Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

“We are what they grow beyond.”

The sequel to the financial juggernaut The Force Awakens (2015), The Last Jedi is the next chapter in the galactic adventure of Star Wars. In what promises to reach similar financial, we continue following the fight of the Resistance against the oppressive First Order as well as Rey’s hopes of mastering the force under the tutelage of the secluded Jedi, Luke Skywalker.

After what can only be described as the quintessential “soft reboot” in the name of Force Awakens, a film which proposed a new set of characters within the same narrative structure of the original Star Wars trilogy, there was a new hope this sequel would break free of tradition and do something new.

And while the new writer/director Rian Johnson (Brick, Looper) attempts to break away from the shackles of the behemoth brand that is Star Wars, The Last Jedi suffers from similar symptoms its predecessor had. The first would be that the character arcs pose a stark similarity to those in Empire Strikes Back (1980), the second film in the original Star Wars trilogy. This niggly facet plagued the entirety of The Force Awakens but it had reason to do so. Now they had the chance to do something, to use the words of bad guy Snoke, “truly special” and I feel it was somewhat squandered.

Given the vast array of new characters meshing with some of the old cast, The Last Jedi was always going to have the problem of too many characters in the kitchen. In short, there needed to be focus on Rey (Diasy Ridley) in her plight to discover the force, the re-introduction to marooned Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), engaging with the Resistance of Finn (John Boyega), Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fischer) as well as the First Order of Snoke (Andy Serkis), General Hux (Domhall Gleeson) and the captivating Kylo Ren (Adam Driver).

Understandably, the opening act of The Last Jedi is a headache inducing bombastic mess of jarring cuts and reintroduced timelines to set the characters and the audience on their merry way. With a frenetic opening battle sequence, the film falls into the similar struggles of Rogue One and Force Awakens, where there are moments the plot may evolve and go into odd and unpredictable territory but the restraints of the Star Wars product, stops those strange narrative pathways ever being discovered. This is portrayed no better in what I will recall as the most excruciating and comical “cop-outs” in modern movie history. There is no need to give any more detail as you will know what moment after you see it.

After a few aspirin and the moving into the second act, The Last Jedi thankfully picks up with a forceful momentum. This all comes down to the brilliance of Adam Driver in his depiction as the conflicted Darth Vader-lite, Kylo Ren. His mere presence forces the silliness of the first act to become a distant memory as Driver harnesses the frustration, petulance and authority this film’s antagonist deserves. Driver anchors the entire film and Rey’s performance works wonderfully as his counterpart.

Whenever Rey and Kylo Ren interact, the film generates a new lease of life. The subtle moments of Driver’s gentle delivery and Rey’s slight shift in facial expression makes you wish the film only focused on these two. Those moments show that Rian Johnson and the Star Wars team can produce something special and engaging after breaking away from what is known. When the Last Jedi takes itself seriously and punctures the established order of Star Wars, it becomes something all the more entertaining. To delicately poise characters facial expressions, focus on the crimson red salt of a snow-capped planet or the reticent glow of Luke Skywalker scream what could have been for this space opera.  

With the film constantly suggesting themes of symmetry, such as Rey/Kylo, Luke/Yoda, Snoke/Siduis, Poe/Han Solo, the film does possess an unbelievable moment of “No – that did not just happen” proportions, only to be followed up by another brilliant fight sequence that is definitely my favourite moment of this new trilogy so far. This just about recovers the balance, following the outrageous opening act. Like the previous two Star Wars instalments, they contain moments of brilliance but becomes shrouded in the aura of safe betting and convention.