After two years of high anticipation to the sequel of “The Force Awakens”, I saw it on opening night on a Thursday with two of my friends. It was a wild ride to say the least. This film that Rian Johnson made is full of action, depth in the characters, and a very detailed look at Jedi lore that reveals a lot about what the force is. This is a lot to take in for one movie, which requires a second viewing. It’s not because this is a great movie to see it a second time, it’s to get a better understanding of what’s actually going on and to pay attention to other details that you didn’t get watching it the once. It’s much better after I saw it again the next day. In order to fully understand this story, you need to see it twice.
Rey’s (Daisy Ridley) story continues on Ahch-To with Luke Skywalker who doesn’t want anything to do with the war between The First Order and the Resistance. His past is so sad and dark that he doesn’t want to add to any more of it. Particularly when it’s involving Kylo Ren. It’s up to Rey to convince Luke to overcome his despair and to help with the fight. And across the galaxy, we have Leia (Carrie Fisher), Poe Damaron (Oscar Issac) and Finn (John Boyega) who work together to survive the clutches of The First Order. The story is told in a way that the events in this film connects everyone seamlessly.
Johnson’s direction is most key to the success of this movie. The way he puts his camera angles, his cuts, and camera movement definitely mirrors Johnson’s past films to include “The Brother’s Bloom” (2008) and “Looper” (2012). The way we directed certain shots throughout the movie are jaw-dropping, and the best shots were done on Skellig Island for the planet Ahch-To. It’s just amazing how he shot that in such a rocky terrain. The twists and turns that he puts us through make for a fast paced and riveting visual story. It doesn’t stop there. The whole film is centrally controlled by Johnson and nothing veers off from the characters’ stories.
My favorite scene that I won’t go too much into detail is a fight scene in Supreme Leader Snoke’s (Andy Serkis) throne room. It involves a light saber and the Praetorian Guards and nothing can call me back to old samurai movies than this fight. Here you have non-force users using primitive bladed weapons who take on a Jedi. It’s incredible to see this happen on screen and seeing such intense and well-choreographed fighting. This is my favorite scene in the film because it brings the old and new of light saber fighting. It really takes me back to when I saw the older samurai movies to include Hiroshi Inagaki’s “Samurai” trilogy (1954-56). This throne room fight is mixed with stunning effects, sound, and pure hand-to-hand combat. I was just giddy and excited throughout that awesome spectacle.
The last bit I want the address in this review is the sheer uniqueness of this film. There is grand scale to this epic space opera, and yet there is an intimate sub-plot between Rey and Luke. It dives deep into Luke’s motives and his ability to connect to all characters from across the galaxy. With this connection, we begin to understand how he thinks and how much of a part he wants or doesn’t want to play in the lives of the people he cares about. Johnson beautifully shows us how the new and old star wars fans can unite together under the banner of Luke and Rey. This is Rey’s story as much as is Luke’s.
One friend of mine who was with me in the theater wasn’t very convinced that this movie was good. He flat-out criticized this movie due to it’s lack of respect to “Star Wars.” With his response as with a lot of other fans out there who are divisive, as the critics unanimously love it , let me give you my two cents on this. Critics see hundreds of films a year, and most of them are indie films that don’t follow the standard process of big budget blockbuster movies. “The Last Jedi” follows the route of an indie film as Johnson stated in a Wired article. With that said, I think the audience weren’t prepared for this film as it doesn’t go in a direction that they had been expecting for two years. I even fell into that trap, but what we got was something I feel more appropriate for Star Wars with a new age and direction for Episode 9. So the critics loved it because it’s a different and more risk involved story as opposed to it being strictly fan service. Johnson first put down the rules that he wanted to make a good movie, not a Star Wars movie.
Overall, this film is stunning visually and verbally. The dialogue was fresh while staying true to “Star Wars” lore. The acting is convincing to the point that I could have a conversation with any character on the spot. The sets, visual effects, and production is incredibly detailed. And the story is original for new chapters for all of the characters we love and hate. I look forward to what comes next.
Daisy Ridley (L) and Mark Hamill (R) in “The Last Jedi”
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