Star Wars: The Last Jedi review — A bold and unpredictable installment

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is easily one of the most epic and entertaining Star Wars films to date, but it doesn’t go without its flaws.

Warning: Mild spoilers for Star Wars: The Last Jedi follow. If you want to be completely unspoiled, tread carefully.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is the highly-anticipated sequel to The Force Awakens and continues the enthralling tale of the light, the dark and the mysterious force that lies between them.

In this film, the First Order is a powerful force ruling over the galaxy with an iron fist. Viewers are able to feel their immense presence as they try and wipe out the remainder of the Resistance, which is at its absolute weakest. The way the story is told allows you to feel how helpless the Resistance feels and how it’s easy for them to lose sight of hope.

A helpless Rebel fleet standing up to the powerful Empire is nothing new to the Star Wars lore, but it felt fresh thanks to the addition of Admiral Holdo (Laura Dern). Holdo’s dynamic with Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) was an exotic sight as the two butt heads over how they should escape from a sticky situation with the First Order. Poe was given a lot more to do in this movie and his character went through one of the most satisfying character arcs in the film. General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) also plays a significant role in the Resistance and Fisher delivers on giving a compelling final performance.

Meanwhile, Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Luke’s (Mark Hamill) training on Ahch-To is the primary storyline of the movie as we see both of their characters share a unique conflict and grow off each other.

Let’s talk about Mark Hamill’s performance as Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, which is probably the strongest aspect of the entire film. Like Hamill stated in interviews before, director Rian Johnson brought his character in a direction that no one expected. By the end of the film, however, it’s hard to be dissatisfied with the way the titular character was handled. On top of the character himself being so unpredictable, Hamill’s acting chops were far superior than anyone could have imagined.

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The parts where The Last Jedi really shined the brightest was when Rey was sharing the screen with the film’s antagonist, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). The two characters play off of each other in a way that we have never seen in a Star Wars movie before as one tries to convince the other to switch sides, communicating via the Force. Viewers were given a much more complex and thought-provoking concept of what the Force is, making it one of the most intriguing storylines.

When it wasn’t focusing on those captivating aspects of the story, The Last Jedi featured Finn (John Boyega) and Rose’s (Kelly Marie Tran) mission to Canto Bight, which felt a bit too separate from the overall story. Their mission was certainly fun and colorful while it introduced a new side to the universe that we have never seen, but it felt more like an episode of Star Wars: Rebels than anything. It’s when Finn and Rose get captured by the First Order and reunite with Captain Phasma is where the tension truly kicks in. Then again, Phasma’s character was completely wasted once again, which is extremely disappointing, to say the least.

One of the main concerns walking into Star Wars: The Last Jedi was that the film would just be a re-hash of the advantageous sequel, The Empire Strikes Back, and that it wouldn’t tread any new ground. As a diehard fan and a movie critic, it’s hard to deny that even as the film keeps straying away from The Empire Strikes Back and breaking new ground, you can clearly tell Disney is playing it safe. By the time the credits begin rolling, you begin to realize that under all of the giant twists on the surface level, the story is still in a very familiar place – and this is extremely frustrating as a fan. There were so many elements in this film that could have been so much grander, but they weren’t. It’s like Disney was waving a piece of candy in front of our faces (that piece of candy, of course, being a totally fresh and unique tale) and then being swiped away.

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It might just be the high expectations surrounding the release of this film that correlates with this disappointment, but the problem still exists nonetheless. At the very least, it’s not like The Force Awakens where the movie played it completely safe, this movie certainly took some risks and featured some unconventional moments, probably more than J.J. Abrams or any other director would have taken.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is undoubtedly a phenomenal film. Rian Johnson made a beautiful and well-made film and no one can dispute that. The cinematography of this film is unreal, especially on the planets of Ahch-To and Crait. Also, the best aspects of The Force Awakens only improve with its sequel. The banter between each and every character felt natural and didn’t overshadow the dark themes in this film. The action in this film, especially in the last 45 minutes, is absolutely stunning and the mix of practical effects and CGI worked really well. Not only did The Last Jedi give us some of the best action scenes in the entire saga, but some of the most impactful scenes as well. You never feel more thankful to be a Star Wars fan as there is easily six to seven moments in the film that made the entire audience geek out in harmony.

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In some ways, The Last Jedi is truly groundbreaking and travels in an unexpected and satisfying direction. At the same time, some of the risks the film took didn’t quite meet their potential, leaving the viewer pondering about the endless, more unconventional possibilities. Nevertheless, I absolutely loved Star Wars: The Last Jedi and would give it a solid 4 out of 5 stars, making it one of the best Star Wars films to date.

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