To add on to Emperor Palpatine: Very Good.
So how many of you will be pissed off if I write that Star Wars: The Last Jedi is the best Star Wars film since Empire Strikes Back? I certainly didn't have such expectations when first walking into the theater, and everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but here on Film Reviewer Jr. that statement holds. I’ve seen The Last Jedi twice—once before I saw any reviews and another after seeing them—and my opinion on the film has actually grown since the second viewing. Star Wars: The Last Jedi is in every way a superior film to The Force Awakens. It has better storytelling, better characters and character development, better action, better tension, better comedy, and most importantly, better innovation. Oh sure, the film harks back to scenes and moments from the original trilogy (mostly Empire and Return of the Jedi), but unlike The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi does not resort to a nostalgia-fueled paint-by-numbers retread during its second half. If anything, it’s The Last Jedi’s second half where it really takes a few turns for the new and refreshing. Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, The Force Awakens, Rogue One and now The Last Jedi—I’ve seen five Star Wars films in theaters (the rest at home) and this is the first time I’ve walked out of the theater, twice, without any major gripes towards the film.
The Last Jedi’s plot begins shortly after the events of The Force Awakens. Young, Force-sensitive Rey (Daisy Ridley) has found the long since missing Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), who stubbornly refuses to both help the Resistance and teach Rey in the Jedi ways. Meanwhile, the Resistance led by Luke’s twin sister Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher, in her final role since passing) are on the run from the First Order led by Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis). On the Resistance’s side are defected stormtrooper Finn (John Boyega), hotheaded X-wing pilot Poe (Oscar Issac), maintenance crew member Rose (Kelly Marie Tran), and Vice Admiral Holdo (Laura Dern). On the First Order’s side are Snoke’s powerful dark side user/Leia’s son Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and the power-hungry General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson). The film details the events that occur as these two groups clash in one lengthy chase/battle while Rey interacts with Luke…and someone else.
MAJOR SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ONWARD: Let’s get right to The Last Jedi’s best, most interesting element: Rey and Kylo Ren’s relationship. And by relationship, I’m not referring to anything romantic, though the tension between them can be cut with a knife (I’ll get to that later), but rather the interactions and unique dynamic they share as protagonist and antagonist. To say Adam Driver has grown on me is an understatement. Admittedly, some of my distaste for the actor stemmed from petty dislike of his portrayed characters, though such feelings have taken a complete 180 this year for both Driver’s acting and his characters. Kylo Ren, for example, is little more than a big baby in The Force Awakens—a whiny brat whose sole claim to fame is his immense raw power in the Force. The Last Jedi reintroduces Ren by having Snoke call him out on such crap—berating him for losing to an inexperienced teen before saying; “You are no Vader. You are just a child in a mask.” I’m hard-pressed to disagree with Snoke, as Ren acts like a child and uses his mask for little more than to imitate his grandfather. Yet it’s this conversation, and the events that proceeded it, that triggers a change in Ren’s character—a spark that ignites great character development beginning with the destruction of his wannabe Darth Vader helmet.
Very rarely does a story’s villain get to actually grow as a villain. There’s plenty of instances where a villain grows kinder, or remorseful, or more incompetent, but seldom does one become more effective and wiser at being the bad guy. I’m reminded of My Hero Academia, a Japanese superhero series where its main protagonist and main antagonist are simultaneously learning and growing in their roles as hero and villain. Something similar occurs in The Last Jedi, with Ren forging his own path and growing into a more competent, interesting, and memorable antagonist. It’s a wonderful, refreshing storytelling method, made even better by Ren’s numerous interactions with the trilogy’s own growing protagonist Rey.
The Last Jedi shakes things up with a new, fascinating power to the story: Force communication. Kylo Ren and Rey are mysteriously connected through the Force on various occasions, neither one knowing why it’s occurring. I’m not talking about those brief moments in past Star Wars films (and this film) where Force-users utter single words to each other, I mean full-on able to openly communicate, see, and touch over long distances to the extent where Rey causes minor pain to Ren where she fires a blaster into his “chest”. I love this whole concept, and the film handles it extraordinarily well. Their first few connections allow Rey to express the anger and rage held towards Ren and his actions, yet when the connections continue happening, both characters are Force-d (yuk-yuk) to have more civil conversations where they never would have in person. The two grow closer as a result—learning more about each other’s past and inner demons—and a mental battle begins where both characters attempt to turn the other to their side of the Force.
