Star Wars: The Last Jedi

***Star Wars: The Last Jedi***, also known as ***Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi***, is the eighth film in the *Star Wars* saga, the second installment in the series' sequel trilogy, and the sequel to *Star Wars: The Force Awakens*. It was written and directed by Rian Johnson, and opened in cinemas on December 15, 2017. The sequel, *Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker*, was released on December 20, 2019.

## Plot

Luke Skywalker's peaceful and solitary existence gets upended when he encounters Rey, a young woman who shows strong signs of the Force. Her desire to learn the ways of the Jedi forces Luke to make a decision that changes their lives forever. Meanwhile, Kylo Ren and General Hux lead the First Order in an all-out assault against Leia and the Resistance for supremacy of the galaxy.

## Why It's Great

1. Its predacessor, *The Force Awakens*, was criticized for adhering too igidly to the same essential plot beats as *A New Hope*. This film, on the other hand, boldly breaks with series convention and strays far from what is expected of *Star Wars*.
2. To add to its different narrative approach, *The Last Jedi*makes a point of putting a different spin on many of the core philosophies underlying the franchise.
	* The flipside of Poe Dameron's reckless attitude results in the entire Resistance bomber fleet being killed in the film’s opening scene. Later on, due to his arrogance, Poe very nearly derails Leia and Holdo’s plan to save the few Resistance fighters that are left.
3. It explores the Force more meaningfully than any previous entry in the series.
4. Despite being the bleakest *Star Wars* film (With the possible exceptions of *The Empire Strikes Back* and *Rogue One: A Star Wars Story*), it doesn't dwell on defeat – rather, it teaches that failure can make us even stronger.
5. The visual design, cinematography, lighting and integration of digital and practical effects are all top-notch. All the action scenes are well-shot and excellent from a visual standpoint, and nearly all scenes are beautifully realized.
	* The scene of Holdo's kamikaze is stunningly-executed.
	* The Yoda puppet is an amazing replica of the original puppet used in *The Empire Strikes Back* and *Return of the Jedi*. The original molds and the original painter for Yoda's eyes were even used.
	* Speaking of which, the scene where the Force ghost of Yoda hits Luke on the face with his stick is a funny moment and a nice call-back to *The Empire Strikes Back*.
6. The sound design is excellent, and most tracks from John Williams' score deliver the precise mood and tone they are supposed to.
7. It features some of the best acting in the entire series; Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Andy Serkis do great jobs as their respective characters, and of the younger cast Adam Driver in particular also puts in a brilliant performance.
8. Luke Skywalker is given an interesting and logical development of his character from a wide-eyed young student to a world-weary old master. After inadverently creating Kylo Ren, disappearing from the known galaxy and hidding somewhere no one can find, it's no surprise that he is resentful of Rey coming to lure him back to the fight with the First Order.
9. While his screentime is rather small, Snoke is still a menancing and memorable villain, and his confrontation with Rey in his throne room solidifies just how strong in the Force he is.
10. Rose Tico is a likable, well-developed heroine who sacrifices more than Finn or Rey, and her line about how they'll win "not by fighting what we hate... but saving what we love." is a perfect summation of the film as a whole.
11. The character of DJ can be seen as an interesting commentary on the morality of war.
12. The scene where Leia Force-pulls herself onto the bridge airlock of the *Raddus*cruiser is the first time she's shown Force skills beyond her link with Luke and Han; it'd be already impressive from any other Force user, but from Leia, who's never been shown to have a lot of skill, it's incredible.
13. The Porgs are very cute to look at.
	* In particular, BB-8 is still cute.
14. There are some references to the three films in the prequel trilogy, like when Luke mentions how the Jedi fell and how Darth Sidious formed the Empire.
15. The scene where Luke speaks to R2-D2 aboard the *Millennium Falcon* is pitch-perfect and genuinely touching.
16. It's not a film the audience can easily predict; it’s probably the most shocking *Star Wars* film since *The Empire Strikes Back*. From beginning to end, there are surprises in store, from subverting expectations of Poe’s heroics to bluntly dismissing fan theories about certain characters.
17. Kylo Ren really becomes his own character here and is set apart as a villain unlike any the franchise has ever seen, from smashing his mask to pieces, hesitating over killing his mother and bonding with Rey via the Force.
18. Rey and Kylo Ren have the best developed romantic chemistry out of any of the *Star Wars*films. They are bonded by the Force, and while they began this bond with hostility, they do begin to empathize with one another. Despite standing on opposite sides, Kylo and Rey gradually connect because they understand each other's loneliness and their withering faith in their respective heroes.
19. The scene where Rey and Kylo Ren team up to fight Snoke's Praetorian guards is one of the stunning action sequences in the entire saga.
20. The battle between Finn and Captain Phasma that was teased in the trailers is an awesome scene.
21. The scene of Finn accepting that he is now fighting for something bigger than himself as he heads towards the battering ram cannon is extremely well-handled.
22. Much like Darth Vader in *Rogue One,* Yoda gets much of his original characterization restored after going through a personality overhaul in the prequel trilogy. Whereas Yoda in those films was noted for a frequently somber, serious tone, put predicates before subjects in his dialogue on a near-constant basis and tended not to express emotion strongly (at least when not physically fighting), *The Last Jedi* follows the template of *The Empire Strikes Back* in making Yoda a much more optimistic and expressive figure while de-emphasizing his famous speech pattern.
23. Luke and Leia finally meet again for the first time in years. Even though it's only for a few moments, they get to share one last embrace before going their separate ways.
24. The duel between Luke Skywalker and Kylo Ren on Crait is absolutely excellent, and the revelation that Luke was projecting an image of himself across the galaxy just to distract Kylo Ren and the First Order only makes it even more powerful.
25. The death of Luke Skywalker is extremely emotionally powerful, and his final moments are a perfect end to his arc.

