I will strive to avoid spoilers, but beware…if you have not seen the movie yet, you might not want to read this.
Since I was first exposed to Star Wars (and FYI, I will nearly always refer to Episode IV – A New Hope as Star Wars), it has elated and inspired my imagination. That blockade runner flying over our heads, pursued by a Star Destroyer, lasers blazing away…so great!
Overall, the prequels fell flat. Cutting all the worthwhile scenes together would maybe net you a half-hour film total. The Force Awakens brought us something new, and rekindled the spirit of the original trilogy. A worthy successor to Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
Yes, The Force Awakens in many respects retold the story from A New Hope. Dessert dwelling kid discovers the Force, and a big planet-killing weapon gets blown up. Still, it was a fun story, and the new characters we were introduced to sparked our interest. What will happen next?
The Last Jedi answers that question. For a lot of people, that answer was a disappointment. I disagree with that. While to some degree I think we all expected Last Jedi to mirror Empire Strike Back, I was rather glad that it didn’t. The choices made for Last Jedi are going to take the series to unexpected places, and I’m pretty excited for that.
I think a lot of people, nearly 40 years ago, didn’t like a lot of what Empire Strikes Back gave them. Vader was Luke’s father? Boba Fett managed to cart Han away? Luke lost a hand and his lightsaber? WTAF?
Where does The Last Jedi take us?
I would argue, and I know I am not the first to do so, that The Last Jedi does a lot of the same stuff. A lot of this had to do with the answers to questions left over from The Force Awakens. The answers we got were, I think, unexpected. They left some people wanting, because of that. I do not wish to go into further detail because, well, spoilers – but suffice it to say, I found myself rather pleased that they made those particular choices. Oh, we all thought it was going to go direction ‘x’ or ‘y’, and instead it’s going in a fairly unexpected direction.
Further, a lot of people are disappointed by what became of Luke Skywalker. Given his mentors and their actions, truth be told he very much followed in their footsteps. Yes, when he was told he would have to confront Vader, he chose to turn him rather than kill him, despite what Obi-Wan and Yoda said. Just because he took one path his mentors may not have chosen, didn’t mean he’d always choose as such.
Porgs? I thought they were adorable. Certainly more entertaining and less annoying than Gungans or Ewoks (which, btw, never seem quite as awful after meeting Jar-Jar Binks in the prequels).
There were some light and funny moments in this movie, which were never jarring or off-putting. I liked Rose a lot, and it was good to see Poe, Finn and Rey back in action.
The Women of The Last Jedi kicked ass!
Let’s talk about the other elephant in the room. This was a movie about some mighty, empowered women. While the guys wanted to either blow stuff up, sulk, run away, or disobey orders, the women kicked some serious ass. Between Vice Admiral Holdo, General Leia, Rey and Rose, we were given some complex, tough, and wonderfully self-sufficient women. They were the voices of reason, wisdom, and strength, and it was absolutely fantastic to see.
Some of the trolls out there are offended by such diversity. Not to put too fine a point on it, but they are wrong, this is a fantastic direction for Star Wars to go.
I really really enjoyed this movie. It held up to a second viewing, and I think it might be my second-favorite Star Wars film after Empire Strikes Back. I am sorry so many people didn’t enjoy this movie as much as I did, but it was everything I had hoped for, and more.
I can hardly wait to see the Solo: A Star Wars Story movie, and more than that, Episode IX!
If you have not seen The Last Jedi yet, I suggest you get to it!
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