I don’t review things often, and this film is a particularly difficult piece of media to review. Please don’t take this sort of statement (as there will no doubt be several) as something inherently negative, because I don’t believe it is, and it certainly was not for me. Even now, I am simply having trouble putting words to paper, because of the impact The Last Jedi had upon me.
This is a film which has taught me a great deal, not only about Star Wars, but about the fanbase, and even about myself, and how I approach both the familiar and the unexpected. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from this new era of Star Wars is to do away with expectation. Expectation, in the world of Star Wars, is almost akin to arrogance; we follow Anakin’s own path, believing we know everything, that our word and our views, and ours alone, are gospel. And when contradicted, we find ourselves in places of darkness and anger. I think that sometimes, we, as fans, feel as though we own and are owed much more than we really do and are. The Force Awakens laid out so much, and left so much room for expansion and answers, that many of us, no doubt, jumped the gun and filled in our own. Fan theory is a wonderful thing; hell, I’ve got a 30+ page report about an alien species no one cares about, which is considerably more than half-based on fan theory. But, again, I refer you back to Anakin when our views are challenged.
I feel the need to address this aspect of the experience before I can move on. Please don’t think for a minute that I am dismissing the film’s flaws – for there were a number – in favour of bashing fans and fan theory. To do so would be equally as arrogant; said flaws will be addressed when the time comes. This unfortunate and toxic corner of our fanbase, however, is something I feel the need to draw attention to, for it is frequently the loudest corner of the fanbase whenever something new joins the saga.
It is abundantly clear that The Last Jedi is a divisive film; there is almost no middle ground to this one. I have seen either overt hatred or complete adoration for it. I happen to like the middle ground in as many walks of life as I can find it, and I can truly see where both sides are coming from on this one. Far more than I did with The Force Awakens. I almost feel it fitting that I am writing this review while watching The Force Awakens with my family (Rey has just been kidnapped 
? ); even though I’m finding myself frequently distracted, I’m finding more and more to talk about.
When The Force Awakens came out two years ago, I think it’s safe to say that more was riding on this film than any other in film history. We thought Star Wars films were done, we lost George Lucas, and suddenly found our future in the hands of, of all people, a Star Trek director. I shan’t revisit this, but I’m sure you’ll all remember how averse to it I was…right up until I saw the film. I went in with zero expectations, other than to see a brand new Star Wars film, and came out with my now-favourite film of all time. When I watch and think about The Force Awakens, I can only take comfort in how much it looks and FEELS like Star Wars. As many have pointed out, this was a very safe film; maybe too safe for some. There is a certain “poetry” to the Star Wars saga and The Force Awakens continued it perfectly, and I think it only natural that we all expected The Last Jedi to follow on. When I sit here and think about The Last Jedi, I don’t have that same sense of comfort. In fact, if anything, I feel unsettled.
There was an article, recently, which made a very interesting point – one that I have taken very much to heart when considering the latest addition to the Star Wars saga. In it, it is postulated that, when dealing with Star Wars, Rian Johnson made the observation that stagnation is the death of all things. Stagnation led to the rise of the Empire, the Sith, the First Order. Even though forces of good opposed them at every step, the cycle remained. It’s a lesson that reverberates even within our own world. This was a film that took risks in what it showed us, what it told us…and who it killed. This was a film which forced us to re-examine what we knew, or thought we knew about Star Wars.
I think for many, The Last Jedi introduced some uncomfortable truths. Luke Skywalker returns to us after thirty-four years; we remember him the sprightly, young hero, eager to redeem and forgive, and refusing to ever give up on a cause. We are now confronted by a grizzled old man, worn down by one too many failures, and, arguably, defeated by the very cycle which Mr. Johnson is supposedly trying to break. Most of us grew up wanting to be Jedi, using any and all long, thin objects we could get our grubby hands on as lightsabers, trying to make mom’s favourite lamp float, or force-choking our teachers and siblings. We are now told that the very beings we envied as children had every reason to be destroyed, and should stay that way. While the idea of the Jedi allowing themselves to be used as tools, and being destroyed by their own dogma is not an unfamiliar idea to many fans (I, myself, have never really liked the Jedi for that very reason), it is now an idea which is out in the open. It is an idea which is now canon, an idea which our own Luke Skywalker has had.
Once again, I’d like to refer to my Anakin analogy. I think far too many people went into this film with their own expectations and ideas, forgetting that this is NOT their story. So many people wanted Luke to return as we knew him, but after years of seclusion and the betrayal of his own nephew, why wouldn’t he be as he is? In the same sense, I think so many of us wanted Rey’s parents to be someone of importance – Obi-Wan Kenobi, Captain Phasma, even Boba Fett. But again, why would, why SHOULD her parents be anyone other than who they were? Anakin was a slave, Luke was farmboy, and Rey is a scavenger; both in an out of Star Wars, the heroes we cling to most often come from the most modest of backgrounds. Anakin, himself, was literally “nobody,” until his path was revealed for him. AND we forget as well that we are still only two-thirds of the way into this saga, and should not expect, at this point, all questions to be answered. Sometimes, as Yoda would say, we must “unlearn what we have learned.”
