WARNING!!! This review contains spoilers. If you intend to watch the movie any time soon, please postpone from reading the analysis and go straight to the rating at the very end.
When Star Wars: The
Last Jedi hit theaters on December 14th 2017, it brought an air
of excitement that translated to a very successful box office, opening weekend.
Only second to its predecessor, Star
Wars: The Force Awakens, The Last
Jedi collected $220 million (with an ‘M’) in U.S. ticket sales alone. 1,
2 That is a nice bit of change, huh?
As a Star Wars enthusiast, I did not want to miss experiencing
what I thought would be one of the most epic installments of the Star Wars franchise, on the big screen. After
watching Star Wars: The Last Jedi, I think
the film excels in certain aspects and disappoints in others. Let’s first
explore what I consider the positives of Star
Wars: The Last Jedi.
What The Movie Does Right!
Honors the Basics of Theater
You will be surprised how many films bungle the basic
aspects of theater, like musical composition and execution, as well as costume
and set designing. Before you tear my head off, I know most of the crew of Star Wars are well-known veterans. The
costume designer, Michael Kaplan, has quite a resume as costume designer of
other works like Star Wars: The Force
Awakens, the original Blade Runner
and Armageddon, to name a few. Music
composer, John Williams, might as well be called the musical mastermind of Star Wars. He’s composed the music for
all of them, last time I checked. For all sci-fi fans, I need not go into
detail about J.J. Abrams repertoire. Star
Trek? Mission: Impossible? Enough
said.
That said, I try to stay true to my one, golden rule. ‘Hold
aspirations, not expectations.’ If someone does something right, I recognize it
with just as much vigor as when someone does something wrong. In this case, the
folks at Star Wars: The Last Jedi did
a wonderful job honoring the basics of theater. Magnificent work, guys!
Honors the Original Cast
Need I say I was pleasantly surprised to see Luke Skywalker
in his former, badass glory? [I hope you
read the warning, as I’m about to drop a spoiler] Seeing him wipe off the
dirt from his shoulders, after sustaining, 30 seconds of continuous fire from
multiple Imperial walkers and TIE fighters, with nothing but the clothes on his
back, was exhilarating. [Heads-up!
Another spoiler!] Yet the real highlight for me was Yoda, voiced by the
great Frank Oz, making a guest appearance in animatronic form (Yoda was not all
CG this time!). So, this movie has something for the die-hard fans of way back
when telephone booths were a thing!
Pushes the Envelope of Race Relations
You know the saying, ‘if you are going to do it, go all the
way!’? Hollywood, to its credit, has been promoting interracial relationships
for years. You have likely seen commercials and films where couples of
different races express their love for one another in some form. Nonetheless,
there are race-relations that garner a lot more support than others. Primarily,
African-Caucasian American and Asian-Caucasian American race relations.
Star Wars, in a
very unexpected way, introduces another race-relation. [Spoiler alert #3] Near the end of the film, Finn (played by the talented
Mr. John Boyega) discovers Rose Tico (a brilliant maintenance worker of the
Resistance and a fan of Finn; played by the equally talented, Ms. Kelly Marie Tran) has more than a fan crush on him. I laugh inside when I remember the
crowd’s reaction when Rose kissed Finn. You could literally hear a popcorn kernel
hit the floor. Did I forget to mention that the theater room was filled? I
cannot say I blame them.
African-Asian American relations are not as openly promoted
as the other two relations listed previously. There are films where characters
assume a biracial identity on paper, or they are played by actors/actresses of
Asian-African American descent. However, the outward display of affection between
an Asian-American and an African-American character is not something strongly
pursued by Hollywood directors. Until Star
Wars: The Last Jedi, very few well-known directors seem willing to take on
that challenge. This is interesting, as Hollywood consists of individuals who
are a direct product of Asian-African American relations. Chanel Iman, Ne-Yo,
Tiger Woods, Tyga, Kimora Lee-Simons to name a few.
It is not just African-Asian American relationships that are
receiving little fanfare in Hollywood. Native/African American, South American-Asian
American interracial relationships are part of an extensive list of race-relations
not getting much attention in Hollywood. This is not to diminish the efforts of
Hollywood to promote interracial relationships. However, America is a land of multiple
ethnicities. Focusing on two or three interracial groups, in and of itself, does
not do the full spectrum of America’s diversity, justice.
Preserves Hope for the Jedi Order
Though many of the iconic figures are gone, Star Wars: The Last Jedi leaves room for
the next generation of light-saber wielding, enforcers of the Light. [Spoiler alert #4] With Rey getting a
hold of her new potential, the world of the Jedi Order can rest easy knowing a
Jedi master still exists within the Star Wars universe.
Okay. Now we have the good things out of the way, let us get
to what I feel the movie did not do enough (or did too much) of.
What The Movie Could Do Without!