Go watch previous Star Wars films and you will find nothing close to The Last Jedi’s protagonist/antagonist dynamic. The closest you will get is Anakin’s interactions with Palpatine in Revenge of the Sith, yet such relationship is entirely onesided—with Palpatine in absolute control and Anakin learning little about the Sith other than his preference in the Force and theatre. Here, there’s a struggle on both sides and a much more personal connection between Rey and Ren. Ren is in turmoil about his path in life, to the point where he refuses to directly fire on his mother. Rey feels such conflict and tries using it to bring Ren back to the light. It’s similar to Luke trying to bring Vader over, though it's more grounded as Rey and the audience have had time to observe Ren’s inner struggle. Likewise, Ren senses the darkness within Rey—the anger she feels towards Luke for “creating” Kylo Ren and the longing she has for family.
The climax between Rey, Ren, and Snoke is a beautiful twist in a new, refreshing direction as Ren uses Snoke’s confidence against him—killing the master and becoming the new Supreme Leader. Ren begins his new path to completely disconnect himself from the past, to kill it if need be—no Vader, no Leia, no Snoke, no Sith, no Jedi, and no Luke. Rey, however, has no connections to the past, discovering her parents were nothing more than drunk junk traders who sold her off and died (which is an awesome little subversion to the typical “comes from great parents” trope seen in these stories). “You have no part in this story,” Ren tells Rey; “You come from nothing. You're nothing. But not to me.” Ren is clear-cut manipulating Rey here, playing on her biggest weakness for belonging and offering to give such if they only team up and use their incredible raw power to rule the galaxy. And yet, unlike Palpatine’s manipulation of Anakin, there’s something else here—something personal beyond the mere desire for Rey’s raw power. “Join me. Please.” Ren asks Rey. The quote reminds me of Luke’s plea to Vader right before he turns on the Emperor. It’s downright brilliant character writing, and if it weren’t for the looming obstacles of Disney’s marketing, I may have been fooled into believing Rey would join Ren. What Ren feels for Rey, and vice versa—sympathy, pity, kinsmanship, romance (the shippers are all hoping it’s the latter)—I’m not entirely certain, but there is a bond between these two that goes beyond the desire for power or to save, and it’s unlike any before in a Star Wars film.
The Last Jedi’s comedy has improved further since the already witty Force Awakens—ranging from amusing to downright hilarious while finding balance within the drama and action without feeling…Forced (I’m sorry but I can’t stop). Several highlight scenes include Luke using a leaf to trick Rey into believing she’s feeling the Force, General Hux repeating Kylo Ren’s orders in a louder, more authoritative voice (much to the Force user’s bewilderment), and an inside look at the First Order’s dry-cleaning machine (because bad guys need ironed clothes too). There’s an amusing scene where Rey is connected to Kylo Ren while he’s half naked, and asks if there’s a cloak he can put on while averting her eyes. As noted above, there’s a considerable amount of tension between Rey and Ren throughout the film, and I can’t help but chuckle at the thought of Supreme Leader Snoke being this closet shipper of the two—purposely connecting them at the most intimate of inappropriate times and giggling at the results.
Despite being the longest running Star Wars film to date, The Last Jedi moves at a quick, fluent pace, feeling much quicker than any of the prequels. The film’s action is some of the series’s finest work yet, starting off with a bang and ending with an amazing climax before jumping right back into a second epic climax. As with Thor: Ragnarok, I'm pleasantly surprised at how intense The Last Jedi’s finale is—doing a fantastic job at building tension as the Rebellion’s fleet steadily dwindles in numbers. There’s so much to talk about regarding the film’s last third. The scene where Ren surprise kills Snoke and then teams up with Rey to fight his elite guards is so cool! The scene further shows off Rey and Ren’s chemistry with how effectively they fight together (I appreciate the far more experienced Ren taking on more guards than Rey), including the humorous and equally badass moment where Rey throws Ren her lightsaber who swiftly ignites it for a headshot. Then there’s the all-too-awesome scene where Vice Admiral Holdo flies the Rebellion’s main ship at lightspeed into Snoke’s fleet. The momentary silence given as Holdo’s ship impacts is just the perfect touch to make it a truly memorable scene.
All characters have improved since The Force Awakens—better moments, better scenes and better development. The Force Awakens may have introduced its series new characters, but it’s The Last Jedi that has solidified their place in the Star Wars universe. Poe is the most noteworthy here as I barely remember the character from the first film. Here, Poe immediately leaves a mark during the film’s bang of an opening, taking on the entire First Order fleet by himself. Alongside Ren, Poe receives the film’s best character development, growing from a hotheaded “blast-em-up” pilot to a wiser, more levelheaded leader. Finn, unfortunately, gets the short end of the character development stick, more-or-less remaining the same character from the end of The Force Awakens. He does, however, get a cool fight against Captain Plasma (Gwendoline Christie)—who, like Boba Fett, is badass looking yet barely significant to the plot—and gains a new friend/love interest in Rose. I was a little tepid about Rose on my first viewing, but have since come to appreciate this spunky, adorkable character alongside Tran’s performance—who delivers an impressive array of emotional responses. Rey is a likable character made far more interesting through her various interactions. I’ve made clear my utmost affection for Rey and Kylo Ren’s dynamic, and while I do miss her cheery teenage moments with Finn, Rey’s scenes with Luke make up for such absence.
