The big problem with Star Wars: The Last Jedi
By Brendan Day
Fans may be divided on this movie, but there was an issue with Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi finally hit theaters and the reaction from fans and critics have been surprising. People are torn about this film and where it fits in the overall saga. However, it at least deserves praise for trying new things and taking on unexpected story points. But, unfortunately, the movie is far from perfect and suffers for it.
There were great aspects of Star Wars: The Last Jedi to be excited about, but there was one overwhelming element of it that disappointed. Spoilers ahead.
Everything about the casino planet Canto Bright, Rose, and DJ was a waste of time and ruined the movie. Although just a side story, it felt out-of-place, with the plot, pacing and everything else going on with the movie. Unless you wiped it out of your memory, like I’m trying to, here’s a quick recap. The Resistance is trapped and needs to disable a tracking device on the First Order’s ship in order to escape safely. Finn, BB-8, and new character Rose decide to go to Canto Bright, a planet that has a casino theme, in order to recruit a codebreaker to help them.
First off, how were they able to leave and come back without the First Order noticing or shooting them down? Anyway, so now they are on this planet and the moment we get that long tracking shot showing the casino, I lost interest.
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It didn’t feel authentic to Star Wars or connected to this franchise in any way. I didn’t care for the casinos, the alien horse racing, the newsies-like force-sensitive kids, and especially not the new character DJ, played by Benicio Del Toro.
Some people compared it to prequel quality bad, but I would say it was Valerian quality bad. Every time they cut to this story I wanted the movie to go somewhere else. To Rey on the island, to Kylo Ren on his ship, to Poe on his ship, anything else would have been more interesting to me than this wasted storyline. I was more invested in Rey’s conflict and the tense standoff of the Resistance than this really unnecessary escape from the wealthy place. It felt bloated and pointless, especially because when Finn, Rose, BB-8 and DJ eventually sneak onto the First Order’s ship, they don’t even get to disable the device before getting caught.
So why was this a plot point? Was it just for the kids in the audience? It was so clunky and not what I expected from such a talented director like Rian Johnson. I didn’t watch any trailers for this movie, but after seeing The Last Jedi I decided to watch them, and there were no casino scenes. Not even a little action shot in a montage or anything. In fact the only viewable casino elements in this one behind the scenes video above, and it’s minimal. Why not advertise this, what is there to hide beside the fact that it’s bad?
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It’s frustrating because my expectations were high and I wanted to rank this as the best Star Wars movie of all time, but can’t.