The Last Jedi: Not the Sequel You're Looking For
Well, it's been a minute, hasn't it? Since we've I've last blogged a review, the summer has seen it's share of movies both good and others not so much. Many of these flicks left barely an impression and were forgotten almost as soon as my popcorn was gone. Rarely did I anticipate any particular film's release with any sense of anticipation or apprehension, with perhaps the exception of the subject of my next cinematic diatribe: Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
Sequels are stubborn things. They can either outshine and compliment the original, or fall disastrously short and leave you pining for the magic of the original title. I've never found a sequel I've been indifferent to and TLJ is no exception. Since it's release, it's been praised or lambasted with equal fervor for reasons both good and, well, not.
From the opening scene, evoking a World War II bombing run and more physics-defying action than you could shake a Bantha at, to to the semi-satisfying finale that still left me with more questions than answers, The Last Jedi tries hard to be something different than we've seen before. Perhaps too hard. Now, before you write me off as one of the haters, hear me out: my issue isn't that the movie didn't turn out the way I wanted, it's that writing-wise, it just wasn't a very good film. Submitted for your approval is my own take. Buckle up, it's a long one!
Warning: Big Fat Spoilers Ahead!
Meanwhile, Rey confronts a reluctant Luke Skywalker, doing his best grumpy cat impression, who is clearly disillusioned by the failures of the Jedi and is right at home in self-imposed exile (I won't go into too much detail here, but let me just say I will never look at blue milk the same way again). The comedy used early in this sequence skirts dangerously close to slapstick and feels uncomfortably out of place. I'm all for tossing in light-hearted moments to ease tension, but director/screenwriter Rian Johnson tends to overdo it to the point of parody.
Ultimately, Luke agrees to train Rey in the ways of the Force. Here, the film mercifully returns the Force to its mystical roots, eschewing the ridiculous midichlorian nonsense of the early prequels. So well done was Luke's explanation of it, I swear I could almost feel it while sitting in the theater (Nerd Alert number three). Rey's communication with Kylo through telepathy add a deeper layer to the Force, and Luke's conflicting account of how his former pupil turned to the dark side start you to wonder who is really in the right.
Finn and Rose arrive on the affluent planet of Canto Bight and sneak into a casino straight out of a James Bond movie in search of a reliable hacker. Enter the inimitable Benicio del Toro as DJ, a shifty hacker with a speech impediment and questionable morals. With his help, Finn and Rose rescue some racehorse-like creatures from captivity and escape the planet. My personal issue with this whole venture is not that it was unnecessary - though it did slow the pace a bit -- but that it smacked of anti-capitalist propaganda. Not that Star Wars is any stranger to politics (trade blockade, anyone?), but it occasionally came across a bit preachy and I was happy to see everyone get off the planet just so we could return to the adventure.
Around this point in the journey, it seems Rian Johnson finally realized he was writing a Star Wars film. Poe stages a mutiny that goes horribly wrong; Admiral Holdo sacrifices herself in an epic and beautifully executed suicide by hyperspace which buys time for the Resistance to escape to the nearby planet of Crait; Finn and Rose are captured by the First Order, betrayed by DJ (seriously, who didn't see that coming?); Rey arrives on Kylo's ship and confronts Snoke.
Two people die in the next half hour: Supreme Leader Snoke and Phasma. Snoke's death at the hands of Kylo was at once satisfying and inexplicable. Someone that strong in the Force should have seen a lightsaber moving in his peripheral, but his obliviousness is our villain's gain, the ensuing fight with Snoke's guards is just masterful! Kylo takes the mantle of Supreme Leader and his character only deepens. I was happy to see Phasma go, she was always a bit of an unnecessary nuisance and a disappointingly shallow and undeveloped character. She won't be missed -- unless she comes back. I mean, this is Star Wars!
The Resistance finally faces down a siege of their base by the First Order on Crait. A head-scratchingly anti-climactic speeder assault chews up about 15 minutes of screen time. The final showdown between Luke's Force projection and Kylo on the planet is expertly done and is perhaps one of the few real satisfying scenes in this whole film. Luke's final gaze onto the setting twin suns before becoming one with the Force is a fitting full-circle for the old hero's journey. Rey uses her newfound Force skills to help the remaining Resistance escape to fight another day, and sell more action figures. Kylo is probably off brooding somewhere.
