Rain Johnson takes the new trilogy beyond a simple fanboy exercise

Rating: 9/10 (3 January 2018)

I went into the film with goodwill, wanting to like it, but I also had modest expectations given some of the varied opinions out there. The film's first 20 minutes or so seemed really by-the-numbers and was not grabbing me at all, starting off with a routine space battle with no story build-up to get the audience invested, Luke saying he doesn't want to train Rey, and Rylo Ken/Ben Solo getting talked down to by his master, the Supreme Leader. Ho hum. But when the film started to get more into character driven stories than plot driven ones, the film really takes off. That opening exposition did set up some great character driven storylines, the most welcome of which involves a new character, Rose Tico, a mechanic working for the resistance who's sister was killed during that opening space battle. Rose's story as a low level true believer in the resistance getting caught up with main players Finn and Poe Dameron is terrific and a great hook for audiences to enter into the Star Wars universe with a fangirl of these rebel heroes. The main storylines in the film involve the rebel fleet fleeing the New Order while low on fuel and unable to jump to light speed, Rey trying to get Luke to come back and help lead the resistance while also telepathically linking to Rylo Ken and trying to draw him to the light side of the force, and lastly a secret plan by Finn, Poe Dameron, and Rose to sneak aboard a Star Destroyer to save the retreating rebel fleet. While those all seem very plot driven, writer/director Rian Johnson makes these stories dependent upon character and that's why this entry into the new trilogy really works so well. The last of the three plot lines, about sneaking onto a Star Destroyer to exploit a design flaw, is a very played out plot device for a Star Wars film, but Johnson plays against audience expectations and makes it work. Johnson also plays against expectations with the commanding officer of the rebel fleet being played by Laura Dern. It's unexpected casting, and don't get me wrong, Dern is a terrific actress, but is not someone who I'd have pictured in a Captain Kirk/Captain Adama type of role, but she commands the screen with power and grace. This being unexpected for me may be my male centric/chauvinistic perspective, but I want to commend the filmmakers for prominently featuring women in heroic/action roles throughout the film. "The Force Awakens" did this some by making Rey the main character, but "The Last Jedi" noticeably had more women as fighter pilots, on the command bridge, and in other leadership roles. This made me realize how male dominated the original and prequel trilogy were. The other character point that Johnson gets credit for is his development of Rylo Ken/Ben Solo. Johnson and Adam Driver make the character's inner turmoil between whether to embrace the light or dark side of the force seem very real and honestly left me wondering which way he will go. In the prequel trilogy, we already knew Anakin was going to embrace the dark side, so there was no suspense there, and the original trilogy had Vader as an out-and-out black hat villain for the first two films with no hints of an inner struggle, so having the Vader figure of the new trilogy palpably struggling with what direction to go is compelling to watch. Daisy Ridley also gets a lot of credit for helping make Rylo Ken's struggle feel more human, but Ridley deserves recognition for the strength of her own character as well, with Rey holding her own with such an iconic of character as Luke Skywalker for much of the film. It's also worth noting Carrie Fisher's final film appearance as Leia was given additional weight by her recent passing in real life. There's also a surprising supporting role by Benicio Del Toro, who is terrific as always. I'm really hoping his character returns in the next film. SPOILER ALERT! Getting to see Luke and Leia reunite, even if it was ever so briefly, is a great little moment. The other spoiler worth noting is Yoda's appearance and how excited I was to have Yoda portrayed by a puppet once again and NOT computer generate imagery (along with again being voiced by the great Frank Oz). Overall, "The Last Jedi" elevated the new trilogy and allowed it to stand on it's own. "The Force Awakens" was the fanboy movie I was hoping to see with the prequel trilogy and made me excited about the Star Wars universe again. "The Last Jedi" allowed the new trilogy to come into it's own and gave real substance to these new characters.