Star Wars: The Last Jedi
- Jacob Shay
- Mar 24
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 29
"We were on the verge of greatness!" - Director Krennic
Review by The Two Star Review
PREFACE
"Fear leads to hate, hate leads to anger, hate leads to suffering." - Yoda
Rian Johnson's penultimate entry in the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy caused a rather large disturbance in the Force. The Last Jedi was a film that divided a galaxy of viewers, leaving its mark as one of the franchise’s most polarizing entries. Yet, as the hate has drifted far, far away, revisiting this 2017 installment reveals more to appreciate than what initially met the eye.
OVERVIEW
Taking the helm for Episode VIII of Star Wars is no small undertaking. Any director who was bold enough to take control of this movie was bound to face an onslaught of criticism no matter the direction they chose. For that reason, Rian Johnson was a bold and fitting choice. His ambitious vision took audiences to a desperate and dark corner of the galaxy—one Disney might have preferred left unseen.
The Last Jedi is a story about losing and separating failure from defeat.
Beyond its distracting dialogue, awkward pacing, and unexpected narrative choices, traces of a deeper, and more substantial tale remain just out of reach.
RATINGS
Story (25%), Characters (35%), Tone (30%), Intrigue (10%)
Story 19/25
A story about failure and winning small victories, this was the right type of theme for the middle of a trilogy. However, poorly managed plotlines and distracted character development made the experience fuzzy and directionless.
A trilogy is typically spent unpacking cracks in the characters you spend time with in the prior installment and ultimately spend time pushing them for the culmination of their growth. Whether the growth means they become better, or fall in someway is up for whatever story the writers are up for.
A story about the resistance being cornered offers up many of great opportunities to explore character growth and development. Whether these developments were handled effectively is up for debate, but the concept alone, structurally, was a good choice, even if the execution of it missed expectations.
Characters 19/35
One of the film’s strongest foundations, established in The Force Awakens, was the promise of character development. This movie clearly knew its characters and what their story could have been. Finn had Rose—a starry-eyed mechanic who looked to him for hope. Kylo Ren, who would challenge Rey and her views of the force and the Jedi.
These companions were a smart way to push characters along into whatever role they would fit into for the rest of the trilogy.
However, the larger issue lay not in who the characters were, but in how their journeys were handled. It was confusing when characters suddenly abandoned their initial objectives—'Find Rey,' 'Bring back Luke,' 'Do we have a plan?'—without any clear progression toward personal growth, or why these new objectives are better suited for them.
Often times, these arcs ended up in a dead end because their goal seemed seperate from their personal growth. If Finn truly wanted to find Rey—especially after his defection from the First Order—why doesn’t he focus on that mission? While weirdly written, Rose halting his desertion is a unique angle, but would have been better if their conflict wasn't mended within four minutes of meeting each other.
Tone 24/30
The tone was likely the strongest point of this entry. It was gritty and abandoned the happy-go-lucky feelings that typically would shroud the series. As the audience, we want to see the heroes succeed, but there has to be a balance of victories and losses. The scenario the Resistance had found itself in was suffocating. It was on the run with few places left to hide.
The movie doesn't try to make light of blind hope, instead, makes clear that where darkness exists, so does the light. The duality of the light and dark, much like Ying and Yang, in Star Wars has always been very intriguing in terms of lore and world-building. So, i want to make sure credit is given where it's due. Let's not forget to mention the cinematography in some scenes.
INTRIGUE 4/10
It's rare to see a Star Wars flick that centers on a more dire atmosphere. In theory, this kind of harrowing adventure could have been a outlier in the franchise. Unfortunately, the narrative couldn't quite find the space to develop it's ideas. The issue stemmed from the dissonance caused by forced humor and its intense storyline.
The beginning of the film promised a more grounded and serious cinematic experience towards the start, much like Rogue One. But too often, the movie would undermine any emotional weight with humor that felt more in line with the snappier style of a Marvel movie-- moments where the film abandons it's gravitas for a cheeky gag.
Woah, is that a ship?! --oh, that's a iron.
Star Wars is known for blending high-stakes drama with it's witty lines as well as a cast of compelling character motivations. That's where this series has always pulled it's humor-- from the characters, not circumstance.
What a shame it was.
Conclusion
Star Wars: The Last Jedi boldly plays into the theme of failure. While this attempt is engaging and a unique take on the franchise, the pacing and humor get in the way of delivering a meaningful takeaway about growth. Despite the gaps in writing, there are enough striking visuals to keep you seated for most of this space epic. That being said, it's too easy to imagine what could have been had Disney followed through on designing the works of a trilogy, not a standalone film.
END SCORE - 66
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