Star Wars: The Last Jedi

ā˜…ā˜…ā˜…ā˜…ā˜†

Iā€™ve seen The Last Jedi twice now. Iā€™m still not sure how Iā€™d rank it, but the performances are way better than most of the prequel trilogy, and the story is the first theatrical Star Wars to break new ground in ages.

Iā€™ll admit thereā€™s a lot of stuff that happened that I didnā€™t like, but it made sense within the story context, and it was done in an interesting way. And there was a lot of cool stuff tooā€¦including a ton of blink-and-youā€™ll-miss-it details that I missed the first time through.

What do you mean, ā€œLike?ā€

I learned years ago that ā€œstuff happened that I didnā€™t likeā€ and ā€œit was badly madeā€ are two separate comments on a movie, TV show, book, or other work of art.

Do I like the reason Luke left? No, but it makes sense. (A lot more sense than him joining the Dark Side with a resurrected clone of Darth Sidious, TBH.) When you think about it, itā€™s probably the best explanation they could have come up with for why Luke would decide that heā€™s part of the problem and remove himself from the galactic stage. It would have to be something majorly traumatic that he would blame himself for.

Do I like that the Resistance command donā€™t trust each other enough to share plans? No, but again it makes sense under the circumstances, and it feeds into the themes.

Structure and Hope

The Last Jedi feels different from the other Star Wars films. Itā€™s a lot of separate threads that seem mostly unconnected but come together toward the end into a clear picture. Reyā€™s journey is critical, as is Kylo Renā€™s, as is the link between their journeys. Lukeā€™s reasons for being on the island, and his triumphant return, are tied deeply into the plight of the Resistance as it battles the loss of hope, which we see in the slow attrition of the fleet chase, the breakdown of trust within command, and finally the point where theyā€™re reduced to one small band making what could well be a last stand.

And the trip to Canto Bight? For all the whining about it, I think itā€™s thematically more important than the chase. It shows people taking advantage of both sides of the conflict, and it shows ordinary civilians being oppressedā€¦and that epilogue.

The First Order does everything they can to snuff out that spark of hope, and almost succeedsā€¦but it flares again. We see it with Luke, and with Rey, but their actions only preserve whatā€™s left. It still feels like a hollow victory until we see the epilogue and realize that the spark has taken hold, and is growing again ā€“ and thatā€™s inspired as much by one kidā€™s encounter with Finn and Rose as the legend of Luke Skywalker.

Take out Canto Bight and you take out the epilogue. Take out the epilogue and youā€™re left with an unremittingly bleak story. Bleaker than Revenge of the Sithā€¦but only* because we already knew where RoTS had to go.

Uncharted Regions

This is the first time since 1983 that thereā€™s been real uncertainty about the future in a Star Wars movie. We didnā€™t know where The Empire Strikes Back was going, or Return of the Jedi. The prequel trilogy had a lot of surprises along the way, but we knew it would end with Anakin turning to the dark side and helping wipe out the Jedi, Palpatine becoming the Emperor, and the Republic becoming the Empire. I loved Rogue One, but again, we knew what it was building up to. And The Force Awakens was too focused on bringing fans back into the fold with familiarity to break new ground.

The Expanded Universe quickly set up a new status quo and told episodic stories within that setting. Some changes would stick over time, but you knew at the end of the day Leia was rebuilding the Republic, Luke was rebuilding the Jedi, and so on. Eventually they broke out of it and started making big changes with New Jedi Order, and subsequent stories that moved toward the more distant future of Legacy, but it was only a secondary canon, blessed but less official than the movies.

Now? We have no idea what might happen next. We can hope that the First Order will be defeated, because thatā€™s the kind of story Star Wars is, but we have no idea what the cost will be, or who will make it through to the end, who might redeem themselves or turn to darkness.

And I have to wonder if thatā€™s part of the backlash: Star Wars has been a familiar place for decades, and now that certainty is gone.

Cool stuff

So, some of those great details that I didnā€™t notice the first time through:

  • When Leia floats through the ruined bridge, she passes through the hologram of Snokesā€™ flagship, disrupting it just like Holdoā€™s hyperspace maneuver does later in the movie.
  • After Lukeā€™s projection is finished, he sees two suns and the Force theme swells. The first time through I was so caught up in worry about Leia (tied up with Carrie Fisherā€™s death) that I didnā€™t quite notice. The second time through, I knew what was happening with her, but I just lost it at this moment.
  • The kid with the Resistance ring at the end doesnā€™t grab his broom and lift it - the broom moves to his hand.