Supreme Leader Who?

Rating: 6/10 (16 December 2017)

Leaving the cinema after watching the Last Jedi, I was genuinely conflicted as to whether or not I enjoyed the film. In all fairness to Rian Johnson, he has carried the torch from J.J. Abrams with flying colours - with the feel and look of this new movie being constant with that of the Force Awakens. Despite this, along with the stunning visuals, epic fight scenes and (at times) brilliant character development, parts of the movie felt cheap and unfulfilling.
I'll start with what I enjoyed - which was almost all of the film: my fears for this movie was that it would be too similar to the beloved the Empire Strikes Back, and would hold the same undermining criticism that the Force Awakens itself had. However, I can honestly say that this movie bucks the trend and establishes its own story - bringing characters old and new into the Star Wars Universe. Sure there may be a fight scene on an ice planet, a stab in the back by a likeable character (brilliantly realised by Benicio Del Torro) and extended training sequences; but these are culminated in an entirely new story with it's own twists and turns.
Hamill, Driver and Ridley give stellar performances as their characters, with the mental connection between Rey and Ren being a particularly high point. The revelation of Rey's parentage, however controversial it may be, to me came as a refreshing change. Moreover, the reappearance of Yoda's force ghost was a welcome surprise - not only bringing audible laughs, but also progressing the plot in a meaningful way. Another personal favourite moment was the addition of the flashback to Kylo's betrayal of Luke, concluding in the fact that Luke wasn't so innocent after all. The cinematography and sound design of Holdo's suicide is absolutely breathtaking. And finally the force has been given the explanation it deserves. Luke's teachings of the force on Ahch-To is note perfect, dispelling all previous Midi-Chlorian nightmares.
Now, there is one inexcusable error in this film and I was honestly bewildered watching it unfold.
The handling of Supreme Leader Snoke in this film is diabolical.
Out of all of the characters in the Force Awakens, he was who I was most curious about - who was this character? How did he seduce Kylo to the dark side of the force? What is the final stage of Kylo's training? Is Snoke a force wielder? The first time we see Snoke outside of his hologram in this film, it holds so much gravitas - he is superbly portrayed by Andy Serkis and fully realises the hype he was given after his first appearance. Snoke is presented as the most powerful force wielder we have seen in any Star Wars film; he can bridge minds across the galaxy, use FORCE LIGHTNING and fling people across the room like rag dolls with the tiniest motion of his fingers. All this culminates into a truly terrifying villain who we know both Luke, Rey and Kylo are no match for - I felt as though the revelation that he was Darth Plaguies was just around the corner.
And with that - he was killed off.
After approximately 10 to 15 minutes of screen time, the most powerful force wielder dies - without a backstory, not even allowing the audience to form any opinion on him other than "ooh, he's so scary and ugly". Not only is it insulting, it undermines the whole film meaning it doesn't feel complete. How did Snoke seduce Kylo? Where was Snoke during the original trilogy if he was so powerful? The questions remain, I can imagine now that already Disney have hired someone to write a Snoke backstory book or comic to respond to the films shortcomings.
Aside from this, Luke's force hologram fight with Kylo did feel slightly cheap - however poetic and impactful Luke's death in the end actually was. As well as this, it almost feels as though Rey and Kylo's story arc is finished almost halfway through the film, after the lightsaber splitting scene.vIt feels as though the two characters should now be able to see far more eye to eye after the events of the film, but instead they revert to the regular dark side hates light side dynamic.
All in all, I am looking forward to Episode 9 and the continuation of the Skywalker saga and whilst this film was thoroughly enjoyable - the issue of Snoke hangs over it like a dark cloud, keeping it from being as successful as it's original predecessors.