Final Verdict:
At the end of the day (which is what you'll need to watch this 3 and 1/2 hour behemoth), TLJ was a decent film on its own, but not a very good Star Wars film. It really didn't answer anything we were dying to know, had trouble finding its footing for at least the first half, had issues with pacing and interjected an otherwise palatable adventure with unnecessary humor and out-of-character actions. The only one I truly enjoyed watching was Kylo. Though Kelly Marie Tran did a great job in her performance, the character of Rose felt a bit superfluous.
Finally, I'm a bit surprised that for being a writer who gave us great Sci-Fi fare such as Looper, Rian Johnson appears to have turned in his first draft of TLJ for production. After closer inspection, TLJ is not a film that redeems itself for what it got wrong. I am forced to give it an A for effort, but a far less flattering score for execution.
Old Cinema Score: B-
New Cinema Score: C-
Sequels are stubborn things. They can either outshine and compliment the original, or fall disastrously short and leave you pining for the magic of the original title. I've never found a sequel I've been indifferent to and TLJ is no exception. Since it's release, it's been praised or lambasted with equal fervor for reasons both good and, well, not.
From the opening scene, evoking a World War II bombing run and more physics-defying action than you could shake a Bantha at, to to the semi-satisfying finale that still left me with more questions than answers, The Last Jedi tries hard to be something different than we've seen before. Perhaps too hard. Now, before you write me off as one of the haters, hear me out: my issue isn't that the movie didn't turn out the way I wanted, it's that writing-wise, it just wasn't a very good film. Submitted for your approval is my own take. Buckle up, it's a long one!
Warning: Big Fat Spoilers Ahead!
From the familiar opening strains of John Williams' iconic theme, the first scene finds us in the midst of a last-ditch bombing mission, led by a particularly reckless Poe Dameron, to shake off a pursuing First Order dreadnought so the Resistance can evacuate their base to parts unknown. It's a typical seat-of-your-pants Star Wars space battle, but it completely ignored physics. The Resistance bombers lumber along like B-17's over Berlin, because apparently, they have a top speed of 20 mph or something. They drop their payload rather than launching it like a torpedo, cuz somehow gravity magically exists in the vacuum of space when the plot calls for it.
I can hear you now, "The Dreadnought probably had gravity wells, and the bombs were caught in them." First off -- Nerd Alert! Secondly, that was never specified in the dialogue. Finally, Interdictor Cruisers, not dreadnoughts have gravity wells. A good nerd reads their technical manuals (yeah, Nerd Alert again. Shut up). Anywhoo, the last bomber's payload hits the target, and the Resistance jets out of the system, but not before an insignificant character dies who we will find out is connected to an only slightly lesser insignificant character, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
Kylo Ren and his ships catch up to the Resistance fleet, via a tracking device I still don't know how they were able to plant. In the midst of the ensuing battle, Leia becomes space debris and, get this, uses the Force to literally fly back to the ship like an intergalactic Mary Poppins!! Apparently, Force users can negate the effects of zero-g and the instant freezing of the vacuum of space. At this point, with Leia incapacitated, command falls to the seemingly incompetent Vice Admiral Holdo. Her passive strategy frustrates Poe, who sends Finn, BB-88 and the bubbly Resistance mechanic Rose Tico on a secret mission to disable the tracking device. Apparently, all able-bodied hackers we killed in the battle, or no one knows how to rewire anything.
Thus begins the most frustrating part of this film: pursued by the First Order fleet, the Resistance fleet finds themselves (and I can't believe I'm actually writing this) running out of gas! As if they only had 20 bucks to fill the tank at the ARCO station before they left the base! Rather than send out a distress signal, find a nearby planet sympathetic to the Resistance, actually fight back or any number of logical things they could have done, they instead decide to slowly run from the First Order as their ships are gradually picked off. (Why the First Order didn't simply accelerate and pound the cruiser into space dust is just one more plot hole big enough to drive a Hutt through).