On the villain’s end, Domhnall Gleeson is a blast as the overly theatrical, highly entertaining General Hux—being a great contrast to the now calmer, yet wrathful Kylo Ren. I can just tell Gleeson is having a ton of fun playing Hux, and it makes the character so much more enjoyable and memorable to watch. Supreme Leader Snoke finally appears in person and turns out to be a surprisingly effective replacement for Emperor Palpatine. The character is sinister, clever, menacing, and just the right amount of over-the-top. Andy Serkis does a fantastic job with Snoke’s voice, delivering a richly diabolical performance. Snoke is calm and collected when speaking, yet his inner-rage or delight at relishing his own evil deeds is always simmering (occasionally popping to the surface). While I am a bit sad we won’t see more of Snoke, I am, nonetheless, completely satisfied and happy with the direction Last Jedi took with his character.
Then there are the veteran characters. If there were a fitting last role for Carrie Fisher, I’d say playing her iconic role as Leia Organa in The Last Jedi is it. Here, Leia is a far more prominent, and more effective character than in The Force Awakens. Similar to Luke’s role to Rey, Leia plays the role of mentor to Poe, teaching him the ways to be an effective leader. The film fooled me into believing they had killed off Leia early in the film, only for the Force-sensitive general to survive and escape the vacuum of space using one of the coolest Force stunts seen in the films! While I did grow up with the original Star Wars films, Mark Hamill will always be more synonymous with me for his voice acting roles—namely, his villainous one such as Fire Lord Ozai in Avatar: The Last Airbender (one of my favorite TV shows), Colonel Muska in Laputa: Castle in the Sky (one of my favorite films), and The Joker (one of, if not my favorite variant of the Clown Prince of Crime). That said, age and experience have brought forth Hamill’s finest performance as Luke Skywalker. The actor fluently switches between funny and witty, to serious and foreboding, to dejected and broken. A surprise appearance comes from Force ghost Master Yoda (Frank Oz) back in puppet form, where he gives Luke one final piece of advice. The finale between Luke, The First Order, and Kylo Ren is both very clever and incredibly badass—reconstructing old Star Wars tropes in a cool and satisfying manner.
The Last Jedi is the furthest a Star Wars film has dealt with grey morality…in an actual, effective manner (looking at you Revenge of the “From my point of view the Jedi are evil” Sith). We see how Luke helped create Kylo Ren through his hubris and an ill-thought moment of shame. We see a balanced economy where weapons dealers sell to both the bad and good guys. There’s even an internal conflict within the Rebellion between Poe and Vice Admiral Holdo. I must give props to the latter conflict, as it takes what 95% of popcorn films do and turns it on its head. A stuffy, stubborn leader refuses to take drastic measures to save the good guys, so our spunky young heroes hatch a crazy plan to defeat the bad guys and save the day. In almost any other film, the youngsters would succeed, and the stubborn leader put in their place and shown just what a fool they were. Yet in The Last Jedi, it’s Poe, Finn, and Rose who fail, while the stubborn leader’s plan turns out to be quite clever and resourceful. In fact, the leader’s crafty plan is only exposed thanks to Finn and Rose’s capture—meaning it would have worked if not for the spunky youngsters. Now, one can argue that if Holdo had only fully explained to Poe her plan none of this would have happened, but I’m going to let that slide for two reasons—one, Holdo shouldn’t have to explain everything to the now lower-ranked Poe, and two, what the film is trying to get across. The Last Jedi is playing on the age-old trope of how the young main characters are always right and their superiors wrong. How often I see and hate films where the hotheaded protagonist tells off the teacher and/or leader and is portrayed as correct despite the leader’s arguments being reasonable. Up until the reveal, Poe is shown in such light, before the film changes perspective to Holdo and Leia’s, showing how age and experience can actually make a character wiser.
2017 has been the year of renewed hope for blockbuster franchises. Wonder Woman proves the DCEU can produce a good film, as well as proving female-lead superhero films can be successful. Thor: Ragnarok raised the Thor series up from the bottom of the MCU barrel and proves the MCU is far from running out of ideas and can turn around their less-than-stellar series. And The Last Jedi proves Star Wars can hark back to their nostalgia days without overly relying on them—bringing new and innovative concepts to the table in one of the finest Star Wars films made to date.
P.S. I would like to take a moment of silence for the tragic death of Admiral Ackbar, who got flushed out into the vacuum of space...sniff,,,now who will warn us when there’s a trap!?
