STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Episode VIII) (2017)

Rating: 8.5/10

STARRING: Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Oscar Isaac, John Boyega, Kelly Marie Tran, Domhnall Gleeson, Laura Dern, Benicio del Toro, Gwendoline Christie, and Andy Serkis as the voice of Supreme Leader Snoke

RATED PG-13 for intense action violence and some emotional content

Once upon a time, a filmmaker named Rian Johnson was called upon to direct a crucial installment of the hit television series Breaking Bad. Though it was technically only the third-to-last episode of the acclaimed series, “Ozymandias” was in many ways the show’s dramatic and emotional climax, opening with a shootout and the gut-wrenching death of a major character, seguing into an explosive domestic confrontation, and ending with the show’s main character on the run, a fugitive wanted for kidnapping and murder. Lauded far and wide, “Ozymandias” was a magnificent hour of television, one that still ranks as Breaking Bad’s highest-rated episode ever, with an online user/critic rating of 9.9/10.

Rian Johnson stepping in to direct a pivotal installment of a beloved, popular series and delivering an unforgettable spectacle—a tremendous and stunning mix of action, drama, exhilaration, terror and heartbreak…

Sound familiar?

While you can see that I did not rate Star Wars: The Last Jedi as highly as the people have rated “Ozymandias”, the nature of the achievement resonates. Johnson both wrote and directed The Last Jedi, and it proves not only the longest-ever episode of the series, but almost certainly one of the best. A scene-setting first act may leave viewers a bit restless (in a Rogue One kind of way), but it gives way to a real whopper of a second act, a huge final hour that just keeps building on itself, featuring a dazzling and powerful parade of spectacular action sequences, heart-stopping shifts in momentum, climactic confrontations, and fake-out endings that just beg to be described with the term epic.

The Last Jedi begins within minutes on the timeline of the conclusion of 2015’s The Force Awakens, its immediate predecessor. After the famous opening title crawl, we find the stubborn, brave Resistance, led by General Leia Organa (the late Carrie Fisher), seeking to send a message to the high-powered, heavily-armed First Order with a surprise attack. A bombing run led by pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) inflicts massive damage on the First Order’s superior fleet of space cruisers. But when the mission takes a turn, and the Resistance sustain heavy losses, they are forced to turn and flee. Pursued relentlessly by the First Order fleet, led by the sneering General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson), the Resistance soon find themselves with dwindling fuel reserves and limited options. Things don’t improve when Leia promotes Vice Admiral Holdo (Laura Dern) to command, and the Vice Admiral’s tactical plan turns out to be little more than to run and evade for as long as possible. Sensing their commanders’ increasing desperation, Resistance fighters Poe, Finn (John Boyega) and Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) hatch a daring plan to sneak onto a First Order cruiser and confuse their tracking signals in order to allow the good guys' fleet to beam into hyperspace and escape. Meanwhile, their ally Rey (Daisy Ridley), who has long felt the growing power of the Force within her, seeks tutelage at the hands of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), the legendary Jedi hero who has been hidden in exile for years. Luke is reluctant to tutor Rey because his last notable pupil was Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), his nephew and a once-promising student who is now the brooding apprentice of the malevolent First Order head honcho, Supreme Leader Snoke (voice of Andy Serkis). Soon it’s a race against time as Poe, Finn and Rose try to throw off the First Order’s tracking signals before they’re caught, before the fleet’s fuel runs out, and before the conflicted Kylo Ren once and for all puts his past behind him and embraces the Dark Side, and all the power that comes with it. All the while, Rey battles frustration and despair as she tries to persuade Luke to help unlock her own Force abilities, so that she can not only become a true Jedi but also step up to help the Resistance escape annihilation.

Needless to say, if you are not familiar with The Force Awakens, you need to watch it, or re-watch it, whatever the case may be. There are a handful of new characters in this cast, but, as stated, Last Jedi picks up within minutes of where the previous installment left off, and features all the returning major characters in their own stories that pick up almost from the get-go. In the interest of not spoiling any of the movie’s half-dozen major twists or revelations, I will say no more of the plot here.

