‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ Review (Spoiler-free) – Rian Johnson Is Strong With the Force

WARNING: While I won’t spoil anything in The Last Jedi, I reserve the right to completely ruin plot points in The Force Awakens. You’ve been warned.

Now that I’ve completed a marvelous marathon at the El Capitan of all eight trilogy-focused films, seen the new Star Wars: The Last Jedi three times, and had plenty of spirited discussions on the latest entry to probably the most obsessed-about mythology in film history, I’m ready to give you my spoiler-free, and therefore, frustratingly vague review of the film. A spoiler-filled review will be forthcoming whereupon I reveal a more fiery, detailed opinion, but for the uninitiated to The Last Jedi universe, this should give you a good idea of how I generally feel about the film in the meantime.

First, let me just say that I went into this film fully appreciative of J.J. Abrams’ The Force Awakens since Star Wars fans were in desperate need of a return to the original tone and focus of Episodes IV-IV after the prequels damn near broke all trust with its rabid and faithful fanbase. While Revenge of the Sith started to turn the tide by refocusing on Anakin’s descent to the dark side and making the overall film more character-focused, there was still a lot of damage to be undone with the highly-anticipated Episode VII. And Abrams delivered with a rousing, fun film that recentered itself with the themes of A New Hope, especially in giving us a new lonely protagonist in Rey (Daisy Ridley) – a poor yet oddly attractive and multi-talented hero who has yet to discover how strong she truly is with The Force. We have a new villain in a mask in Kylo Ren. We have a new Emperor-like guy via hologram in Snoke. We have a new droid in BB-8. And of course, the original band gets back together by reuniting the main characters from the original trilogy, namely Han Solo, Princess Leia, C3-PO, R2-D2, and Chewy (and Luke Skywalker for about 10 seconds). Some complained that it was a bit too much like the original, but the death of Han Solo gave it the dramatic heft it needed to tell fans that while the filmmakers wanted to reach back to the nostalgia of the original trilogy, it was a safe assumption that some of our favorite characters may not make it through the series to make way for new blood (like Rey, Finn, and Poe). It was devastating to see Han go, but I think we can all agree that any lasting mythology has to change things up in order to stay fresh.

And that is what Rian Johnson has ultimately done in spades with The Last Jedi – he has made a truly energized, emotional, funny, and devastating film that I feel is in the very best spirit of the Star Wars franchise, while also building on top of the familiar universe where the lines between good and evil are blurred, and where the struggles of our characters are more relatable to the current conditions of our world for a new generation of fans. While definitely not without its flaws, which I’ll touch upon here but go into more detail in my spoiler-filled review, the good elements far outweigh the bad, giving us one of my favorite entries of the Star Wars saga so far, and makes me excited for the unpredictable places the story will go in Episode IX.

In short, the film picks up almost exactly where The Force Awakens left off – with Rey going to the island Ahch-To to meet Luke Skywalker so that he can bring hope back to a downtrodden Resistance, even though they just pulled off a pretty stunning win by destroying Starkiller Base. She also goes there because she’s in the possession of his lightsaber, which upon wielding it herself in The Force Awakens, seemed to be “calling” to her, and gifting her with a series of disjointed visions which make her even more curious about her place in the world, and in relation to Skywalker himself. But as was detailed in TFA, Luke went into exile because he had failed to properly train his nephew, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) who had proven to be a little too in tune with the dark side for Luke’s taste. So, as you can imagine, Rey has her work cut out for her in trying to lure a despondent and isolated Skywalker back into the fray. In the meantime, The First Order is still giving the Resistance a run for their money, and in hot pursuit of them despite the hotshot piloting skills of Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), who begins to show cracks in his judgment in the eyes of General Leia Organa (the late Carrie Fisher). In order to get the upper hand on The First Order, led by the self-important, merciless, and whiny-voiced General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson), a newly-awakened Finn (John Boyega) and his new spunky friend Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) embark on a journey to help give the Resistance the upper hand.

