A movie that is about balance. For both film and fans.

Rating: 8/10 (29 December 2017)

"Star Wars: The Last Jedi" is the eight episode and the ninth film in the "Star Wars" saga. It is written and directed by Rian Johnson and stars Mark Hamill returning as Luke Skywalker, Carrie Fisher returns as Leia and is her last role, Daisy Ridley as Rey, John Boyega as Finn, Oscar Issac as Poe Damoren, and Adam Driver as Kylo Ren. The film also stars Keli Marie Tran, Laura Dern, Benicio Del Toro, Domhnall Gleeson, Andy Serkis and many more actors returning their roles.
As the Resistance try to escape from the clutches of the First Order, Rey has found Luke Skywalker and pleaded with him for help. Easier said than done when Luke Skywalker, a legend, and master of the Jedi Order is refusing to help with Rey or the Resistance, wanting no part of this war. In the meantime, Kylo Ren has internal conflict and tries to figure where is his place in all this.
Before I start this review, I know I was late to see this movie, and most of you have seen it. But ever since this film was released, the internet has been divisive, and I mean almost to the point of causing a Civil War between the Star Wars fandom. Many people are praising it, and many people are shaming it. I find it ironic that there is some weird balance in this; like the force, one good, one bad. Star Wars in a way is all about the balance of things, be it the force of nature, or a ying and yang.
Here is a film that presented itself with not just callbacks but with new things: ideas, concepts, new planets, modern societies, hell, even the new ways of the force. In itself, without thinking of the controversy of The Force Awakens, this movie is different, original so to speak. The film makes you think of this one way, but it goes to the next.
There is one word to summarize the previous sentences: unpredictable.
The Last Jedi is unpredictable.
And I like it.
The Last Jedi is filled to the brim with great performances, especially from Mark Hamill, great cinematography, exciting action sequences, great score by John Williams, and great twists and turns with the plot.
Please for anyone who saw the film, no spoilers.
I liked Luke Skywalker's story in this. I like that he was a man who was once devoted to a belief in hope, but ultimately realizes that maybe what he learned was a lie. I like that he had personal conflict with himself and tries to hide from his past.
Carrie Fischer gives off her great final role as Leia Organa who kicks ass and takes names. And for those who say about that one particular scene
(which I will not mention because of (a) spoilers and (b) will probably cause of flame war in the co I do not think that that was a bad scene; in a way, it almost makes sense.
Rey's story is expanded more in this film as she learns more about herself and her past. Along with Kylo Ren who we learn more about his past. The scenes with these two together are great from their dialogue to their interactions. I felt that their story alone together is almost a great theme about balance and how if it works together, it could achieve a greater purpose. I will not say further more with these two, you will have to see it for yourself.
The movie is filled with tension in most scenes. Very thick tension that almost makes your feet go up and down repeatedly.
The film is long though. This would make it the longest Star Wars film to date unless if episode ix tops it. Is the long runtime bad? No I don't think so. But there were two scenes in the film that felt like one of them was the last act and the other was just filler.
Which bring me some of my issues with the movie. I don't necessarily think that these scenes are bad per say; they are enjoyable to look at, and they have their own weight to them, but I think that the scene with Finn and Rose, a new character in the saga, should have been in some small spin off story in a cartoon, because it was really just filler and served no purpose to the story. In the same time, I don't think the filler scenes were bad itself. I think they were good scenes because in someway they expand the Star Wars universe a bit further and not with your typical Star Wars fashion but more of something that was more grounded and relatable with our own real world.
I wish I could say more, but I really enjoyed The Last Jedi. I do not believe that this movie should have universal hatred just because it was either too different or it wasn't following the expanded universe or it wasn't fitting with their expectations. Star Wars is a film, and a film can be interpreted in many ways. But when it comes to someone who is making a movie that has a massive following and is also a fan himself, only to be shot down because his ideas did not fit their's is a total disrespect for either fandom or filmmaking.
I learned about false expectations the hard way, but I realized that that was my mistake. I didn't like a film because I was expecting something that I was used to seeing, but when I saw the film, it wasn't what I thought I wanted. And in return I disliked it. But then I watched the film again, and again with a different mind set and I realize that the source material is not mine to control, because I didn't create it. My expectations were selfish and personal, but in some way those expectations could be bad ideas that could hurt a film.
The point is this: don't watch a movie, expecting your speculations and believing that those speculations might come out as true. You would be in for either something good or something disappointing.
The Last Jedi is not disappointing. It was fantastic and I applaud it for its unpredictability and new ideas.
"Star Wars: The Last Jedi" gets an 8.5 out of 10.