Typical modern franchise movie-making with no lasting impact

Rating: 4/10 (19 December 2017)

I left the screening of TLJ feeling depressed, sick to my stomach, and without any desire to see the next film. I thought that perhaps I was suffering from over hype and extreme expectations, but after seeing so many similar reviews by other fans, it seems clear that there is something fundamentally misguided with the film. This review is simply my personal attempt as a life-long Star Wars fan to process what went wrong.
For me the largest issue of TLJ is that it misunderstands or ignores the basic Star Wars mythos. Yes, Stars Wars is fun escapism. Yes, it is about hope and resisting oppression. And yes, the new installment needed to pass the torch to a new set of characters whose adventures had to be exciting and interesting in their own right and not just a slavish rehash of the old films.
But what made Star Wars such an extreme cultural phenomenon was it's foundation on the Power of Myths (literally the title of the book by Joseph Campbell that helped inspire George Lucas). Beneath the fresh and exciting space opera in which George Lucas set his story are deep, age-old ideas of heroism, good, evil, and the human journey for purpose that have captivated mankind since our inception. It was about hope, but that hope was based on specific tropes and long established ideals. It had shocking surprises, but those twist fed into a traditional time-tested story arc. So even after the "state-of-the-art" effects of the 70's-80's faded, Star Wars kept a firm grip on our imaginations because it had seeded itself within the larger themes of humanity, themes that no matter the cultural or political context remained relevant and inspiring.
The most recent Episodes 7 and now 8 seem to go for the Star Wars feel but only on a superficial level. There are X-wings and storm troopers, aliens and lightsabers, and a fight for freedom (sort of). There are great special (digital and practical) effects. Even John Williams is on board. But it is not founded on the same timeless themes and ideas like the hero's journey, which has very specific characteristics and arc. Instead it is all a muddle of plot and motif throwbacks, contemporary politics and humor, and a progressive desire to reinterpret and improve upon basic ideas that have been shared for millennia.
In short, the recent movies are just like any other above-average big-budget movie, especially in the mold of the Marvel franchise and rebooted Star Trek films. They have good production teams, talented directors and actors, and faithfully rabid fan bases. For the casual movie-going experience this is enough. The audience escapes for a few hours, has a good time, enjoys a few poignant moments, some laughs, and the studio rakes in millions of dollars, especially overseas. There's nothing really wrong with this, it's just show business.
But TLJ feels like such a betrayal because Star Wars, like other great, enduring films, was something more. Not just because we were kids when we first saw it (I enjoyed a lot of films as a kid that I can now see are pretty lame and uninteresting) or had the toys and loved dressing up for Halloween or conventions. It was something more because it drew from the shared human mythology going back centuries, a mythology that on the surface can seem childish or simplistic, but in the long run deeply resonated beyond its current context.
TLJ falls short because in trying to up-date the story for the next generation, it demands that we let go of, forget, and revise all that we knew and loved before. Luke Skywalker is more than just Mark Hamill in the right costume (though he did a great job with what he was asked to do in this film). Luke is a personification of the human ideal to find ones identity and destiny in an adventure to save their world from evil. Change this, muddy it, and he's no longer recognizable. Mark Hamill's character of TLJ is well-acted and conflicted, but he's no longer recognizable as Luke Skywalker to those who knew him. He's not on the same mythic journey. His age-old character arc is twisted and conformed to fit a contrived plot twist which should be interesting but ultimately defies and cheapens his previous development. It rewrites his destiny for the sake of a new idea. When Luke tosses away of his old lightsaber, and seemingly shrugs his shoulders at his last connection to his father, Obi Wan and his life's work, its as though we're being told to forget all that he stood for and we believed in. If this was just a momentary struggle in his character development that might be one thing, but instead it seems to signal a new modus opandi for the entire new and improved universe.
And although Luke's portrayal in TLJ is perhaps the most painful and dissonant, he is by no means alone. Rey is idealistic but she is not a student growing through her quest. She is more powerful than Luke (with only a stick) and Kylo Ren already. She easily resists the temptations and taunts of Ren and Snoke and finishes the film pretty much how she started it. Luke is not the wise teacher looking to preserve an ancient hope for the galaxy a la Obi Wan or Yoda. He has very little to pass on to Rey or anyone else amidst his own struggles and confusion, a sad reflection of modernistic uncertainty and relativism rather than the mythic hope in purpose and destiny . Kylo Ren is a bad guy, but his evil is uncertain and queasy. He doesn't know what he's about, so while he's is interesting and well-acted, his character doesn't resonate or generate much fear. In two movies he's thrown a lot of tantrums but achieved little. Snoke works while ominously all-powerful and all-knowing, but that is quickly thrown away in TLJ seemingly for shock value. Neither Finn or Poe fulfill any real trope or thematic purpose. The droids have lost their role as narrators and testaments to the story, and instead merely provide convenient solutions and comic gags.
Even the Force behind everything, we're told, is something altogether different than we thought both in practical application (now we can teleport and space walk) and meaning (there is no good or evil, only balance, or evil is just another part of nature, or something organic and homeopathic). So the Force too seems unsatisfying and alienating.
Star Wars fans take flak for seeming to want the same thing over and over again. They are often labeled as whining, obstructionists opposing anyone who wants to try something new. It's not that they're against new ships and planets and characters and stories. These are the superficial side, the mode of presenting the myth. And yes, they must be re-imagined and boundary-pushing, just like George Lucas in 1977. His Star Wars was radical and many at the time thought he was nuts. But as radical as Star Wars was in its presentation, was its conservatism in its themes and story arc. When Star Wars fans seem to want more of the same, it is not more of the specific plot elements or motifs (cantina scenes and cut-off arms), but recognition of the mythological core and characterizations that have stood the test of time.
Fundamentalism is often ridiculed as being stodgy and out-of-step with its current cultural context, but it is often the fundamentalists who endure while those who fail to recognize and maintain their foundational tenets who fade away. TLJ has all the same Star Wars elements but seems to reject or at best misunderstand the story's core of coming-of-age, good versus evil, guilt, redemption, and family. The critics seem to be lining up to praise TLJ for the diversity of its cast, nods to gender equality, shading of absolutes, revising past heroes, and providing supposed plot twists. There is nothing necessarily wrong with these on their own, and they are likely well intentioned. But when these contemporary values ignore and replace the underlying mythos that has sustained Star Wars and legends like it for centuries, we can't expect the same lasting impact. The ceremony is all there, but it has lost its meaning.
It may be possible to restore the current series, but it will require more careful attention to what truly made Star Wars timeless and a humble willingness to acknowledge the power of old ideas. By all means retell the myth in a new way, but don't try to reinvent what the myth stands for or else it will cease to matter. There are stories and ideas that reach far beyond us and our current culture. Rather than change them, we should aim to learn from them and allow them to change, challenge, and ultimately inspire us.