"This is not going to go the way you think."

Rating: 8/10 (31 July 2018)

It can't be denied that the original STAR WARS trilogy is one of the most iconic cornerstones of filmmaking -- an ambitious mixing pot of space-blasting action, alien cultures, and mythological nuances that has captivated so many audiences for years. The namesake suffered something of a stall, however, with George Lucas' flawed prequel trilogy, which, with the exception of REVENGE OF THE SITH, couldn't live up to the reputation of the original trilogy. In a bizarre twist of fate, Disney of all companies purchased the rights to STAR WARS, beginning work on a new trilogy with other movies to come in the subsequent weeks. 2015's THE FORCE AWAKENS, handled by J.J. Abrams, while perhaps too much of a copycat of A NEW HOPE, was nonetheless breezy, flashy, and entertaining -- a great love-letter to the trilogy (with the exception of one character death). The subsequently released ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY was arguably even better: a thrilling tale which was arguably everything the prequels should have been.
Now along comes the eighth canonical episode in the STAR WARS series, THE LAST JEDI. Unlike predecessor THE FORCE AWAKENS, this one is helmed by a different director, one Rian Johnson. Naturally, expectations for this were going to be sky-high no matter what, and regardless of how the movie plays out there are always going to be naysayers who will say nay. THE FORCE AWAKENS had a lot of detractors, despite being highly reviewed by critics. THE LAST JEDI, ironically, is suffering the same outcome. Critics have greeted the film with rave reviews, and of course the film was a box office smash, but already there's a huge debate on how this film compares to the original trilogy, and whether this newest chapter charts the series in a bold new direction or if it derails it like the prequels did.
I personally find the latter a very questionable claim, as I didn't particularly enjoy the prequels all that much -- ATTACK OF THE CLONES was the weak link. THE LAST JEDI is nowhere near that territory -- the performances by everyone involved are terrific and the dialogue is thankfully devoid of any laughable, groanworthy lines. There isn't any winceworthy love story either. Which isn't to say that THE LAST JEDI is flawless.
Picking up from where the last movie left off, Rey (Daisy Ridley) meets Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) on planet Ach-To, but the latter is reluctant to help out on account of a tragedy that he blames himself for. Meanwhile General Leia (the late Carrie Fisher) tries to evacuate the Resistance from Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and his First Order, while hotshot pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaacs) disagrees. Meanwhile former Stormtrooper Finn (John Boyega) tries to take the situation into his own hands. All of this makes THE LAST JEDI the longest of any STAR WARS movie, clocking it at a whopping 153 minutes. For the most part it moves along at a breathless pace, but the second quarter of the movie stalls when our heroes take an unexpected detour to Canto Bight, a newly fashioned casino city planet. Although visually intriguing, this scene takes too long to get through and ultimately builds to what seems to be a pointless attack on Ren's ship, which is nonetheless negated.
There are also a few moments that seem to break plausibility in bizarre ways, particularly one moment where General Leia is literally blown out into space when a photon torpedo smashes her starship, and she somehow uses the Force to pull herself back on board. This scene comes across as too goofy to be believable, more along the lines of SUPERMAN than anything else. Considering that Fisher tragically died last year, it probably would have been better to have her killed off at that point. (Yet she survives anyway.)
Then there's the handling of Supreme Chancellor Snoke (Andy Serkis), a shadowy, bald crone who appears to be the brains behind the whole operation. Surprisingly, however, we get to know very little about him, and he's unexpectedly discarded halfway through. Although at the same time it does provide an interesting twist to how we think the story is going to turn out, it is a bit of a letdown that we don't know who he is or where he came from. On a similar note, some of the film's newer characters, like a potential love-interest for Finn (Rose), a self-appointed codebreaker, DJ, and a female commander who temporarily takes Leia's place on the Rebel ship feel underdeveloped as well.
Despite my quibbles, there's a lot going for THE LAST JEDI. The dynamic between Luke, Rey, and Kylo Ren is compellingly presented and all around engrossing, thanks to the skillful acting of all three performers involved. Hamill, in particular, deserves a shout-out. Although Luke here is portrayed as a depressed, demoralized hermit who initially refuses to have anything to do with the Force, Hamill succeeds in making this incarnation very three-dimensional and sincere. He gets to have an especially epic moment at the end of the movie (no spoilers for what it is). The man is a genius at voice acting, but as an actor he's very underrated, and this is arguably his best work as Luke yet. Ridley, Boyega, Isaacs, the late Fisher, and especially Driver as the emotionally conflicted Ren are all at the top of their game as well.
The cinematography is also deserving of a shout-out; this is probably the best shot of the STAR WARS movies, with a lot of iconic moments that rival any in the series. One very poignant scene toward the end in which Luke gazes off at the binary sunset on the island, in particular, is a fitting callback to A NEW HOPE. The visual effects are top notch, as well, without being overly showy or upstaging the actors. The prequels had gone overboard with this problem, seeming to overload CG-effects for the sake of it. Here it's not so much of an issue.
Perhaps the thing that struck with me most about THE LAST JEDI is how daring and bold this newest entry is. Aside from showing familiar faces in a different light, it also makes the controversial choice of deconstructing some of the tropes that fans have come to expect from STAR WARS, therefore charting a new direction for the series. For some who feel the franchise may grow stale with every entry, this change of pace will be refreshing, but others have been miffed by it. This also very well be the darkest and bleakest STAR WARS entry yet -- there's a high body count in this movie, and one spectacularly staged kamikaze attack (with a brief pause of silence for good effect) is something that we haven't seen in STAR WARS before.
The humor didn't really stand out to me that much, it was more or less there. The only jarring moment for me was when Luke takes time to milk an alien -- but even then it's only brief.
All in all, THE LAST JEDI does take the series in directions that I sometimes agreed with and at others I didn't, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't entertained by it. On the contrary. It's miles above both THE PHANTOM MENACE and ATTACK OF THE CLONES, and arguably more original and less derivative than the (still enjoyable) FORCE AWAKENS. I'm not quite sure where this newest film ranks in the STAR WARS saga -- perhaps a few extra viewings and the eventual next chapter will provide me with a new light. Despite my quibbles with some aspects of the story (mostly in terms of space logic and in a few rushed moments), I found a lot of THE LAST JEDI to my liking, and can recommend it wholeheartedly, if mainly to see Hamill go badass at the finale. Even after seeing it twice, I stand firmly by what I said. It is in no way the nadir of the STAR WARS movies and still surpasses the prequels by far. Just a few (minor) quibbles hold it back from my highest rating.