Bringing the Star Wars back on the table

Rating: 9/10 (28 May 2019)

I have seen the whole SAGA throughout my childhood. I was there with you guys and girls, we were all there, we all love Star Wars for the same and some individual reasons, but overall we all know what Star Wars is about and what makes it Star Wars.
New Hope was an entry of a team of masterminds bringing a blasting new universe into our pop culture. It was only an Adventure movie, an action flick, but set in space, a fantasy movie with sci-fi environment. It was plain simple; there were the GOOD guys and the BAD guys, and the good guys won in the end. That was the whole story...
Then Empire Strikes Back came 3 years later showing that; "NOPE... that's not all... not in a long shot". Because the Force came in the picture, The Light and the Dark Side. It wasn't enough to be the GOOD guy to win. We got into a cold, desolate place where fear, distress, and darkness blooms realising that the Dark Side isn't a thing to just mess with without any consequences. It's a deep black hole where if you fall in it's most possible that you won't come out of it... ever... most probably. And that's why Empire Strikes Back is one of the all time best Star Wars movie, this made the whole Universe complete.
When Force Awakens came out in 2015 we were all hyped and were eager to experience the beloved franchise's new entry. And when finished the screening I felt numb to be honest. When I went to the cinema I was like "Yes, I am gonna see a Star Wars movie!!!" ... and when I came out I was "Well... yes... it was a Star Wars movie..." feeling nothing overall. It was a sad momentum, because it felt like it wasn't talking to me, as a moviegoer, a Star Wars veteran. It was totally set to please the audience of new age, kids from today that might have never seen Star Wars before, the old, original ones etc. and in short I wasn't sure how to feel about it, and still don't whenever I'm rewatching it. J.J. might knows how to handle the camera, how to make beautifull compositions, perfectly framed pictures in every scene, and I am talking seriously, there is no frame you might find problematic visual-wise, but the movie felt hollow and shallow. The only thing that brought any resonanse was the moment when Han and Ben have met each other, and the final duel between Rey and Ben. And that's all I can say for Force Awakens...
Then The Last Jedi arrived in 2017... and oh boi it was an EXPERIENCE; it brought a wide, colorfull pallette to show how many things can be done in a Star Wars movie today that still feels fresh, and new, living, with a spark of soul, that it is daring to overcome any clichÃ©s we might find really annoying or even hurtfull today. The perfectly framed pictures and compositions tell their story visually so well, that it reminded me of the new Mad Max's top notch visual communication. The Force is back, in the same unballanced way just like in the Force Awakens, but here it showed off its power in such wicked momentums that you either scream "WTF was that" or "OMG, did that just happen?" and such. You will hate it, you will love it, you will be amazed, and you will be shocked. So many feelings can be awaken by this movie that no matter how logical you will find the story it came up with you will most definitely FEEL SOMETHING (and yes, I am looking at you Force Awakens, that's how you should have done this).
I love every Rey-Ben-Luke-Snoke scenes in this flick; The works of the unballanced Force with its ridiculously wide amplitudes can lead to many surprises and uncertainty as the Jedi-Sith contrast ain't that black and white anymore. Sometimes you are not sure about Luke where he stands, which side on he is. Then there is Ben with his conflicting personality, and Rey's sweet naivity with which she marches throughout any action following the tide of the Force mostly intuitivly. Rey might be also a potential candidate for future unstable Force user, but let's just leave that to J.J. for the final episode.
The movie works for me perfectly because it knows what it wants to communicate seriously and what unseriously. And YES, you will get plenty both of those. Everything that is part of the main narrative keeps its Serious tone, and anything that can be considered secondary is easily blending to the side of Unseriousness, and these two tones switch each other overall perfectly. That's why I consider the Force storyline the Main Bone of this movie, because it communicates its serious factor the way it should. That's why I can ignore all the Porg humor because it is lighthearted and flies easily over your head. And even though I dislike Finn and Rose, their story has minor gravitational pull compared to the Force storyline, so your attention will always focus on those narratives that are really essential. You can bare to watch Finn/Rose's adventure as it is the part where the Star Wars adventure flick factor brings its well crafted and enjoyable actions, those... you know... Star Wars like adventure scenes.
And my annoyances about the movie are also connected to Finn/Rose, oh and of course the "Flying Leia" scene is questionable by everyone, even myself find it totally ridiculous, and laugh at it, but these are so minor issues compared to the whole positively engaging storytelling Last Jedi brings, especially with at least 2 STORY PINNACLES, or let's say PLOT TWISTS towards the end, and one really mindblowing momentum, so 3 really amazing, cathartic moments in total.
So overall this is my third most favorite Star Wars movie after the greatest Empire Strikes Back on the first place and Rogue One on the second. I am grateful to the whole team behind the Last Jedi and Rian Johnson who unfortunatelly gets much-much of hate, and mostly undeserving ones. I can only hope that J.J. will be able to bring simiral emotional ride with his next Star Wars installment, and that the boldness of this movie inspired him to be also more brave and more intuitive with his project.
P.S.: Mark Hamill's comment on the Last Jedi after he saw it - "probably the most sophisticated 'Star Wars' movie since 'Empire'...I just think it's a stunning film - it's challenging, it's surprising, it has humor. I have to put aside my feelings and try to realize the director's feelings the best I can."
Rating: 8.7