By: Mike Maizel
(Massive spoilers ahead, you’ve been warned!)
If you’re like me, you’ve been waiting a long time for the latest installment in the Star Wars saga and let’s face it, Rian Johnson did not disappoint! The Last Jedi takes us on an adventure following the Resistance’s dwindling hope as the First Order flexes their mighty power to snuff out any signs of rebellion throughout the galaxy. It is up to the Resistance to survive and “Light the fire that will burn the First Order down.”-Poe Dameron. Now, let’s see why The Last Jedi is one of the best Star Wars movies of all time.
The Last Jedi was a very different Star Wars movie than we’ve seen. Fans (or internet trolls) seem to be divided on the latest Star Wars movie for reasons I don’t fully understand. I must agree with critics this time because The Last Jedi was an amazing movie. The Last Jedi showed us a side of the Force that we haven’t seen in movies before, such as Force Protection, The Rule of Two, and The Grey Jedi.
While The Last Jedi didn’t answer all of the questions we had from The Force Awakens, we did learn a lot more about what’s been going on for the past thirty years or so, since Return of the Jedi took place. Episode VIII delivers many twists like the revealing of Rey’s parents, Kylo Ren’s assassination of Snoke, and Luke’s parallel to both Obi Wan and Yoda at points throughout the movie. But was Kylo Ren killing Snoke really that much of a twist? Isn’t that what The Rule of Two is all about? Meanwhile, Finn wakes up from his coma and meets a maintenance worker named Rose by “chance,” which is code for Finn was pulling a Han by bailing on the doomed spaceship for selfish reasons. The two of them figure out that the First Order is only able to track the ship through lightspeed because of some tracking mechanism that can be secretly deactivated. Poe agrees to cover for the pair while they first travel to Canto Bite to find the “master hacker,” then infiltrate Snoke’s ship to deactivate the tracking mechanism. Things don’t go as planned on Canto Bite but Finn and Rose do find Benecio Del Toro(DJ), who calls himself a thief and a hacker. They agree to work with this shady character but of course he turns on them, which royally screws over the Resistance’s plans to sneak away in unarmed escape pods. Luckily, Luke shows up to “face the entire First Order alone with just a laser sword” on Crait and saves the day! The remaining survivors of the Resistance manage to escape on the Millennium Falcon and hope is once again restored.
By no means was The Last Jedi perfect; Disney added some of that trademark Marvel humor to movie. Personally, I enjoyed having some lighthearted moments in an otherwise dark movie (General Hugs anyone?), especially one that is over 2.5 hours long. The Last Jedi showed a few similarities to Episode V, such as the rebels escaping at the beginning, Rey (a Jedi novice) finding and convincing Luke (a Jedi master) to help train her, and Rey not heeding Luke’s advice to not follow her visions (can I get a “IT’S A TRAP?”). Other than those similarities, Episode VIII was a very different Star Wars movie, opting for twists that usually come at the end of a trilogy rather than the middle.
Overall, The Last Jedi was a very fun and entertaining Star Wars movie that brought us originality we haven’t seen since the prequels (not saying the prequels are good, just that they’re original). Mark Hamill even brought us an old grumpy Yoda-style Luke Skywalker, which makes sense since following the consequences of training young Ben Solo.
Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver both did a fantastic job reprising their roles and conveying the struggle to keep the balance in the force while they find their places in the wars to come.
Finally, Carrie Fisher delivered a very powerful final performance as General Leia Organa, but we’re left wondering what could be next for the General? We finally got to see our Princess control the force. Episode IX has some very big shoes to fill as Carrie Fisher will truly be missed. The Last Jedi is best summed up when Luke says, “The Rebellion is reborn today. The war is just beginning, and I will not be the last Jedi.” While this is a very quick review of The Last Jedi, this could have easily been 5 pages long, I want to know what you thought of The Last Jedi? Will Luke Skywalker return in Episode IX? Do you think we’ll see the Knights of Ren in Episode IX? Sound off in the comments!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mike Maizel is a regular tech beat reporter, movie reviewer, and producer for NewsWatch. He loves all things tech, and can regularly be found outdoors in the mountains of Colorado.