Now, that may sound simple, but a lot happens in between. Like…. A LOT. This film is 2 hours and 33 minutes long, and I’ll tell you, they fill every single freaking second of it with stuff. But don’t be fooled by the runtime – every single time I’ve seen this movie, it literally whizzes by, and I think a lot of that is due to the fact that Johnson has constructed this film to take us through a rollercoaster of emotions, and forces you to pay a lot of attention to the action. I literally went from being dazzled by tightly choreographed action, to jumping out of my seat with applause, to laughing out loud, to stifling back tears. Wherever Johnson has diverged from other Star Wars films by taking liberties with the tone or the style of humor, he always manages to bring it back solidly into the original spirit of the saga, and that’s why this is such a special movie.

Daisy Ridley brings the same magnetic charisma to Rey as she did in The Force Awakens. She still more or less suffers from the Mary Sue stereotype, unfortunately, but Ridley is otherwise a vulnerable, yet powerful and relatable hero that I’m invested in and totally on board with seeing more of in the next film. Carrie Fisher appears to have gotten way more comfortable with her role this time around, and conveys the feisty, wisened authority you would expect from our Princess, who has now been at war for literally decades. But it’s really Adam Driver and Mark Hamill that give the most impactful performances of the entire film. Driver is given a lot more room to make Kylo Ren a truly conflicted antagonist, and he absolutely delivers on a deep emotional level every time he’s on the screen. He’s able to be part rage-filled little boy, intimidatingly powerful warrior, and a heartbreakingly lonely soul all at once. I know that a lot of people weren’t a fan of Driver in the original film, and I’m not sure this will change that, but I personally love the inspired casting choice since Driver – in all of his idiosyncratic weirdness – seems to possess all of these characteristics simultaneously with little effort. And don’t even get me started on Mark Hamill. He gives his best performance out of any of the Star Wars films here, hands down. He’s got this sadness and cynicism about him that totally makes you believe why he’s vanished from everyone’s lives. I feel like this is the biggest presence that Hamill has had in a Star Wars film since he strutted into Jabba’s palace in Return of the Jedi, but that calm confidence has folded into itself into an intense melancholy, and at times, a really humorous presence as well. His inclusion in this film added a much needed and appreciated weight to the proceedings, which is nice in a film that often goes for laughs.

Oscar Isaac and John Boyega do a predictably good job with their characters, but their storylines often pale in comparison to the ones mentioned above. This is especially true for Boyega and Tran, whose storyline fills the middle part of the movie with a lot of action that doesn’t really move the film forward. I totally understand why they did it – to expand on the universe and the themes that will service future films. But on its own, at least in the first viewing, it seemed like a somewhat aimless distraction. It’s not terrible, a lot of it just seems unnecessary at first. After thinking about it, I appreciate what they were trying to do by expanding the world and the economic complexities within it. Don’t worry, they don’t start talking about trade disputes. Spoiler.

Having said that, there are also parts of the film where I and everyone else in the audience literally lost their everloving minds by exploding into applause. There is one scene in particular that is one of the most exhilarating of any scene of any Star Wars movie I’ve ever seen. Period. You’ll know it when you see it. But it also has a few of the most moving Star Wars scenes I’ve seen as well, and despite the running humor and action, it never seems forced (no pun intended) or manipulative.

Johnson has take a ton risks with this film, and that has undoubtedly rubbed a lot of fans the wrong way. Either because certain fan theories went unfulfilled, it’s tonally different than the original films, there’s too much humor, or some silly nitpicky fanboy minutae I won’t even get into here (for both our sakes). But I was truly thrilled to see the franchise evolve in front of my eyes into something bigger than it had previously been, and to giving us some really exciting possibilities to where the saga could go for Episode IX and beyond. While some displeased fans may be kicking and screaming right now, I think we’ll all look back on this installment and appreciate the fact that it challenged us, bucked our expectations, and changed the Star Wars universe for years to come in the best way possible.