Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Nearly a week since I left the cinema, I have finally got my thoughts in order and am ready to put pen to paper discussing one of the most divisive films from 2017, Star Wars: The Last Jedi. The follow-up to the safe yet hugely enjoyable The Force Awakens saw director Rian Johnson take control and most Star Wars fans thought they knew what to expect, but how wrong we were.

Picking-up right after TFA, Rey finds Luke Skywalker but as a changed man on a remote island. The rebels are being hunted, and Finn must go on a secret mission while Leia and Po are left to wait to be rescued. All the while, Ben Solo, aka Kylo Ren, attempts to make contact with Rey using the force and finally get to Luke for his evil master, Snoke. I think it's safe to say that this one wasn't short on story.

I knew Star Wars: The Last Jedi would be different and somewhat divisive prior to going in but as the credits rolled I was left in an odd situation. The last two films made me want to discuss how great they were before we had even stood up but here I had been caught off guard and didn't know what to make of it. In some ways, TLJ has all the makings of a great film but then it really suffers from poor narrative choices. The odd choice of humour is to blame for a large part of that, undercutting the drama in several areas, and this could be Disney's strings over the story finally starting to show. Now before get any further, SPOILERS come below but I will keep the final paragraph safe for readers.

The biggest issue with TLJ is that it felt like two films in terms of its tone. Rey and Po's scenes, even though worlds apart, blend nicely together and run smoothly but it's Finn who is completely wasted in a Disney-esque journey to find an expert hacker who can rescue the rebels. His journey to a casino planet with CGI creatures was a painful reminder of the kind of nonsense fans had hoped was left to the prequels with creatures designed to sell toys, and let's not get started on Rose the annoying sidekick/love interest.

These scenes did not gel with the rest of the film, could easily have been removed and added significantly to an already long running time. Don't get me wrong, Bladerunner 2049 proves that more can be better but here it felt unnecessary. The payoff is made worse since the mission fails and it seems as if it was designed just so that we could have Finn face-off against Phasma but even that was poorly executed. Johnson's ultimate crime with this part is that John Boyega was great in TFA and his charisma shines here with another strong performance but his role didn't serve any purpose to the story.

Now that segment is out of the way, Johnson also fails to land several emotional beats. JJ Abrams confessed he made a mistake when Leia hugged Rey instead of Chewie (who barely features here) after Han is killed but sadly Johnson goes a step further. When Luke learns of Han's death, the film cuts away missing his reaction in what could have been a great scene. A lot of TV shows are guilty of this trope but I expected more from this. Scenes like this make the characters feel real and it's a good example of Johnson's misguided direction. We even lose Admiral Akbar in an unceremonious scene and many fans say that he should have replaced Holdo where she sacrifices herself. Her death meant nothing given her weak introduction, whereas if it had been Akbar, he would have left a twinkle in eyes of fans and it would have been great.

Moving away from what this could have been, The Last Jedi still has many commendable moments and I'm sure time will help this film that dared to be different. Speaking of, Mark Hamill reprising his role as Luke was great to watch and I look forward to watching this again for his scenes with Rey. Granted, she is still perfect in that 'Mary Sue' way but the two worked very well together despite those ill-judged comedic moments.

The 'force scenes' between Ben and Rey were also another highlight as we saw the hero and villain connect in a way Star Wars had yet to do. These scenes showed Johnson at his best and I wonder how much was lost when film was apparently cut down by an hour in the editing room. Regardless, when the action begins in the third act it is exciting and it features some of the series' best moments. It's just a shame that we are dragged through Finn's unnecessarily long chapter to reach this point in what could have been a great film.

Ultimately, The Last Jedi is an uncomfortable experience that jumps between a child-friendly Disney adventure, with scenes that somehow missed the marketing, and moments of great peril offering what everyone came to see, regardless of expectations. It succeeds in many areas and offers plenty of surprises but there's no denying that this is a disjointed experience. Hopefully, balance can be restored to the force with an extended (producer's?) cut.