Skywalkers? We Don’t Need No Stinking Skywalkers!

Movie Review: The Last Jedi

by Michael Archbold

This review is rated SPOILERIFIC by Fly Casual Podcast. Virgin eyes and ears have been warned.

As of this writing, The Last Jedi is currently at $596 Million at the Domestic Box Office and $1.27 Billion Worldwide. A bonafide hit by all standards, though it has lost traction the last two weeks being beat out by Jumanji. It is also struggling at the Chinese box-office where some 90% of theaters have dropped it after just one week in wide release. The movie has a critic score of 90% and an audience score of 49% on Rotten Tomatoes. That is a 41 point difference between critics and the audience which is a little confusing. I have heard it suggested that the critic score is Disney influence. Others are chalking up the low audience score to online hackers / disgruntled fan boys. I don’t really buy that. The accusation is out there, but the Web site denies the rumors and no one seems to be providing any proof. In my opinion, the score reflects the divisiveness this movie has produced among fans. I have friends that absolutely loved it and say it is the best movie in the franchise. And others that absolutely hate it. Interestingly, this is how The Last Jedi lines up against the other movies in the franchise when comparing Rotten Tomatoes audience scores:

The Empire Strikes Back – 97%
A New Hope – 96%
Return of the Jedi – 94%
The Force Awakens – 88%
Rogue One – 87%
Revenge of the Sith – 65%
The Phantom Menace – 59%
Attack of the Clones – 57%
9. The Last Jedi – 49%

Some of the people in my circles point at this and say this isn’t possible. This has to be people screwing with the score. Again, without any credible evidence to the contrary, this score actually makes sense to me. I personally wouldn’t rank it that low, but there are a LOT of people who do. So let’s dig in and get to the nitty gritty.

The Good

Despite its flaws, there are actually a lot of things to like about this movie.

The most outstanding part of the film is the cinematography. The movie is gorgeous to behold. From the beautiful lush green and blue landscapes of Ach-To, to the antiseptic whites and blood reds of Crait. The special effects are well done and keep with the esthetic established by JJ Abrams in The Force Awakens through the mixture of practical and CGI effects. Even the over-the-top throne room of Snoke catches the eye. I am a sucker for contrast and artful themes.

The soundtrack and score is actually pretty amazing. Williams borrows heavily from his old catalogue, which may account for this. The familiar was lacking in The Force Awakens and Rogue One. This was a pleasant surprise. Johnson’s use of silence at key moments is also striking and very effective, most notable during Vice Admiral Holdo’s sacrifice near the end of the movie.

Think what you want about how Johnson handles Luke in the film. There are many critiques. But Mark Hamill, despite his own reservations about the direction of the character, nails his performance. A true professional, Hamill lost himself in the role and gave one of the best performances of his career.

Carrie Fisher was also a highlight in her final performance on the silver screen. She was less stiff than in The Force Awakens. I felt more drawn to Leia’s character in this film. She embodied all the things we love about Leia. The strong willed rebel leader, her face now brushed with the wisdom of age and experience. She was stoic and memorable. The knowing silence on her face when Kylo was leading the attack on her ship was a perfect moment for her. And choice of wardrobe this time around, much more fitting in my opinion with her more regal outfits.

In terms of favorite scenes and arcs, there are many. The aforementioned Holdo sacrifice jumps to the front. Most of us in our group that saw the movie together thought she was throwing herself into the line of fire to save the group. Online fans are calling it the Holdo Maneuver. Some have gone over the top with the analysis pointing out that if this was a thing, the Rebels should have been using it the whole time. In fact there is a meme being routed right now that shows a scene from Rogue One where a Mon Cal suggests the maneuver and they destroy the Death Star at Scarif. The end. Despite the brilliance of the meme, I say, enjoy it for what it is! An awesome surprise that looked hella cool on the big screen.

Most people challenge me on this one, but I love the Leia-floating-in-space scene. For me it was less about the way it looked (described by many as Mary Poppins in space) and more about the fact that this was the one and only time I will be able to see Leia use the force in a physical way on screen, given the film makers’ penchant for killing off the old characters and the fact that Carrie Fisher has passed.

In terms of the new characters, Rey and Kylo steal the show again. The dynamic of them bonding through the Force and communicating unbeknownst to Luke was a brilliant way to develop their characters. The movie left me wanting more of them and to know more about their path. Both Ridley and Driver are brilliant in their roles. The throne room team-up, even if prematurely cut short, will be one of the most memorable scenes in the saga. I felt real character development from The Force Awakens to The Last Jedi. Their story is what will bring me back for Ep IX. I am hopeful that JJ can reel things back in from the oddities of The Last Jedi and give us the conclusion to this trilogy these characters deserve.

The Bad

Well, unfortunately for me and many fans who share the same criticisms of this film, The Last Jedi is not without its flaws. Let’s rip off the bandaid together and get this done.

