with the prequel? Some people would say Disney is an evil corporation or something but to me they did it right with Star Wars and making Marvel Cinematic Universe complete.
Also sorry if this is too long of a review but I have to go all out especially for a franchise with one hell of a history and baggage.