Star Wars: The Last Jedi Review

This review talks about events that happen throughout the film, but doesn't go into specific detail about how it all goes down. Because of this, this review will be given a minor/borderline major spoiler warning. It comes from my Letterboxd profile.

Again, just like The Force Awakens, Star Wars: The Last Jedi stands as a good movie on its own and a good successor to the movie that came before it. I think it may have slightly worse special effects than The Force Awakens, but the special effects are still a marvel to look at, the characters are more fleshed out (even though Daisy Ridley still seems to make the same facial expression throughout this entire film), and the acting is really good for the most part. However, there's something about this film that just feels weird as a continuation of the original trilogy, just like The Force Awakens. I am one of the few that doesn't seem to think this movie is a cinematic train wreck, but I still think it could have been executed much better.

I will say that Poe is way better in this film than he was in The Force Awakens, but unfortunately, I think Finn is less interesting in this movie than he was in the last one and the new addition of Rose, while definitely not terrible, and the relationship the writer tries to establish between her and Finn feels really out of place. One of my favorite aspects of this film is Ray training with the now much wiser Luke Skywalker. Mark Hamill is possibly the best he's ever been as the character, the teacher-student dynamic between Ray and Luke is super fun to watch (I love the scene where Luke uses a blade of grass to trick Ray into thinking she is feeling the Force), and the character arc of Ray being pulled immediately towards the dark side and not being able to stop it is, in my opinion, a very interesting direction to take the character. It's interesting to see the more vulnerable characters of Ray and Kylo Ren being more susceptible to the powers of the Dark Side.

My true favorite part of this movie are the conversations that Ray and Kylo Ren have. The editing in those scenes is really good (the camera cuts what's directly in front of the two to make it seem like they are in the same area, and the scenery that is actually in front of them isn't seen until after the conversation is finished, which I thought was a fantastic idea), the conversations are morally interesting, and the characters both grow in some way because of them (by the way, Adam Driver is still really great here as a villainous presence). However, there are some really weird story elements in this film. I don't buy what Luke apparently tried to do to stop Kylo Ren turning evil, I don't buy Snoke not seeing his fate near the end of the film, I don't buy Leia being able to use the Force to pull herself towards a ship, and I absolutely do not buy Luke denouncing Obi-Wan Kenobi for "causing" the rise of Darth Vader. Excuse me?! Luke thought that Obi-Wan was a truly respectable master and he never once blamed him for this in the original trilogy. For the most part, I do understand why Luke decided to isolate himself from the rest of the world, but I don't feel like the reasons he has for doing so and trying to abandon his Jedi teachings and denounce anyone who ever practiced the Jedi religion are really deserved in the context of this script.

Like I said, this movie would probably be really good on its own and as a successor to The Force Awakens if that was its own film, but since these films are both successors to the original Star Wars trilogy, there are some story elements I just don't buy. I will say, I think I went into this film trying to look for flaws, which is not a healthy mindset to watch a movie with under any circumstances in my opinion, but it ended up being not nearly as much of a cinematic train wreck as people think it is, in my opinion. It is just super disappointing and definitely not as good as the first time I saw it... wow, it must have been almost two years ago now. How time flies.

Letter Grade: B