The Last Jedi Review

Rating: 8/10 (3 September 2019)

Star Wars Episode 8: The Last Jedi
Written and Directed by Rian Johnson
Star Wars Episode 8: The Last Jedi is a science fiction fantasy film written and directed by Rian Johnson, known for films like Looper and Brick. The Last Jedi may have been my most disappointing films of 2017. However, after multiple rewatches over the last two years, I have found a new appreciation for this extremely divisive instalment in the globally loved Skywalker saga.
The Last Jedi continues the story from where the last film (The Force Awakens) left off, with the main protagonist of this new trilogy Rey (Daisy Ridley) finding former Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) living alone, on the ocean planet of "Ahch-To". The story follows Rey trying to channel the force and become a Jedi but there are many obstacles and revelations that hinder her progress. The story also follows former first order stormtrooper, Finn (John Boyega) and a newcomer Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran) trying to take down a first order star destroyer from destroying the resistance ships.
This film had a lot to live up to after the universal praise that The Force Awakens received and the many questions that fans where, left pondering over the next two years. However, upon release the reactions were very mixed, with audiences feeling underwhelmed and annoyed for Rian Johnson decisions with the story, others believing it was an unexpected and enjoyable film. A key scene in the film, depicts Rey falling into a cave and finding a mirror which, shows multiple versions of herself and when she asks to see her parents are it shows her reflection. Later in the film, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) reveals that her parents where, nobodies and sold her for drinking money. Many fans where justifiably angry at this revelation as they felt that it was a cheap move on the writers part, for building her parents as a huge mystery only to reveal they where no one. A bit anticlimactic in my opinion.
However, a scene which I thought was really well executed was the throne room scene, where the seemingly all powerful Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) suddenly gets sliced in half due to Kylo Ren igniting the lightsaber next to him. This was an amazing twist as the supreme leader was set up to be the main villain of the trilogy, similar to Emperor Palpatine before him. I also liked the following fight that insuide between Rey and Kylo against the praetorian guards, as it is reminiscent of films like Kill Bill and other samurai films. It was really well choreographed. The scene also featured a long take with the camera weaving in and of the opponents. This was extremely effective as it demonstrated how intense and fast base the battle was.
Overall the cinematography in The Last Jedi is pretty good. This is definitely one of the darker films in the Star Wars saga and I think that the cinematography reflects that. A scene where this is apparent, is after the battle in the throne room, there is a really effective emotional scene, where Kylo Ren tries to turn Rey to the dark side but she fights against him trying to pull him to the light. Close up camera shots of their faces helps to emphasise the emotion that each character is feeling. For example Kylo Ren shows a lot of anger in his facial expressions that in conjunction with the close up shot, helps to create a really intense atmosphere. There are also other great shots in the film like the amazing long shots of the different planets, especially the salt planet of "Crait". An amazing extreme long shot of the planets white surface shows how tranquil it is when it is left alone but as soon as the (barely stable) ski speeders come into frame, red dust is flicked up from the ground. There are also a lot of amazing drone shots of the island, where Luke lives.
The musical score as usual is composed by the amazing John Williams whos, score for this film as fantastic as usual but relies to heavily on music made from prior entries. There are some stand out tracks like "Roses theme" but most of it is traditional Star Wars music. The score feels more atmospheric in this film than ever before and is only used to convey a particular emotion that the filmmakers want the audience to feel.
There are a few criticisms I have with the film. One criticism I have is the new characters that are introduced in the film, don't have a lot of screen time and they aren't really developed at all. For example DJ (Benicia Del Toro) is a shady character Finn and Rose meet in a cell after getting caught by the police. We don't learn much about him (not even his name) but towards the end of the film we see him selling Finn and Rose to the first order. He is definitely one of the most forgettable characters within in the film, the same goes for Vice Admiral Holdo (Laura Dern) who we are quickly introduced to and then is later killed off. It's not that these actors are doing a bad performance, it's just nothing to write home about. It feels like these actors roles could have been filled by an existing character in the universe. This would have also been a way of developing the characters more.
A lot of people agree that Luke Skywalker's portrayal in the Last Jedi, is inconsistent with the Luke Skywalker in the original trilogy. I completely disagree with this. In the Last Jedi we see Luke as someone who is extremely troubled by his past even seeming kind of villainous at points. He is a flawed character who, hasn't made the best decisions in the past like attempting to murder his own nephew in fear of him turning to the dark side. This may at first seem out of character for Luke as he is meant to be the personification of the light, but from the start Luke was a flawed character like almost killing his own father out of anger. By the end of the Last Jedi Luke learns that he has made mistakes and he has to pay for them. This leads to one of the most beautifully shot scenes within the whole film, with him passing away under the twin suns, reminiscent of how his journey began in "a new hope".
Overall, the Last Jedi, whilst a flawed film is still a solid entry in the Skywalker saga, teaching lessons about failure. It leaves the audience with a lot of questions that the final entry (The Rise of Skywalker) will hopefully answer.
Review by Kyle Adams