By Nadia Ranaputri
Director: Rian Johnson
Cast: Mark Hamill, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Kelly Marie Tran, Laura Dern, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Gwendoline Christie.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens had some heavy lifting to do when starting the franchise anew, creating new characters from whilst establishing development for the veteran trio (Hamill, Fisher, and Ford) from scratch. It did its job in introducing and re-introducing the story and characters, both the new and the old. From there, it's The Last Jedi's job to build the characters even further from the foundation that The Force Awakens had built. And it did, so spectacularly.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi picks up right after The Force Awakens, where former scavenger-turned-Jedi-trainee Rey travels to Ahch-To to seek help from Luke Skywalker, a retired Jedi master who has been living in isolation for many years. Meanwhile, the First Order is in pursuit of the Resistance, leaving General Leia and her band of Resistance with limited options for their survival.
Ridley's performance here is marvelous, perhaps an even more spectacular performance here than in Episode VII, as Rey is stuck in a conflict between what to believe and what to not believe. She's seen both the dark and the light, but here, she's faced with a greyer area in which she can't differentiate which is the truth and which is the lie. It's an interesting development, where a character so innocent and warm-hearted is thrown into a pit of emotional conflict. The returning Mark Hamill provides a more dry-humored, yet nuanced performance in Luke Skywalker, and elements of deep emotional crisis that was subtly touched on in Return of the Jedi, and is explored more here. There's also a sense of conflict in Kylo Ren, one of the most interesting and exciting elements of the film, as he tries to push himself further to the Dark side whilst the Light is trying to pull him back fervently, and Adam Driver nails that conflicted side in Kylo.
This is probably the most action heavy Star Wars film, containing more than one big action sequences that become vital to the plot. It's got more bite during the finale, as if it skips the artillery routine of fire and no questions asked and goes straight to the bombs, each action sequence dropping the biggest bombs they have. Just when you think that the first and second acts were tormentingly slow (I had no problem with this, however), the third act eventually makes it up by fully loaded action sequences. Yes, they are brilliant as hell. The fluidity of each action sequence is like a symphony, a work of art on its own. It's immensely satisfying and so Star Wars. It is also the most duel-battle-heavy action since Revenge of the Sith.
The franchise's new faces, introduced in The Force Awakens, are instantly thrown into various arcs. As soon as it begins, it would have expected you to have caught up with the events of Episode VII. The Last Jedi chimes in at around 2 hours and a half, making it the longest Star Wars film to date. It contains three main arcs: Rey and Luke on Ahch-To, Finn and Rose on Canto Bight, and Poe on the Resistance ship. It's a bit like Dunkirk, if you put that into perspective, given how these arcs had their own pacing, except unlike Dunkirk that explained the span of each arc (like how The Mole arc was explained to have the span of a week while the sea in a day and the air in an hour); The Last Jedi doesn't quite give much specifics on how many days or hours each arc took. Each of these arcs have distinct approaches from one another, with some having a much lighter tone than the others.
However, you'd think that in 2 and a half hours, they'd cover the story ground fair and wide. It does for the most part, particularly when giving more depth to these characters that are tested on different levels and learning from some of their failures to overcome their obstacles. Unfortunately, some developments on one arc is sacrificed for another, which is the main problem that I had with The Last Jedi: its inability to fully grasp the most interesting arc in favor of a weaker arc that didn't really need to be there in the first place. (Mild spoiler: the weak arc that I was talking about here was the arc with Finn and Rose on Canto Bight).
It is unexpectedly, the most humorous Star Wars film. Star Wars' humor in the past few films had been fairly limited to a few quips, and most of them came from Han Solo. Here in The Last Jedi, the fresh faces of the franchise get their fair share of humorous moments, too, particularly (and unexpectedly) from hotshot pilot Poe Dameron (there's a very funny scene where he continuously refers to General Hux as General Hugs). There's also some dry humor here in Mark Hamill's Luke Skywalker, which was understandable, given that he's now an old hermit living in isolation. Carrie Fisher (Rest in Piece, Princess) has her own feisty quips as well, with one scene having her scold at Isaac's Poe ("Get your head out of your cockpit," she snaps out to him), which was a delight to see.
The passing of the torch from the JJ Abrams directed Episode VII to the Rian Johnson directed Episode VIII had never felt so distinct from one another, but all the more welcome. The Last Jedi is one of Star Wars' most visually gorgeous films since Rogue One, pouring its poetic soul into incredible shots that make the film ever the more beautiful to witness. Beyond that, it offers the best sense of excitement and wonder, even more so than The Force Awakens. The strongest element that kept The Last Jedi from stumbling is that they really went all out for it. Plot twists, space battles, and levels of crisis are all handled in a completely fresh direction from director Rian Johnson. It clearly shows that he wasn't holding back when it comes to adding new elements that we never thought we'd see in a Star Wars film, one of them being how it uses the Force.
The Last Jedi plays with all sorts of different elements, and if some had complained about how The Force Awakens was too reliant on nostalgia and playing it safe, The Last Jedi retaliates from this and creates an entirely new element that in the future, bridges between the escalating challenge that Episode IX will have to deliver in order to create that same intriguing otherworldly feel of Episode VIII, and hopeful expectations from fans on what comes next.
