Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi

Spoilers ahead

Have we reached over-saturation of Star Wars now? Disney's seemingly never ending march to produce Star Wars films until the end of time threatens to, in my opinion, undermine what made the original films so special in the first place. Things seemed to be in good hands at first. The Force Awakens, while far from perfect, was a bright and zippy nostalgic adventure that managed to make us care about a whole new cast of characters whilst being somewhat true to the intent of the series. However, some felt the film was ... too similar to the original films. While I didn't mind the "greatest hits" mentality to the film, I would be lying if I said that I didn't want something a bit more fresh. Couple this with 2016's incredibly bland Rogue One and reports of a disastrous production for the Han Solo solo film, suddenly The Last Jedi had a lot to prove for me. It needed to prove that this sequel trilogy could move past relying on the original series for inspiration and story beats. It needed to convince me that Disney was justified in deciding to continue the series. But, most importantly, it needed to remind me of why I fell in love with Star Wars in the first place. Fortunately, The Last Jedi is one of the most surprising and fresh films in this franchise for a very long time.

Using The Empire Strikes Back as a loose template (which is where most comparison can end), The Last Jedi splits our main cast of characters into different groups. Rey (Daisy Ridley) spends her time on an isolated island trying to convince the long in hiding Jedi master Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) to come back into the frey and help revive the Jedi. Meanwhile, Poe Domaron (Oscar Issacs), General Leia (Carrie Fisher) and the rest of the Resistance find themselves cornered by the First Order. With only a limited amount of shields left defending their ship from certain doom, Finn (Jason Boyega) and new character Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) devise a plan to go under cover on a nearby casino planet to track down a master hacker in hopes that he or she can crack the code to disable the First Order vessels. On the flip side, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) continues to struggle with his inner conflict between the Light and the Dark Side under the ever watchful eye of the mysterious Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis).

The Last Jedi places an emphasise on breaking down the basic tenants of Star Wars - something that has been met with mixed reactions by fans

My biggest complaint from The Force Awakens was that the new cast wasn't given enough time to shine, always outweighed by the fan service of seeing the returning older characters. I wanted The Last Jedi to put the new cast at the forefront. While not all the arcs are completely satisfying (Finn's springing to mind) this is very much a film about "out with the old, in with the new". And, for the most part, the new cast do a stirling job at carrying the torch left behind from the original trilogy. Osaac Isaacs is even more energised this time round as Poe, with his character given a lot more to do (and an arc involving Laura Dern's character). Meanwhile, relative new comer Kelly Marie Tran manages to create a type of character never seen in the series before which has proven controversial with some fans but the performance is spirited and fun. Of course, the remains of the old cast are still wonderful to see, especially Carrie Fisher in her final role. There is this mournful sadness seeing her as Leia now, especially since Fisher genuinely found an interesting new way to play the ageing character - regretful but still strong in her convictions. The star performance though, for me anyway, is Adam Driver as Kylo Ren. He's simply brilliant at communicating Ren's inner turmoil and clear conflicting goals. While Ren sounds like a cliched character on paper, Driver manages to take the characters and his performance to some genuinely unexpected places.

The true centre of the film though is the plot line involving Luke and Rey. While the rest of the plots range from good to filler, this story thread is both challenging and engaging in how it deals with some of the basic tenants of Star Wars. Some fans have taken umbrage with the way Luke Skywalker has been presented. Having abandoned the Jedi way of life, Luke now spends his time as a weird hermit (not unlike Obi Wan) hoping to be the last link to the old religion. And Mark Hamill's performance as the now old and bitter Jedi master is just the highlight of the film. I love the idea of a Luke who is, fundamentally, more human than he has ever been portrayed before in any of the films. His sense of regret and tiredness is apparent in every action he does and also naturally builds upon the character threads left behind from the original films (seriously, re-watch them if you think Luke has been done a disservice in this film and you'll find that him abandoning the Jedi is the natural next step). The relationship he builds up Rey is also riveting. We're expecting a student/mentor relationship to form (a la Luke/Yoda) but something a bit more sinister and ambiguous blooms. By equal measure, Daisy Ridley manages to hold her own completely as Rey, giving her more opportunities to prove how charismatic a performer she is. Writer / director Rian Johnson really brings out more personality from the character this time and proves, once and for all, that Rey is not a Mary Sue.

The Last Jedi, quite rightly, places the incredibly likeable new characters at the centre of the story

This is easily the best Disney Star Wars film visually. Every elements from the framing, visual effects (both computer generated and practical) and score are simply top-notch.While some might have prequel flashbacks on the much-debated casino planet, Johnson manages to breath new life into the look of Star Wars. The choice to go with Johnson, a genuine auteur filmmaker, is a resounding success for the series. His previous films, Brick and Looper, are brilliantly measured, self-contained and thought provoking tales. His time directing Breaking Bad episodes (lending his talents to two of the best episodes of the series, Fly and Ozymandias) proves that he can handle both intimate, character driven scenarios whilst also dealing with larger than life personalities in extreme situations. His camera perfectly positions The Last Jedi on a kind of epic, grandiose level that the series deserves, especially after the cartoony Force Awakens and the "too-gritty-for-it's-own-good" Rogue One. While The Last Jedi takes us to some fairly challenging places (for a Star Wars film...). Johnson brings this careful attention to the audacious action scenes. They're not all necessary (the casino planet chase scene springing to mind) but most spring from the conflict between the characters. Better yet, Johnson keeps the lightsaber battles to a bare minimum (as they should be). In fact, this maybe the first Star Wars film where a lightsaber doesn't clash with another lightsaber.

So far, this is sounding exactly like the Star Wars film many fans wanted with The Force Awakens. Respectful to the source material whilst take bold strides with a new set of characters. However, others feel that this has been taken too far, as The Last Jedi has proven to be the most divisive Star Wars film since ... probably the prequels. Are there some irksome elements? Sure, not every beat lands. The casino planet, while a kinetic treat visually, doesn't really amount to much in the grand scheme of the story, outside of some thematic connections. There are individual moments and character decisions that might prove to be too much for some. And some plots are not picked up from Force Awakens. Here's the thing though, for me. Whilst, yes, not every beat lands, The Last Jedi is willing to at least attempt to take the series in a new direction. Star Wars, when you really get down to it, is a small universe when you get past lightsabers, Jedi and Sith. I think the film very effectively toys with and re-imagines the series in an interesting new way that is thematically resonant through the whole of The Last Jedi. Best of all - it progresses the universe.

There is a lot to unpack with The Last Jedi but most of the risks taken paid off enormously for me

The fact is, The Last Jedi is a bit of a mess but a well-made and entertaining mess that's at least trying to grapple with the basic tenants of Star Wars. The Last Jedi gets the spirit of the series - more than any of the fan-service heavy previous films. Star Wars is about family, redemption, characters we like, adventure and the struggle between taking the easy or the hard path. There's a lot to unpack and think about with The Last Jedi, all the good and all the bad, but its the willingness to tell the true next chapter in the story that I responded to - something the series arguably hasn't done since Empire...

That said, I honestly don't know what shape Episode IX will take ...

My rankings, if you'e interested 5>4>8>6>7>3>1>2