Minimizing Finn’s Impact in the Struggle Between Light and Dark
When Finn fell into a coma, he seemed destined for
extraordinary things. He broke the ranks of the storm troopers and became his
own independent entity. He went toe-to-toe with Kylo Ren (played by Mr. Adam Driver) in a light-saber sword
fight. It seemed like Disney was
prepping Finn to be Rey’s equal (played by Ms. Daisy Ridley). Her rational side if she swayed too far into
the darkness. Heck, I was ready for Finn to wake up a full-blown Jedi.
It did not quite happen that way. From his revival to the
end of the film, Finn seems to struggle to tap the potential I saw in the last
film. He exhibits flashes of brilliance. [Spoiler
alert #5] Him and Rose join heads to formulate a plan to destroy the tracking
device giving away the Rebel ships position, even in hyperspace. He also defeats
his old boss, Captain Phasma (played by Ms. Gwendoline Christie) and attempts
to prevent Kylo Ren from breaking into the Rebel base.
However, all these instances barely make a dent in the fight
between the Light- and the Dark-side. The Rebel ship meets a spectacularly, explosive,
but sad end. Rebel fighters die while escaping the ship to the Rebel base, which
follow with more rebel deaths as the Resistance are forced to also escape from
the Rebel base. Also, Finn’s victory against Captain Phasma will obviously be
short-lived. We can count on her coming back, blood-thirsty and eager to settle
the score. In retrospect, what has Finn’s revival accomplished in the end? [Spoiler alert #6] I only hope Finn’s
failed suicide and newest love interest results in him substantially
contributing in the struggle between the Jedi and the Sith in later releases.
Introducing A Love Conflict That Will Likely Complicate Things
I get it. Conflict makes for good entertainment. However,
there are so many characters on spiritual journeys and vendettas, the writers
of Star Wars run the risk of muddling
the already involved plotline. It’s like taking a bucket of water and pouring
it into an already flooded drain. After a while, what’s the use of the drain?
Quite honestly, I prefer a Finn-Rose matchup for a couple of
reasons (outside of the promotion of the African-Asian American race relation).
Finn and Rose both start as low-level workers before realizing they were made
for greatness. They are both highly intelligent individuals and eager to put
their lives on the line for a greater cause. Lastly, Rose has a notable
interest in Finn. Rey, on the other hand, looks at Finn like another comrade. However,
it is clear Finn has no interest in Rose by the end of the film.
So why go through the whole break-up, make-up fiasco? Does Star Wars really need to become the next
The Desperate Housewives? Either make
Finn and Rose a thing or don’t.
The Disappointing Death of Supreme Leader Snoke
If someone can connect two people’s spirits from two corners
of space, how could that person not see Kylo Ren’s betrayal? Seriously?! Either
he was bluffing about the whole thing or the Force was playing a sad, practical
joke on him. The way he died was highly disappointing. Andy Serkis’ time was not
utilized very well, in my opinion.
Results Are In!
So how did the film fare? On the one hand, the people of Star Wars: The Last Jedi were
spectacular in fulfilling the requirements of the basic elements of theater.
They also successfully paid homage to the characters of the Star Wars of old. Finally, they took on
the challenge of introducing another aspect of American race-relations that has
not been getting much fanfare from Hollywood. However, they greatly reduced
Finn’s impact in the fight between Jedi and Sith. They also introduced a love
conflict that I worry will diminish a, otherwise, solid timeline. Plus, I am disappointed
in how the film ended Snoke. A Sith Lord of that caliber should have put more of
a fight.
That said, the positives too greatly outweigh the negatives.
It’s a gutsy move from Rian Johnson and the Star
Wars crew to introduce something not many Americans are accustomed to, and I believe an Asian-African American romance will pay off in the end.
Plus, this critic (which is me!) has a soft spot for the classics. So I believe Star Wars: The Last Jedi deserves a solid
8.3/10. Nice work guys!
Modern Youth Rating: 8.3/10 ★★★★☆
You did not think I'd end this post without a song do you? For shame! Here is a song from the Star Wars: The Last Jedi soundtrack called "The Battle of Crait" by Mr. John Williams. Special thanks to DisneyMusicVEVO for sharing the song. Please like the song on their page and feel free to leave them a comment. Until next time.....
John Williams - The Battle of Crait (From "Star Wars: The Last Jedi"/Audio Only)
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Sources:
1 CNBC Entertainment. “’Star Wars: The Last Jedi' soars
to $745 million worldwide”. https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/24/star-wars-the-last-jedi-soars-to-745-million-in-global-box-office.html. Created
on 24th December 2017. Visited on 27th December 2017.
2 D’Alessandro, Anthony. “‘The Last Jedi’ Opens To
$220M & Will Send 2017 To $11B: How Disney Still Wins With ‘Star Wars’
Franchise – Monday Final”. http://deadline.com/2017/12/the-last-jedi-star-wars-opening-box-office-records-1202228444/. Created
on 18th December 2017. Visited on 27th December 2017.
3 IMDB. “Michael Kaplan”. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0438325/.
4 Wikipedia. “Rose Tico”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Tico.
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