Thus begins the most frustrating part of this film: pursued by the First Order fleet, the Resistance fleet finds themselves (and I can't believe I'm actually writing this) running out of gas! As if they only had 20 bucks to fill the tank at the ARCO station before they left the base! Rather than send out a distress signal, find a nearby planet sympathetic to the Resistance, actually fight back or any number of logical things they could have done, they instead decide to slowly run from the First Order as their ships are gradually picked off. (Why the First Order didn't simply accelerate and pound the cruiser into space dust is just one more plot hole big enough to drive a Hutt through).
Meanwhile, Rey confronts a reluctant Luke Skywalker, doing his best grumpy cat impression, who is clearly disillusioned by the failures of the Jedi and is right at home in self-imposed exile (I won't go into too much detail here, but let me just say I will never look at blue milk the same way again). The comedy used early in this sequence skirts dangerously close to slapstick and feels uncomfortably out of place. I'm all for tossing in light-hearted moments to ease tension, but director/screenwriter Rian Johnson tends to overdo it to the point of parody.
Ultimately, Luke agrees to train Rey in the ways of the Force. Here, the film mercifully returns the Force to its mystical roots, eschewing the ridiculous midichlorian nonsense of the early prequels. So well done was Luke's explanation of it, I swear I could almost feel it while sitting in the theater (Nerd Alert number three). Rey's communication with Kylo through telepathy add a deeper layer to the Force, and Luke's conflicting account of how his former pupil turned to the dark side start you to wonder who is really in the right.
Finn and Rose arrive on the affluent planet of Canto Bight and sneak into a casino straight out of a James Bond movie in search of a reliable hacker. Enter the inimitable Benicio del Toro as DJ, a shifty hacker with a speech impediment and questionable morals. With his help, Finn and Rose rescue some racehorse-like creatures from captivity and escape the planet. My personal issue with this whole venture is not that it was unnecessary - though it did slow the pace a bit -- but that it smacked of anti-capitalist propaganda. Not that Star Wars is any stranger to politics (trade blockade, anyone?), but it occasionally came across a bit preachy and I was happy to see everyone get off the planet just so we could return to the adventure.
Around this point in the journey, it seems Rian Johnson finally realized he was writing a Star Wars film. Poe stages a mutiny that goes horribly wrong; Admiral Holdo sacrifices herself in an epic and beautifully executed suicide by hyperspace which buys time for the Resistance to escape to the nearby planet of Crait; Finn and Rose are captured by the First Order, betrayed by DJ (seriously, who didn't see that coming?); Rey arrives on Kylo's ship and confronts Snoke.
Two people die in the next half hour: Supreme Leader Snoke and Phasma. Snoke's death at the hands of Kylo was at once satisfying and inexplicable. Someone that strong in the Force should have seen a lightsaber moving in his peripheral, but his obliviousness is our villain's gain, the ensuing fight with Snoke's guards is just masterful! Kylo takes the mantle of Supreme Leader and his character only deepens. I was happy to see Phasma go, she was always a bit of an unnecessary nuisance and a disappointingly shallow and undeveloped character. She won't be missed -- unless she comes back. I mean, this is Star Wars!
The Resistance finally faces down a siege of their base by the First Order on Crait. A head-scratchingly anti-climactic speeder assault chews up about 15 minutes of screen time. The final showdown between Luke's Force projection and Kylo on the planet is expertly done and is perhaps one of the few real satisfying scenes in this whole film. Luke's final gaze onto the setting twin suns before becoming one with the Force is a fitting full-circle for the old hero's journey. Rey uses her newfound Force skills to help the remaining Resistance escape to fight another day, and sell more action figures. Kylo is probably off brooding somewhere.
Final Verdict:
At the end of the day (which is what you'll need to watch this 3 and 1/2 hour behemoth), TLJ was a decent film on its own, but not a very good Star Wars film. It really didn't answer anything we were dying to know, had trouble finding its footing for at least the first half, had issues with pacing and interjected an otherwise palatable adventure with unnecessary humor and out-of-character actions. The only one I truly enjoyed watching was Kylo. Though Kelly Marie Tran did a great job in her performance, the character of Rose felt a bit superfluous.
Finally, I'm a bit surprised that for being a writer who gave us great Sci-Fi fare such as Looper, Rian Johnson appears to have turned in his first draft of TLJ for production. After closer inspection, TLJ is not a film that redeems itself for what it got wrong. I am forced to give it an A for effort, but a far less flattering score for execution.
Old Cinema Score: B-
New Cinema Score: C-
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