Heartbroken

Rating: 2/10 (16 December 2017)

Ever since I was a small child, I was fascinated with Star Wars. I vividly remember the first time I saw the movies in the cinema when they got a rerun in 1997. I was and still am in love with Star Wars. I grew up with it, watched everything, read the books, played the games and collected the toys. To me, Star Wars is more than just a movie it is my Childhood and still a very important part of my life.
When I first heard the announcement that Disney bought the rights to Star Wars and more movies were on the way, I was excited for new possibilities. The Force Awakens, despite its flaws and similarities felt like a Star Wars movie and played homage to the older movies. J.J. Abrams managed to create a successful entry point to a new trilogy with likeable and complex characters, charm and wit. It was the start of something great, the necessary similarities set the boundaries for a successful continuation.
The first part in the trilogy left me wondering what would happen next, who are Rey's parents, how could Supreme Leader Snoke seize power. I was excited for the future. Fast forward to the current day, I have seen the movie twice now and I am heartbroken and confused as to how it could go so wrong.
The movie starts with a dire situation for the Resistance their ships have been found and are faced with superior numbers from the First Order. The foolish but likeable character Poe Dameron faces off with a Dreadnought to gain enough time for the Resistance to escape. This already starts off one of my major gripes about this movie. The dialogues and the forced slapstick humor just does not fit the grandeur of this movie. The conversation between General Hux and Poe is laughable, but not in a good way. The joke at the expense of Hux discounts the seriousness of the situation and this slapstick runs like a common thread throughout the movie. The Last Jedi resembles other Disney projects such as the Marvel Franchise in this regard; every action has to be commentated with a joke, because of fear that the viewers could lose interest in the subpar storylines.
While the battle is developing, the Resistance manages to attack the Dreadnought with their Bomber Squadron and destroying it in the process. Unfortunately, nobody told Director Rian Johnson, that Bombs should be floating in space, but gravity is ignored in this instance.
In the subsequent battle, Kylo Ren and two Tie-Fighters destroy the bridge of the main Battleship of the Resistance. The whole leadership of the Resistance, including Admiral Ackbar, is wiped out, except for Leia that is hovering in through space in zero gravity. Leia then escapes death by using the force to fly through space with her best Mary Poppins imitation to get back to the Battleship, in what can only be described as the most unreasonable and unrealistic moment of the whole franchise. While she has shown that she is force sensitive in the past, this felt like a cheap and unnecessary way to advance the plot. It also doesn't have any influence on the advancement of the overall plot whether she lives or dies, but would have been a good opportunity to send of the late Carrie Fisher.
In a plan to escape from the grasp of the First Order, Finn and Rose Tico, a crewmember of the Resistance, set forth on a journey to the planet Canto Bight in order to search for a code cracker that will insure the Resistance a safe escape. The whole scene felt more like it descended from the Harry Potter franchise than Star Wars, gone are familiar alien races and they get replaced by money loving caricatures of society. The whole Plot felt like it tried to lecture the audience and Finn and Rose had no on screen chemistry. This part could have been cut from the movie and would have made it a stronger movie overall.
At the same time, Rey finally meets Luke Skywalker on the Island, where the first Jedi once lived. We get to know more about the reasons why Luke decided to live on this desolate island. This storyline overall felt authentic, but has one glaring issue that goes against everything the Star Wars franchise stands for, the creation of Kylo Ren at the hands of Luke Skywalker. Fearing the imminent turn to the dark side of Ben Solo, Luke raises his Lightsaber to strike down a sleeping Kylo Ren. Luke Skywalker, the most powerful Jedi that brought balance to the force, gives up hope to kill the Son of his best friend Han Solo and Leia Organa, his own sister, despite infringing on the very principle that defines a Jedi. This is an unreasonable character trait that does not fit the Luke Skywalker that everyone grew to love from the original trilogy. This part of the story had the same weaknesses that plagued the rest of the movie; important scenes were ruined with slapstick humor that was not fitting the tone of the situation.
Later on, Rey confronts Snoke and Kylo Ren on their main Ship and ensuing scenes are very well orchestrated. Still, Supreme Leader Snoke feels like a missed opportunity. We do not get to know how Snoke obtained his position or even who he really is. He is depicted as an almost almighty deity that feels untouchable, but his hubris is ultimately his downfall. The Choreography and visual effects are top notch and the movie starts to drastically pick up from the moment Rey steps food on the First Order Ship.
Finn and Roses plan to save the Resistance fails, but BB8, that seems like an unstoppable killing machine in this movie, safes them once more whilst controlling an AT-ST, after single handedly beating multiple guards back on Canto Bight. The mutiny subplot between General Holdo and Poe is going on at the same time and their performances and believable character traits make this one of the highlights of the movie. While I liked this subplot, the whole problem could have been entirely eradicated, if Poe and Holdo talked about their plans. The scene ends with Holdo sacrificing herself in order to save the last surviving escape pods, by ramming the Resistance Ship into the First Order Ship, but only doing so, after basically killing of the vast majority of the Resistance Ships. The magnitude of the exploding First Order Ship gets reduced again by slapstick humor and dialogue that feels completely out of place. Captain Phasma, an intriguing character from the Force Awakens, that did not see nearly enough screen time, does not get used to the full potential and finds death without ever achieving anything meaningful.
The final battle happens on the salt planet Crait, the Resistance surrounded by the First Order and Finn and the others go on the offense with some speeder like ships. Finn is ready to sacrifice himself in order for the success of the Resistance, but gets stopped at the last second by Rose, that selfishly decided she was more important than the chance of overall survival, despite highlighting over the movie, that solidarity and believe in the Resistance is crucial.
Luke Skywalker appears as an Illusion, unknowingly to Kylo Ren and manages to buy enough time to get the Resistance to safety. He finally manages to find peace and balance with the force and dies in the process.
Overall, the Soundtrack, the Sound effects and the Visual effects are stunning. The action is great and if this is enough for the average viewer to be entertained, this movie can be ideal. The problems start with the implausible and the shoddy dialogue and leave much to be desired. Some characters get fleshed out, while others seem to be forgotten. The chemistry between Finn and Rose is simply not there and the movie would have been better without the whole love story in it. I can´t imagine that hardcore fans of Star Wars can be happy with what was achieved by Rian Johnson, he does not seem to be the right guy to lead the next trilogy. Unfortunately the positive aspects do not manage to redeem the glaring issues of this long awaited second part in the sequel trilogy. I left the cinema feeling disappointed and I am now less enthusiastic about Star Wars future movies.