By far, for me, the biggest issue this film had was the use of over-the-top humor. I mean it was bad. It was worse than bad. There was humor in this film that would have played better in a Farrelly Brothers movie. That is not an exaggeration. Seriously, Finn’s big entrance walking out of the medical bay (which happens to be right next to the star fighter landing bay no less) in a daze and leaking fluid from his plastic suit is like Harry pulling Lloyd’s catheter out in Dumb and Dumber Too. I mean come on. We also got a taste of things like:

Space Crank Calls starring Poe and Hux
Porg-Hub levels of onscreen porging
Luke on Rey foreplay using Force tickling and feathers
Attack of the Clones level humor from Leia telling 3PO to wipe that look off his face
General Hux quipping one liners at the guy who could kill him with a thought (“Do you think you got him?”)

There is more. Unfortunately a lot more, but I am trying to block it out. Seriously. Had Johnson admitted to himself and Kennedy/Lucasfilm had enough wherewithal to understand that Johnson isn’t a comedic writer, these atrocities could have been prevented. In fact, it is the humor that kept me from giving this a higher score and setting it closer to The Force Awakens on my list. In my mind, this movie was going to be the more serious film, perhaps a little darker than the others, but not devoid of well conceived humor a la Empire Strikes Back or Rogue One. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Rian… you CANNOT write humor. Learn this. And for god’s sake, if they let you keep this new trilogy, please oh please oh PAH-LEASE bring in some help. Seriously.

Let’s rewind, for a moment, to 2014. Disney has just purchased Lucasfilm and there is talk that the Star Wars franchise is throwing out their old Canon. In its place, we were promised a shiny new Canon where continuity matters. We were told that there were people at Lucasfilm that were hired specifically to be in charge of continuity between the movies, novels, comics, games, all of it. We were going to get the Marvel Cinematic Universe levels of it. Since the Force Awakens, however, I have come to the slow realization that there is actually no one at Lucasfilm, save one Dave Filoni (producer for The Clone Wars series and Rebels), that gives a DAMN about continuity. This was never more clear to me then when I got out of my first viewing of The Last Jedi. Literally half of Rian Johnson’s movie was undoing what JJ had done. All those rumors early on that Lucasfilm was hosting regular meetings with Johnson and JJ, presumably to meld their visions and create a cohesive story, were complete and utter BS. Remember Anakin’s lightsaber that caused Rey’s first Force vision in TFA and it’s draw to her in the confrontation with Kylo Ren in the forest? Well, Johnson had Luke throw it on the ground and Johnson ends up destroying the lightsaber at the end of the movie. We’re killing off all the old characters, we might as well break the lightsaber too and give it no meaning to the story.

Which leads to unanswered questions and over-arcing-plot missteps. The Force Awakens was significant in that it was the start of a brand new trilogy and we had no idea where it was going. So, like a first movie should, it presented the audience with a lot of interesting questions. For every question posed by JJ, Johnson had or should have had an answer:

JJ Q: What is the significance of Anakin’s light saber? Johnson A: Nothing. In fact less than nothing and I am going to break it so we don’t have to see it anymore and remind ourselves of old characters. Old characters are stupid. I want people to pay attention to what I am doing.
JJ Q: Who are Rey’s parents? Why was she left on Jakku with Unkar Plutt as we presumably see them fly away in a shuttle in Rey’s Force dream? Johnson A: You didn’t really see them fly away. That was just a dumb Force dream. Rey’s parents are paupers on Jakku that sold Rey for booze money.
JJ Q: Who is Snoke? Is he a Sith? If not, what is he? How did he find Ben Skywalker and convert him to Kylo Ren? Johnson A: Snoke doesn’t matter. Let’s kill him without any exposition.
JJ Q: What is the origin of Kylo’s helmet? It looks a lot like a fan favorite, Darth Revan. Johnson A: That hat is dumb. He doesn’t need it. In fact, that stupid scar that JJ put on Kylo’s face, let’s also move that for no good reason too. Yeah, that’s better. Just the way I want it. That damn JJ is dumb. They should just give me a whole trilogy and I’ll show ‘em how its done.

The plot holes were also glaring. Canto Bight made no sense and the mission was ultimately a failure. Literally its only purpose was to give Finn something to do in the movie and give Johnson a chance to make unsophisticated political statements about hating the rich and loving animals. The only bright spot was Benicio del Toro’s performance who did an outstanding job with what he was given. Meanwhile, back with the Resistance in their slow speed chase through space, Vice Admiral Holdo and Leia decide not to tell Poe that they are heading to Crait. Letting him in on the secret would have quelled a mutiny. Made no logical sense why that needed to be kept from him. The love story between Finn and Rose was poorly conceived and underdeveloped. Rose preventing Finn from sacrificing himself to save the Resistance killed what would have been one of the best moments in the trilogy. And probably the worst offender; the Kylo/Rey team-up that lasted just long enough to kill Snoke and his guards. Johnson worked up this really cool moment where Rey and Kylo could have ended the movie and walked off together and left this giant cliff hanger for Ep IX. Instead, he ended the movie like the team-up didn’t even matter.

