About five years ago, Disney decided to release the second installment in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, The Last Jedi. I went into the theaters with an open mind in December 2017 and while it was entertaining, only because of the fact that it’s a Star Wars film, the majority of the movie seemed like such wasted potential.
The film, moreover, the entire sequel trilogy, seemed like a giant rehash of the originals with glimpses and references of the prequel movies. The whole sequel trilogy was disappointing but The Last Jedi seemed like the culprit that started all of the disappointment.
The film saw Rey (Not Skywalker) try to convince an aging and reclusive Luke Skywalker to teach her the ways of the force and how to stop the First Order. Meanwhile, Finn and Po are scrambling to help Princess Leia fight said First Order and even as I write this commentary on the film, I’m already getting frustrated at the mere thought of reliving this disappointing affair.
I just hope that my detest for this movie won’t overshadow the proper film criticism and there is a lot of criticism to behold here. Trust me. I paid money to see this movie when it came out.
Aso spoilers are in effect, if you have yet to see this movie.
Crushed Expectations
First and foremost, the expectations were flying high for the middle chapter of the sequel trilogy. Those expectations were not met at all.
Let’s start off with the fact that Snoke is so easily killed before we even have a chance to get to know who he is. Everybody had their money riding on the fact that he was Darth Plagueis. That, sadly, was not the case and we later found out in The Rise of Skywalker, which is a worse film, that Palpatine created Snoke.
Moreover, Luke Skywalker dying before the end of the film is already a let-down and it is just a shame that these original beloved characters are relegated to be sidelined throughout the narrative of the film. It’s probably an insult when you watch a film hoping to have your favorite character from the olden days play a pivotal role in the film, but they seemed more like a pawn rather than an actual “force” to be reckoned with.
Derivative Plot Points
Probably, the biggest problem with this movie is the fact that it follows the same footsteps as The Empire Strikes Back and doesn’t seem to add anything new in the series. Rey goes to a reclusive area where a lowly Jedi hermit lives in isolation to train her against a galactic fleet like when Luke went to the Dagobah system in search of Yoda.
It was painfully obvious that writer/director Rian Johnson did not even attempt to break any new ground with the film. What’s more apparent is the fact that they don’t even add anything new, with respect to lightsaber duels. That’s just another reason that peeved me off with this film.
Bizarre Writing
The last problem that has plagued this movie was its strange writing and inability to try something new. I remember watching in the theaters when Kylo Ren blew up the ship that Leia was on, and a few moments later, she miraculously floated her way back to the wreckage without a helmet and managed to survive.
Somehow, we, as fans, are supposed to accept that without any sort of logical explanation. I, personally, don’t accept it and I refuse to do so and the film still makes Rey look like a perfect character without flaw which is not how you write characters. Speaking of Rey, there was that whole bit about her going down in those catacombs where she sees an infinitesimal number of reflections of her. It was pretty cool but Johnson had no explanation for it and just added to the film’s bizarre nature.