## Bad Qualities

1. The Canto Bight subplot has a lot of filler, consisting of Finn taking the time to run around the casino wide-eyed and wanting to have some fun gambling and Rose spending multiple scenes worried about capitalism and animal cruelty despite the fact that they are on an urgent mission to save their friends. This subplot is also never brought up again.
2. Luke Skywalker's reaction after learning about the death of Han Solo was filmed, but the scene was ultimately cut from the movie and the scene just ends after Luke asks about him upon realizing the *Millennium Falcon* is on his island but Han is nowhere to be seen.
3. Chewbacca is very underused except for interactions with the porgs and taking Rey to places via the Falcon, and isn't shown to be grieving for the death of Han Solo.
4. Captain Phasma is wasted again, as she fails to execute Finn and Rose, loses a fight with Finn and dies again.
5. Snoke is killed off all of a sudden without having any of his backstory or motives explained, though it was later clarified in *The Rise of Skywalker*that he was a clone created by Palpatine.
6. The Knights of Ren are absent and only indirectly mentioned by Luke in one scene.
7. Some problems with the visual effects.
	* Rey is frequently shown gripping her lightsaber by its blade.
	* During the throne room fight, one of Snoke's Praetorian Guards wields two knives. One of the knives is digitally erased at a certain point in the scene when this Guard grabs Rey. The Guard makes a drawing motion across her stomach with his empty hand, Rey reacts as if she has been cut, but the knife is nowhere to be seen, except for an outline that couldn't quite be completely erased.
	* In another example from the throne room scene, one of the guards is decapitated by Kylo Ren. However, a couple shots later, the guard's corpse can be briefly, but clearly, seen with his head still attached to his body.

## Reception

The film received positive reviews from critics, receiving a 90% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes; however, it divided the more devoted fans of the *Star Wars* franchise, receiving a 43% audience rating. Some fans have considered *Star Wars: The Last Jedi* to be the second-worst Star Wars movie after the *Star Wars Holiday Special* to the point where the prequels, namely *The Phantom Menace* and *Attack of the Clones*, once widely considered the worst films in the saga, are now looked on more favorably in hindsight by some fans.

## Box Office

The film made $1.3 billion at the box office worldwide over the course of its theatrical run, with a budget of $200–317 million, though it had a colossal 68.5% second-week drop at the US box office. The film was also a box-office bomb in China, as movie exhibitors dropped the film's showtimes by 92% before it was pulled entirely after two weeks.

## External links

* ***Star Wars: The Last Jedi*** on IMDB
* ***Star Wars: The Last Jedi*** on Rotten Tomatoes