Star Wars: The Last Jedi

How do I even begin to describe this film? On one hand, I think I enjoyed it more than The Force Awakens because, well, it actually tried to so its own thing with the story, but that doesn't necessarily mean that this direction necessarily worked for the film.

The story is split into two different plotlines. The first one focuses on the Resistance, led by General Leia, played once again by Carrie Fisher, as they are pursued relentlessly through space by the First Order, led by the mysterious Snoke, played by Andy Serkis. In addition, three of the Resistance members, Poe Dameron, played once again by Oscar Isaac, Finn, played again by John Boyega, and Rose Tico, played by Kelly Marie Tran, attempt to destroy Snoke's ship to stop them from tracking the Resistance. This is probably the weakest plotline because it ultimately leads to nothing happening, so it ends up being an exercise in pointlessness, and it takes up half of this 2 and a half hour movie so...not off to a good start.

The other plotline focuses on Rey, played once again by Daisy Ridley, as she attempts to ask for the aid of Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, played once again by Mark Hamill, except...he doesn't want to. In addition to this, Rey also has discovered she has a mysterious force connection with the villainous Kylo Ren, played once again by Adam Driver. While this one isn't perfect either, it was cool to see more into the nature of the force, and into the backstory of Kylo Ren.

The acting is strong, but again, the script is lacking big time. I felt this film was still struggling to find an identity outside of just an original trilogy nostalgia trip, and unfortunately, that means it meanders a lot. This is the longest film in the Star Wars franchise and, by the end, you can feel it. It has so much to say, but has no idea how to say it, meaning that, at the end of the day, it says absolutely nothing, and there wasn't really any plot progression either.

The action is once again fantastic, especially the couple of sequences shown on Snoke's ship, but this film really overstayed its welcome to me. It could have been good, but I don't think that Rian Johnson really knew what he should follow The Force Awakens up with, and, as a result, the writing feels like he just threw random ideas at a wall, and, instead of seeing what stuck and worked, just decided to use all of them and hoped people could pick and choose what they liked.

Overall, while I can fully understand the hate this film gets, and although I will admit there were parts I liked, at the end of the day, it is too long and messy to really tell a coherent story. I could for sure watch this film again, but it is definitely not a good film despite that.

Next time, we dive into another prequel expanding on the story of the original 1977 Star Wars film with the origins of one of the original trilogy's most beloved characters: Han Solo. That's right. The next movie I will be reviewing is Solo: A Star Wars Story.

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