Last night, I attended an advance screening of Star Wars: The Last Jedi...and needless to say, it was an absolutely amazing film! Just by watching this eighth installment in the Skywalker saga (and ninth live-action movie in the Star Wars franchise), you can see why Rian Johnson would get Disney and Lucasfilm's blessing to produce his very own Star Wars trilogy—the first episode of which Johnson himself will write and direct next decade. While obviously paying homage to the Original Trilogy and prequels before it, as well as expanding upon the events depicted in 2015's The Force Awakens, Episode VIII also veers into uncharted territory as we see the power of the Force as never before, and the war between the Resistance and First Order taken to new levels. Rian Johnson created a Star Wars movie that puts the franchise on course for new and more exciting directions.
In terms of the characters, The Last Jedi nicely develops the majority of folks previously seen in The Force Awakens. Of course, we finally get to hear Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) speak...and when he does speak, he has some memorable and funny one-liners. From telling Rey (Daisy Ridley) that there's a reason why he traveled "to the most unfindable place in the galaxy" (the planet Ahch-To) to chastising her and even Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) by mentioning that "everything (they) said (about the Force) is wrong," Luke still has that spunk he first showed when he was a Tatooine farm boy in 1977's A New Hope. In regards to Rey and Kylo Ren themselves, these two have the most interesting relationship in The Last Jedi. I won't spoil how this occurred, but something happens with the Force that causes the aspiring Jedi and would-be Sith Lord to communicate with each other (and briefly touch hands) even though they are literally light-years apart in the galaxy. It is this connection that prompts Rey to leave Ahch-To—home of Luke and the first Jedi temple (as well as some very adorable Porgs)—and confront Kylo in the final act of the movie. It is when they're together that the most memorable events and action scenes take place in The Last Jedi...and the sequel trilogy for that matter.
Also getting a bigger role in The Last Jedi is Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac)...who started off as a "trigger-happy flyboy" before becoming a potential leader of the Resistance by the end of the film. He clearly has to be the Han Solo of the new trilogy—since he's apparently the first character in the Star Wars franchise (unless I misheard the line) to say "ass" in a movie. (The actual term he used was "big-ass door;" I won't elaborate on which door he's talking about). Rey, General Leia Organa (the late Carrie Fisher) or Kylo Ren wouldn't have gotten away with uttering a real-world swear word like that. But maybe Finn (John Boyega) would. (He does say "bastard" in the film.) Speaking of Finn, John Boyega once again did a nice job portraying the stormtrooper-turned-freedom fighter. Even though he's separated from his best friend Rey for much of the movie, Finn gets to team up with Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran)...a Resistance mechanic who, in the words of Finn back in The Force Awakens, thinks the ex-stormtrooper is a "big deal." As a fellow Asian-American, it was cool to see an Asian actress have such a huge role in a Star Wars film. And I'm proud to say that, spoilers ahead, Rose will be back to help the Resistance continue battling the First Order in 2019's Star Wars: Episode IX.
Going back to General Leia Organa herself, it was bittersweet to watch Carrie Fisher give her last performance as the iconic figure. On the plus side, we get to watch her exhibit some amazing Force powers over the course of the movie. And yes, we get to see a nice reunion between her and her brother Luke (somewhat) towards the climax of the film. Like Heath Ledger's Joker in The Dark Knight, Leia will live on following the events of The Last Jedi. The sad thing is, we'll never get to see what's next for this beloved character in the sequel trilogy. But at least the princess of Alderaan had a happy ending in Episode VIII.
To prevent this review from getting too long, I'll mention all the other characters in this paragraph: Domhnall Gleeson once again gave a great (and very funny) performance as the sniveling General Hux. Gwendoline Christie was awesome as the forever-underused Captain Phasma (but at least Christie finally got to reveal her face, somewhat, in The Last Jedi). Laura Dern was commendable as heroic Vice Admiral Holdo. Billie Lourd (Fisher's daughter) was cool as Lieutenant Connix, who was first seen in The Force Awakens. Benicio Del Toro was the Lando Calrissian/Boba Fett of Episode VIII...delightfully stuttering as he "helped" Finn and Rose in their mission to infiltrate a First Order Star Destroyer. And lastly, Andy Serkis once again did a fantastic job performing the motion capture for Supreme Leader Snoke...who was both funny and terrifying while it lasted.
In regards to the action scenes of The Last Jedi, they were nicely executed in the movie—particularly during the final act. The opening space battle was fantastic, even though it was sad to see the Resistance bombers quickly get picked off by the First Order as if this was an outer space equivalent of the Battle of Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back. The scenes on the casino world of Canto Bight looked gorgeous, even though the time spent on this planet could've been shortened a bit. The Battle of Crait—where we see Resistance ground forces take on towering AT-M6 walkers—was almost as intense as the one on Hoth over three decades earlier. But the action scene that definitely takes the cake is (big spoiler ahead) the multi-person duel between Rey, Kylo Ren and Snoke's Elite Praetorian Guards. As a sign that The Last Jedi isn't a blatant remake of The Empire Strikes Back, Rey and Kylo Ren briefly team up to engage in a lightsaber duel with the red-clad warriors. However, this alliance is short-lived as Kylo Ren goes back to his villainous ways and, like his grandfather Darth Vader before him in The Empire Strikes Back, wants Rey to join him and the Dark Side after the duel is won. But hey, at least neither of them lost a hand during the fight!
Musically, John Williams created more memorable tunes for The Last Jedi than he did with The Force Awakens. We obviously hear motifs from the previous episode such as the Resistance, Kylo Ren and Jedi Step themes from the end of Episode VII. We also hear Leia's theme, the Rebel fanfare from the Original Trilogy and even Yoda's theme...for a very good reason. (I can't wait to get my Last Jedi soundtrack CD in the mail after Amazon ships it today. Hopefully today.) Visual effects-wise, The Last Jedi looked stupendous! Not a surprise though... Episode VIII was originally set to be released on May 26 (in celebration of A New Hope's 40th anniversary this year) before it was pushed back to this weekend. So Johnson—who completed the movie for a targeted Memorial Day debut—had lots of extra time to work with Industrial Light & Magic to make The Last Jedi's visual effects as spiffy-looking as possible. This film definitely needs to be one of the five contenders for Best Visual Effects at the Oscars next year.
All-in-all, The Last Jedi was an awesome film. Fittingly, Luke Skywalker resembled Chuck Norris in his most badass moment towards the end of the movie. Kylo Ren evolved from a Darth Vader wannabe in Episode VII to a legitimate threat, akin to Count Dooku of the prequels, to the entire galaxy. Rey is truly on the path to becoming the newest Jedi hero like Luke, Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi before her. And Leia will live on in Star Wars lore as the Resistance leader who survived to fight another day; even though sadly, we'll never get to see her fight on the big screen again. And it remains to be seen how Finn, Poe and Rose will rise up to take on Kylo Ren, General Hux and their evil forces once more in Episode IX. But in the meantime, go to the theater and watch The Last Jedi right away to see how Rian Johson expanded on the Star Wars saga...while saying farewell to much of what came before it. May the Force be with you.
4.5 out of 5 stars. ****1/2
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