Have I really not seen this movie since it was in theaters? I feel like I may have watched The Last Jedi again since it came out seven years ago, but I’m not sure. Anyway, back in the Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back post I said that film was either my favorite or second favorite depending on my mood. The other option was The Last Jedi, and after having rewatched it for this blog, I think Empire is my favorite and this is a close second. It’s really good, but not perfect.
A short time after The Force Awakens, the Resistance is trying to evacuate a planet while the First Order attacks. Poe disobeys Leia’s orders and commences an attack on the Order’s biggest ship, which they manage to destroy. And all it cost was several pilots and their ships right when the Resistance is at its lowest point! The fleet escapes only to discover that the First Order is able to track them through hyperspace, meaning with their low fuel reserves they can’t escape. But they are a little faster than the First Order, so the slow speed chase taking place throughout the movie begins. Meanwhile, Rey finds out that Luke not only doesn’t want to return to help fight Kylo Ren, but he’s not willing to train Rey in the Force, instead wanting the Jedi faith to die out. As she tries to get any knowledge out of Skywalker she has moments where she and Kylo are connected through the Force, able to talk to one another. Rey is horrified to find out that Ben Solo’s full descent into the dark side came because Luke sensed darkness in his nephew, and in a moment of weakness considered striking the boy down. Ben, naturally, did not take this well.
Back with the Resistance, Finn meets Rose Tico (Ms. Kelly Marie Tran) and the two realize if they could get aboard the First Order lead ship, they could turn off the hyperspace tracker. While Poe covers for them and feuds with Vice-Admiral Amilyn Holdo (Laura Dern), they head to Canto Bight to find a codebreaker and see the worst people in the universe: war profiteers. They fail to find their target but end up working with the shady DJ (Benecio Del Toro), who is supposedly just as good. The three manage to sneak onto the First Order ship but are pretty quickly caught by Finn’s old boss, Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie). DJ sells his new friends out, which ruins Holdo’s secret plan to have the main ship draw fire while the personnel stealthily escape to the nearby planet of Crait. Rey is also with the First Order, believing a vision that she can turn Ben back to the light. But that vision–and their connection–was all orchestrated by Supreme Leader Snoke. Kylo kills the misshapen villain and teams up with Rey, only to reveal that he wants to rule the galaxy with her. Meanwhile, Holdo sacrifices herself to give the Resistance a fighting chance, critically damaging the First Order’s lead ship. Finn and Rose escape separately from Rey, and the duo reunite with the Resistance right as the new Supreme Leader, Kylo Ren, is about to destroy the small band of rebels. Shockingly, Luke shows up and buys them time, drawing Kylo’s ire. But a one-on-one duel reveals Luke is just projecting through the Force, a feat that takes all his strength. So now we’re two movies in and two of the original heroes are dead, with Leia… I’ll get to that in a minute. Rey rescues the Resistance–with the sacred Jedi texts, unbeknownst to anyone else–and Kylo realizes he’s lost this fight.
I really do enjoy this movie. I know it has its haters, but a sizable number of those are the toxic kind of fans that treat the franchise like a sacred text instead of a multibillion dollar franchise they have no say in. Sure, The Last Jedi is not a standard Star Wars movie, but what does that even mean? The prequels had a different tone than the originals, and Rogue One–a film haters of this movie tend to really enjoy–was a spy thriller. The message of The Last Jedi was that failure is the best teacher, and the main three all fail. Poe fails to take over the Resistance from Holdo, but learns to be a better leader and not to sacrifice troops for longshot causes. Finn fails to run away from the fight, but learns that his place is with the Resistance. And while Rey fails to learn what she wanted from Luke, she manages to take all she needs to save the day.
The movie isn’t without flaws, of course. A big one for me is that Luke says he has three lessons for Rey on why the Jedi suck: everyone is connected to the Force, the Force is neither good nor evil, and… a third thing. Deleted scenes exist so we know the last lesson was that the Jedi are supposed to be impartial and above things like attachments, but the Resistance needs passionate fighters. And, well… he’s not wrong. I cut a whole section for pacing issues during my posts for the prequels about how the Jedi Order’s rules go against human nature and contributed to its downfall. Yoda’s advice to Anakin was to let go of the ones he loves, even if he fears they’re gonna die? No surprise he didn’t listen to that nugget of wisdom. But back to The Last Jedi, the slow chase was a forced plot contrivance that felt weak, I didn’t really feel the romance between Rose and Finn (and arguably neither did Finn), and since the backlash to this movie was so great it’s entirely likely Disney doesn’t want to expand on any of its ideas, we really have no idea who DJ is or what happened to him.
One debatable flaw is the status of Leia in the film. While The Last Jedi was in post-production, Carrie Fisher died. Some people have argued that the movie should’ve written her character out, pointing to the scene where she gets sucked into space. She saves herself by using the Force–she is a Skywalker, after all–and has a minor presence throughout the rest of the film. I assumed they’d just say she was elsewhere during Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker and avoid directly addressing her death, but no, Juh’Jabrams decided to go a more morbid route for her along the lines of Furious 7. So excited for the next film…
But flaws aside, this movie is great. Rey and Kylo’s fight against Snoke’s personal guard is a fun scene, Holdo going to light speed into the First Order fleet is masterfully shot and edited, and seeing a Yoda puppet always puts a smile on my face. And I like that Rey’s parents are nobodies. The idea that she has to be related to someone important is such an overused trope, and her coming from seemingly nothing ties into the movie’s message that the Force is with all people; even a kid with a broom has access to Force powers. I will always enjoy this movie, warts and all.
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