Skywalker doesn’t rise to all the expectations
JJ Abrams returns to direct his second Star Wars movie, “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” Fans have been anticipating this movie since the release of “The Force Awakens” in 2015. After nine films, three full trilogies, and three generations of actors, the saga finally comes to an end.
Critics tore the movie apart, giving it a 53% on Rotten Tomatoes. But for both first time Star Wars viewers and intense fanatics alike, the movie was very enjoyable, with intense action scenes and incredible visual effects. Abrams brought back some fan-favorites like Lando Calrisien and Han Solo, who played pivotal roles in the movie. The best character, however, is known as Babu Frik, a talented droid engineer.
In terms of the overall plot, the famous rolling text at the beginning of each film already delivers the first plot twist, having fans at the edge of their seats before the first scene: Emperor Palpatine is back. In the following scenes, we can piece together where our heroes are and what has been happening since “The Last Jedi.” Finn and Po, our beloved First Order deserter and daring Resistance pilot, have been running missions under General Leia while Rey has been undergoing her own Jedi training. We also see that the force-link, as some might call it, between Rey and Ben Solo is still prevalent, and in fact stronger.
The rest of the story is centered mainly around these two characters and their conflict with each other and themselves. Ben Solo was born as part of the light side, and was corrupted along the way. His internal doubt has began to consume him and he doesn’t know what to do anymore. Rey, on the other hand, is scared that she will fall to the dark side. Abrahms beautifully choreographs the clash of these two different worlds, ultimately blending them together by the end of the film.
For the most part, Abrahms does a good job sticking to the same familiar feeling that the original trilogy brought about. At some points, however, the film screams Disney, with semi-forced jokes peppered in here and there, or a couple monologues from the bad guys. The monologues were arguably the worst part-part of the reason the original trilogy was good was because it lacked any.
The ending had potential to be great, but ended up being mediocre at best, thanks to Disney’s insatiable desire to force an awkward romance into every movie they get their gloved hands on. At the climax of the film, Rey and Ben share a completely unnecessary and pointless kiss. After having absolutely no romantic connection the entire trilogy, the studio decided that was a good idea. It was not a good idea in any world. In fact, it was a terrible idea.
This doesn’t mean that the movie wasn’t great, because it was, but it’s far from perfect. The critic rating of the movie is very harsh though, even taking into account the kissing scene. I believe a 7/10 is accurate.