Stars: 4/5
Trailer
 |
| Image source: IMDB |
Director: Rian Johnson
Cast: Mark Hamill, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Kelly Marie Tran, Laura Dern, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Gwendoline Christie.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens had some heavy lifting to do when starting the franchise anew, creating new characters from whilst establishing development for the veteran trio (Hamill, Fisher, and Ford) from scratch. It did its job in introducing and re-introducing the story and characters, both the new and the old. From there, it's The Last Jedi's job to build the characters even further from the foundation that The Force Awakens had built. And it did, so spectacularly.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi picks up right after The Force Awakens, where former scavenger-turned-Jedi-trainee Rey travels to Ahch-To to seek help from Luke Skywalker, a retired Jedi master who has been living in isolation for many years. Meanwhile, the First Order is in pursuit of the Resistance, leaving General Leia and her band of Resistance with limited options for their survival.
Ridley's performance here is marvelous, perhaps an even more spectacular performance here than in Episode VII, as Rey is stuck in a conflict between what to believe and what to not believe. She's seen both the dark and the light, but here, she's faced with a greyer area in which she can't differentiate which is the truth and which is the lie. It's an interesting development, where a character so innocent and warm-hearted is thrown into a pit of emotional conflict. The returning Mark Hamill provides a more dry-humored, yet nuanced performance in Luke Skywalker, and elements of deep emotional crisis that was subtly touched on in Return of the Jedi, and is explored more here. There's also a sense of conflict in Kylo Ren, one of the most interesting and exciting elements of the film, as he tries to push himself further to the Dark side whilst the Light is trying to pull him back fervently, and Adam Driver nails that conflicted side in Kylo.
 |
| Image source: IMDB |
This is probably the most action heavy Star Wars film, containing more than one big action sequences that become vital to the plot. It's got more bite during the finale, as if it skips the artillery routine of fire and no questions asked and goes straight to the bombs, each action sequence dropping the biggest bombs they have. Just when you think that the first and second acts were tormentingly slow (I had no problem with this, however), the third act eventually makes it up by fully loaded action sequences. Yes, they are brilliant as hell. The fluidity of each action sequence is like a symphony, a work of art on its own. It's immensely satisfying and so Star Wars. It is also the most duel-battle-heavy action since Revenge of the Sith.
The franchise's new faces, introduced in The Force Awakens, are instantly thrown into various arcs. As soon as it begins, it would have expected you to have caught up with the events of Episode VII. The Last Jedi chimes in at around 2 hours and a half, making it the longest Star Wars film to date. It contains three main arcs: Rey and Luke on Ahch-To, Finn and Rose on Canto Bight, and Poe on the Resistance ship. It's a bit like Dunkirk, if you put that into perspective, given how these arcs had their own pacing, except unlike Dunkirk that explained the span of each arc (like how The Mole arc was explained to have the span of a week while the sea in a day and the air in an hour); The Last Jedi doesn't quite give much specifics on how many days or hours each arc took. Each of these arcs have distinct approaches from one another, with some having a much lighter tone than the others.
However, you'd think that in 2 and a half hours, they'd cover the story ground fair and wide. It does for the most part, particularly when giving more depth to these characters that are tested on different levels and learning from some of their failures to overcome their obstacles. Unfortunately, some developments on one arc is sacrificed for another, which is the main problem that I had with The Last Jedi: its inability to fully grasp the most interesting arc in favor of a weaker arc that didn't really need to be there in the first place. (Mild spoiler: the weak arc that I was talking about here was the arc with Finn and Rose on Canto Bight).
 |
| Image source: IMDB |
It is unexpectedly, the most humorous Star Wars film. Star Wars' humor in the past few films had been fairly limited to a few quips, and most of them came from Han Solo. Here in The Last Jedi, the fresh faces of the franchise get their fair share of humorous moments, too, particularly (and unexpectedly) from hotshot pilot Poe Dameron (there's a very funny scene where he continuously refers to General Hux as General Hugs). There's also some dry humor here in Mark Hamill's Luke Skywalker, which was understandable, given that he's now an old hermit living in isolation. Carrie Fisher (Rest in Piece, Princess) has her own feisty quips as well, with one scene having her scold at Isaac's Poe ("Get your head out of your cockpit," she snaps out to him), which was a delight to see.
The passing of the torch from the JJ Abrams directed Episode VII to the Rian Johnson directed Episode VIII had never felt so distinct from one another, but all the more welcome. The Last Jedi is one of Star Wars' most visually gorgeous films since Rogue One, pouring its poetic soul into incredible shots that make the film ever the more beautiful to witness. Beyond that, it offers the best sense of excitement and wonder, even more so than The Force Awakens. The strongest element that kept The Last Jedi from stumbling is that they really went all out for it. Plot twists, space battles, and levels of crisis are all handled in a completely fresh direction from director Rian Johnson. It clearly shows that he wasn't holding back when it comes to adding new elements that we never thought we'd see in a Star Wars film, one of them being how it uses the Force.
The Last Jedi plays with all sorts of different elements, and if some had complained about how The Force Awakens was too reliant on nostalgia and playing it safe, The Last Jedi retaliates from this and creates an entirely new element that in the future, bridges between the escalating challenge that Episode IX will have to deliver in order to create that same intriguing otherworldly feel of Episode VIII, and hopeful expectations from fans on what comes next.
Stars: 4/5
Trailer
0 Comments