This is partially what makes this review a difficult one – I keep needing to remind myself that we still have one more film to tie up everything. Not just this trilogy, but the entire nine-film saga. If anything, I won’t be able to properly review any of the films until the trilogy is complete.
I have said very little of the bulk of the film, so far, because I feel there is so much to be said about the ideology of what The Last Jedi represents for the Star Wars saga. This is, without a doubt, a film which needs a bare minimum of two viewings in order to fully take in everything. I think any first-time viewer is likely to be overwhelmed with everything going on, the first time. It leaves very little time to emotionally process anything, at first, and I walked out of my local cinema with Ed, not sure of what I had just watched. That confusion lasted two full days; the day after, I literally wandered around my office trying to consider everything. But this film is like a fine wine, and once it’s had time to settle and mature, it can truly be appreciated. The second viewing did it for me, and I found myself actually being able to feel, this time around. There were moments in The Last Jedi which left my jaw hanging – the showdown between Rey, Kylo Ren, and the Praetorian Guards, and Luke’s standoff against the walkers on Crait. There were also moments which left me…well, wondering. I felt the Canto Bight scenes were unusual to say the last…but, at the same time, were they really any different to the Cantina, the Coruscant chase, or the podrace? I felt like this film was, easily, the most different film in the saga, but my mother, with whom I saw The Last Jedi for the second time, felt that it was exactly as could be expected, and that it continued the saga perfectly. And the more I think about that and what I’ve seen, the more I’m starting to agree with her. Everything, every part of the film we have seen, we have seen before in some form or another. The Raddus outrunning Snoke’s ship like the Tantive IV outran the Destroyer, the fathier-racing like the podrace on Tatooine, the attempted execution of Finn and Rose like the Geonosis arena.
Even beyond these moments was the cinematography of The Last Jedi, which I can honestly say was the best in the saga by a considerable amount. The overarching theme of this film is contrast and conflict, as we see in the starkness of the red, white, and black motifs everywhere, from Snoke’s throne room, to the Canto Bight casino, culminating in the showdown on Crait. The film was, simply, visually stunning, and it was complemented perfectly by the soundtrack. I said two years ago that I believe the soundtrack for The Force Awakens was Williams’ best ever, and while I still believe that, the soundtrack for The Last Jedi is easily on par with it. The score is emotional, thrilling, and dark at times, and truly carried the film. I’ve found myself listening to it repeatedly, looking for all the nods to the Original and Prequel trilogies.
Now, I’m not a filmmaker and have little idea of the intricacies of cinema. Arguably, my own ideas about what I consider strong storytelling tend to go against the grain of what is accepted. But what I do believe is that the film suffers from choppiness, hence why I recommend at least two viewings. It was difficult to keep up with where the film was going, while trying to emotionally connect with it, and I feel as though there were multiple instances where a scene could have benefited from an extra ten seconds. In comparison to The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi feels weaker and less solid as a film, and I admit that the story didn’t grab me quite as much. When I consider my own reaction, however, I try very hard to be mindful of my own expectations and weigh them against what we received. You see, where I went into The Force Awakens completely blank, I admit to going into The Last Jedi with a set of expectations, even if I did not want to acknowledge them. On the one hand, I can say that it’s natural to have expectations after what The Force Awakens set up, and yet on the other, I still ascribe to the “no expectations, no exceptions” philosophy, which I, admittedly, failed on this instance, and allowed my experience to be affected by it. If there is one phrase that is better suited to this film than any other, it is quite simply “Your Snoke Theory Sucks.” Take out the word “Snoke” and it’s a phrase I believe every fan should keep in mind going into any film. It’s ironic that, as Star Wars fans, we fail to take to heart many of our own lessons within our own saga.
Ultimately, I believe this film is what you make of it. You can choose to see it as the death of all things, or as the spark that will light a fire unlike any before it. I can see why many people hated it – it was quite choppy at times, made some interesting decisions regarding the histories and fates of certain characters, and suffered from weak writing in a couple of moments. At the same time, I also see why it is already so beloved. It closed out the Skywalker saga perfectly, gave our princess the most perfect final film, and took not only this trilogy but all three trilogies in directions we haven’t gone yet. This film unlocked levels of depth and darkness in Star Wars and went places we’ve never gone before, while still maintaining a familiar package, whether we see it or not. When I think of this film, the shot of Luke standing against the walkers comes to mind. Something we know, we love standing against an impossible barrier – a barrier which does everything in its power to tear him down and destroy him, to make this whole thing go the way it, and it alone, wants. But as Luke has said “this is not going to go the way you think,” and it did not. It took the direction it wanted to go and needed to go; it has opened a new path for the saga to continue and conclude in a mind-blowing way.
And at the end of the day, when the dust has cleared and the barrage has passed, this film, this saga will be Luke, standing defiantly.
“Let the past die. Kill it if you must.”
I give Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi 8.5/10
Guest review by Lizzi Kartay-Dod
A Neimoidian loving Star Wars fan from Exeter, Lizzi has posted extensively on the saga and oversees Semper Neimoidiana which looks at Neimoidian focused collecting and articles.
This post was first published on Lizzi’s Facebook page.