Finally, one of the criticisms I am hearing from fans of the movie regarding those who did not care for it is that, “Fanboys thought The Force Awakens was too much like the original trilogy and The Last Jedi was not enough like it.” I find this critique hilarious. The Last Jedi was almost a mirror image of The Empire Strikes Back complete with walkers on a white planet striking at a rebel base, Jedi training at a far away planet, a cooky old Jedi Master, Force ghosts, Resistance escaping the First Order on a slow speed chase through real space because of the inability to use hyper drive. This was every bit a copy of the original movies, just like The Force Awakens.

The Ugly

For The Ugly, I usually save the one most egregious part of a film to discuss. In the case of The Last Jedi, there is a trifecta of Ugly.

First, Johnson’s treatment of Luke Skywalker is, simply put, unacceptable. This character is one of the most iconic in cinematic history. I have heard it argued, and I agree, that there are certain iconic characters that transcend and are eternal and don’t change. James Bond is eternal and doesn’t change. Audiences come to expect certain things from icons. You take a HUGE risk when you mess with that formula (e.g. Brooding Superman in Man of Steel). Luke, when faced with the opportunity to strike down his father in Return of the Jedi and join the Emperor as the second most powerful man in the universe, looked at Palpatine in bold defiance, knowing that this would lead to his own death, and said, “Never! You have failed your highness. I am a JEDI, like my FATHER before ME!” Johnson has reduced this icon to a suicidal old cook who thinks about killing his sister’s son, and runs away to hide from his problems. Really? He can’t bring himself to kill his own father who has been the arbiter of death in the galaxy, but ignites his lightsaber against his sleeping nephew who he THINKS is turning into a big bad baddie. Swing and a miss. I truly understand what Johnson was going for here. Luke is old now. How often does a filmmaker have the opportunity to think about and write the ending to such a beloved character. What he failed to realize is that difference between a character and an icon. In my opinion, Luke deserved his moment to shine and more plausible treatment. We should have gotten real Luke meeting real Leia on screen. I can even accept Luke making the ultimate sacrifice in this film, although I wholeheartedly reject that you have to kill off all the old characters to be able to move the story forward for the benefit of the new. Even Hamill felt this in his bones when he first read the script and confronted Johnson about it. (By the way, Hamill needs to stop apologizing for sharing those feelings)

Second, Rian Johnson was a colossal misstep. I am probably most disappointed by him because I was such an ardent supporter leading up to this movie. I really thought he was going to be the one to take this story and launch it into the new era. Instead, I feel like I got a whiny brat who wanted to undo everything that JJ did in his movie so he could put his own stamp on things. I understand the desire to make a story and a film your own. But Star Wars is NOT a franchise you can do that with… at least not with the Saga movies. Johnson would have been better served if he had done an Anthology film AND took some classes on writing humor… or better yet, brought in a writing partner that had that talent. If there is one thing that we can take away from the original trilogy it is that Collaboration is key. Three different directors under the guidance of a caretaker (Lucas). Those movies felt cohesive. I thought Kathleen Kennedy was going to be the one to pick up that mantle, but The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi tell me that she either doesn’t care about a unified vision or she is extremely overworked with all the projects they are producing at break neck speed (we have a new Star Wars movie due in 4 months folks!). I tend to believe the latter. At the end of the day, Rian Johnson was not very creative or inspired and that is really the most disappointing part of the film to me. I expected way more.

Third, fan reactions have been tough to swallow, on both sides. A lot of people didn’t like this film and have legitimate concerns with it. But there has been this movement on the part of some super fans to quell the dissent. Perhaps I am more sensitive to it being on this side of the debate. I will just end this part of the discussion by saying you are allowed to LOVE this movie. You are allowed to like this movie. and you are allowed to DESPISE this movie. At the end of the day, it is just a damn movie. Folks need to take it down a notch. Please don’t apply the divisiveness of the American political climate to entertainment. It’s ok to disagree and still be buds.

The Lowdown

My 10 year old daughter had a more insightful comment than most of the opinions I have read about this movie. As we walked out of the theater, the very first thing she said to me was, “Dad, I don’t like the people that made this movie. They keep killing all the characters I love.” From the mouths of babes.

At the end of the day, this just isn’t a good movie any way you slice it. I give the movie 2 out of 5 stars. Would have been lower except for the great cinematography and score. This is a first for me when it comes to Star Wars movies, but I quite simply don’t like this movie. It misses too many marks… marks that should have been EASY to hit.

The Last Jedi has made a lot of money at the box-office. But so did the Phantom Menace when it hit theaters. So in the long term, the real question we have to start asking ourselves is this; will the divisiveness of this movie affect future efforts?

My Star Wars order of favorite movies:
1. The Empire Strikes Back
2. A New Hope
3. Rogue One
4. Return of the Jedi
5. The Force Awakens
6. Revenge of the Sith
7. The Phantom Menace
8. The Last Jedi
9. Attack of the Clones

2.0 out of 5.0 Stars

Michael Archbold is really just a guy that watches movies and sometimes likes them enough to write reviews. You can hear Mike weekly on Better Kind Media’s Fly Casual Podcast. Follow Mike on Twitter @Mike_Archbold.

Skywalkers? We Don’t Need No Stinking Skywalkers! – Movie Review: The Last Jedi

Movie Review: The Last Jedi

by Michael Archbold