While The Last Jedi does not rival The Empire Strikes Back as my personal Star Wars favorite, it is everything you want in a Star Wars film. The opening Lucasfilm and Star Wars logos are as stirring as ever. The visuals are absolutely incredible, from Resistance bombers deploying their payloads during the opening attack, a gorgeously-shot and choreographed two-on-eight skirmish that might go down as the series’ best action scene ever, and the final battle on a planet made up of stark white salt and blood-red crystals. Visits to multiple different planets provide some interstellar intrigue, most notably a planet boasting a luxurious casino that puts one in mind of a James Bond film. Long-time supporting characters like R2D2, Chewbacca, and C-3PO (still voiced by Anthony Daniels) elicit chuckles with quirky appearances – keeping things grounded while we focus mostly on the exploits of our dashing new heroes – and an old favorite makes a surprise cameo fans of all ages will love. It all adds up to a more-than-memorable entry, one that keeps things entertaining throughout its considerable running time (at just over two-and-a-half-hours, it’s the longest Star Wars by almost 20 minutes).

So, with all these colorful descriptors and high accolades, why do I not have it rated higher? Well, this was surely inevitable, but despite enough major twists and turns that I started to feel like this Star Wars shared some DNA with Game of Thrones, the movie does reek of fan service. One character who was surprisingly underused in The Force Awakens returns to be almost immediately discarded again (why have the character around anyway? Because she looks cool?). There’s a none-too-subtle vein of slapstick humor, particularly in the first hour, that might prompt unhappy comparisons to The Prequels. And, in keeping with the epic concept, The Last Jedi leaves no dramatic stone unturned. A few favorite characters have Near-Death-Experiences that feel like deliberate fakeouts, strains of the series’ beloved musical score provide obvious cues for impending Big Moments or Important Lines of Dialogue, and a number of important confrontations are subjected to unnecessarily lengthy closeups clearly meant to milk the tension. I also just can’t help feeling that The Last Jedi may have fired too many narrative bullets. For all the intriguing surprises and major developments here, one wonders what, exactly, is left for 2019’s Episode IX to do. Last Jedi is tremendous, but more of a cliffhanger ending, while frustrating for fans now, could have built even greater excitement for the last episode of this trilogy.

Unsurprisingly, the cast is terrific. How great it is to meet back up with familiar characters after Rogue One’s one-and-done heroes?! Daisy Ridley navigates a topsy-turvy, dramatic go-round for Rey with aplomb, John Boyega brings the same conviction and pluck to Finn he brought last time, and Oscar Isaac capably provides the required charisma and swagger as our Han Solo stand-in. Another returnee, Domhnall Gleeson, cranks the sneer up to smack-it-off-his-face levels as the nefarious, if somewhat doofish, Hux. The always-reliable Laura Dern is rock-solid as a different breed of rebel leader, and newcomer Kelly Marie Tran makes an endearing sidekick. Old favorites Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher (whose passing last December at age 60 broke hearts the world over) give soulful performances in roles worthy of their screen prestige. And whatever you may think of Kylo Ren the character – whether you think him a mesmerizingly-conflicted villain or a whiny punk kid – you have to admit Adam Driver is killing it in the role; Ren is easily the most dynamic and memorable presence in this trilogy so far, and his ultimate allegiance and fate is probably the biggest question left to be answered.

Oh, and can we please get Andy Serkis an Oscar? Or a statue? Or something? His work as Supreme Leader Snoke (on par with his instant-classic motion-capture portrayals of Gollum, King Kong, and Caesar the ape) is masterful.

In Summary

Okay, to wrap up. While I do not consider Star Wars: The Last Jedi to be the beloved series’ best, for me, it easily surpasses its predecessor, 2015’s The Force Awakens. And as a two-and-a-half-hour epic with a you-have-to-see-it-to-believe-it second half, I almost feel like it breaks new ground for the series. It’s not perfect, but I’m pretty sure writer/director Rian Johnson will never have to buy another drink, and Disney is guaranteed to give him a blank check and a slap on the back for this new spinoff trilogy he wants to make next. There’s laugh-out-loud humor, edge-of-your-seat suspense, shock-you-into-silence drama, and mesmerizing action. And, of course, it’s a fine and fitting tribute to one of its most valuable and beloved players, the late Carrie Fisher. It’s the capital-E Event of the 2017 holiday movie season, and it delivers.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)

Directed and Written for the Screen by Rian Johnson

Based on Characters Created by George Lucas

Rated PG-13

Length: 2 hours and 32 minutes