If there is one thing I can say to sum up The Last Jedi is that it’s a tonal mess. The film doesn’t know what it is, and it is definitely not a Star Wars film. I understand Rian Johnson wanted to do his own thing and put his own mark on the series, but the film is so unbalanced. The humor is out of place. The pacing is atrocious. Star Wars typically has uneven pacing, but this takes it to a whole other level. Half the film is filler. The film has one of the greatest character arcs in the Star Wars Saga, but it’s ruined by its execution. The Last Jedi is a film I tried to like, especially given Mark Hamill’s masterful performance. Luke’s return was great. The film is a massive disappointment though.
Rian Johnson does not understand what Star Wars is. To put it simply, the film is an unmitigated disaster.
The Film Has No Identity and Horrible Pacing
The tone shifts back and forth so much, The Last Jedi doesn’t know what it is. It takes one of the most emotional scenes early in the film and then turns it into a cheap comedy gag for a laugh. The humor in the first half of the film is atrocious. It feels so forced and unnatural. A lot of people criticize the prequels for its humor, but these “jokes” were worse than most of the gags in The Phantom Menace. That really says something.
Speaking of The Phantom Menace, many criticize it because they believe its overly political. I don’t share this assessment, but, that’s okay. The Last Jedi goes into politics pretty heavily though and it’s being praised for it. Hypocrisy much? Especially considering the fact that The Last Jedi overtly pushes a political agenda and tries to tell viewers how to think. George Lucas never did this. It’s so disrespectful viewers.
Half of the film is literally filler and adds nothing to the overall plot. To say the pacing is uneven is an understatement; it has no pacing. It just goes from scene to scene with very little transition. The majority of the characters are shallow and not given any depth. Some character growth from the first film is seemingly abandoned, which makes it even worse. There’s no reason to care for them. I even hoped that certain characters would be killed because they’re a waste. Even Leia isn’t written well, though the burden of leadership is apparent. Despite this fact, Carrie Fisher’s performance is masterful as always.
The Good: Luke Skywalker, Ben Solo, and Rey
These are the only characters I actually cared for in the film. Mark Hamill deserves an Oscar for his incredible performance, it’s just unfortunate the film is so bad. Luke has the best character arc in The Last Jedi but the execution is atrocious. Luke’s reason for being the way he is makes a lot of sense, and his feelings about the Jedi takes into account everything that has transpired in the Saga. It’s literally perfect. That being said, because of the major pacing issues (or lack of any pacing at all), his story is hard to follow. It’s very choppy. He’s missing for 45 minutes in the film. This is horrible storytelling.
Ben and Rey’s stories are great as well, and their characters grow quite a bit. It’s just unfortunate that we still don’t know Rey’s parentage (the answer came from an unreliable source, but her identity is alluded to by Snoke). It’s also an odd choice that we didn’t learn anything about Snoke’s background as promised, but it doesn’t take away from the film.
The best parts of The Last Jedi are Ben Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Rey. There’s no reason to care about anything else, save one thing: the music.
John Williams is a Genius
The score for The Last Jedi is incredible. Even at his age, John Williams has never been better. The music is filled with new and classic themes. He’s on top of his game and we even hear some old motifs I thought we’d never hear again. There’s only one disappointment, which isn’t John Williams’ fault: there’s no true musical montage at the end. There’s quite a bit of dialogue spoken, which again points to the fact that Rian Johnson doesn’t understand what Star Wars is.
At Williams’ age, hopefully he is able to score Episode IX because he is one of the best composers to ever live.
The Last Jedi is an Unmitigated Disaster
The pacing is non-existent. The tone is uneven with humor that is incredibly forced and ruins serious, emotional scenes for the sake of a cheap laugh. Rian Johnson doesn’t understand Star Wars. Even the imagery is poor. Star Wars has always been like a silent film, told through visuals and music. It’s never about the dialogue. The films rhyme, like stanzas in a poem. There are also rules about the Force that seem to be re-written that go against what Lucas established, so much so that he cut one specific aspect out of the Original Trilogy.
Rian Johnson wanted to put his own stamp on Star Wars and failed miserably. I wanted to like this film. As a fan of the entire Saga, I truly did. It’s just not a good film, and more importantly, it’s a horrible Star Wars film. The worst Star Wars Film.
The music is top-notch and everything with Rey, Ben, and Luke was fantastic, but because of the film’s pacing issues, it took away from their stories. It actually makes me appreciate The Force Awakens, which has more depth to it than you would think. I never thought I would say this, but I’m glad J.J. Abrams is helming Episode IX. Hopefully, he can rectify this mess we call the Sequel Trilogy because The Last Jedi shattered it into pieces.
- Luke Skywalker is back and Mark Hamill deserves an Oscar
- Everything with Ben, Rey, and Luke
- Luke Skywalker's character arc
- The pacing is non-existant and emotional moments have cheap gags that take away from their impact.
- Ben, Rey, and Luke are the only characters who you have a vested interest in. Everyone else is shallow, and there's no reason to care for them.
- It pushes an overt political agenda and tells people how to think.