I’ve heard such mixed reviews on the newest addition to the Star Wars’ Universe, that I just had to put mine out. Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi was, at the very least, different than expected. Let’s get into the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. *SPOILERS AHEAD*

 

In a quiet theater between an eight-year-old child and a grown man smelling like an old camembert, was a young man that loved Star Wars. I love the quiet before the booming sound of the opening. I love the bold yellow of the title crawl. I love the nostalgia. I love the characters. Even with the episodes of Star Wars I didn’t like (any episode with more than seven minutes of screen time for Jar-Jar Binks), there were things about them that just made them feel like Star Wars. Little moments that reminded me of the magic that the original trilogy gave me. Episode VIII didn’t do that. I felt like I was watching a movie with Star Wars characters that had nothing to do with Star Wars. There were moments that were great, but they were overshadowed by the moments that just didn’t matter to the storyline or moments that were so ridiculous that they completely took me out of what was happening in the movie and reminded that it was just that: a movie. This was a feeling I had never experienced when watching a Star Wars movie for the first time. I didn’t care for much of the movie, but let’s get into what I thought was good.

 

The Good –

• Adam Driver was riveting. He did a hell of a job portraying a conflicted character who you could care about. His scenes with Rey were especially great. All he wanted was to look to the future. A future he seemingly wanted to share with Rey. Everything that was done with his character made sense from his angle. From being scared as a child when Luke was standing over him with a lightsaber, to wanting to fight Luke himself after failing to kill him by shooting him incessantly. The writing, acting, and overall vibe of Kylo Ren/Ben Solo was just perfect. By far the best part of the movie.

 

• Rian Johnson’s shots had me in awe. Although there were some things I didn’t agree with Johnson on, I absolutely loved the way the film was shot. The ending of the second act/beginning of the third act, when Vice Admiral Holdo (played by Laura Dern) threw her ship into hyperspace to destroy the First Order’s fleet and save the rebellion, had me in awe just based on how it was shot. The eeriness of the quiet. The spectacle of a ship hitting hyperspace just to destroy another ship. Poe/Leia’s reaction to her selfless act. The third act showed us the salt planet, Crait. I loved the contrast of white to red, and how it looked like blood. Also, in the first few scenes, I thought that the Rebel’s attacks on the First Order were shot well. There was also the amazing scene where Rey and Kylo fought together. A lot of the movie was captured superbly.

 

• YODA! Yes, everyone’s favorite Jedi Master returned. And he returned just how we like him: A puppet, not CGI! Yoda added a comical relief and was the one moment of the movie that reminded me it was Star Wars. He had one scene and gave the movie a lot more than many other characters who had much more screen time.

 

 

Weird question before we get into The Bad. Am I the only one who gets thoroughly annoyed by the guy that screams something stupid (This time it was: “Han Solo dies”) before the opening theme? How about you just sit quietly and try to enjoy this poor attempt on a Star Wars movie like the rest of us. Thanks. Onto what wasn’t so great about this movie.

 

The Bad –

• Any scene with Finn/Rose just had me wanting to be anywhere but watching them. How much screen time did these two take up? And for what means? To be able to blow something or another up. I get it. We must take up a majority of the movie doing something. But going to some casino thing only to get arrested, freed, trapped by cops (there’s police in Star Wars? Isn’t that what the Jedi is for?), and then escape. Only to be betrayed by the person you just happened to meet in the casino jail. Like, what was the honest point of introducing a character (Rose) only to basically have her save Finn, kiss him, then die (kind of)? I feel like I’m kind of all over the place with my feelings on their storyline, but that’s how it felt to watch. Also, Finn merely saying the word “ChromeDome” made me just want to walk out of the theater (a la Vader’s famous “Choking on aspirations” in Rogue One). Seriously, Finn/Rose could be one of the worst storylines for Star Wars to have followed since the Gungans won a battle versus droids. I gained nothing out of watching them.

 

• Captain Phasma? Speaking of gaining nothing, there’s Captain Phasma. Someone explain to me why Gwendoline Christie is hyped up in the pressers before the movies come out only for her to have a LITERAL five minutes of screen time. I think that Christie is actually an awesome actress (c.c. Brienne of Tarth), but her character has been thoroughly wasted two straight times now. And I don’t really believe this, but now she’s DEAD? What was the point of her character? Ugh. Disappointing.

 

• Snoke was… wasted? So Snoke is supposed to be this super powerful guy, right? He just toys with Rey, who seems to have some legit powers herself. He sets up this weird Skype connection between Kylo and Rey just to expose Kylo, who also is pretty powerful. Then, Kylo gives him the Darth Maul treatment. So the point of his character was to strengthen Kylo? Or was his purpose to just die all along, so that we don’t complain about the lack of deaths in the newest trilogy? I was seriously flabbergasted when he died because it just didn’t correlate with the overarching story they were beginning to set up. He could always come back, but I just don’t see it happening. I feel like if he had lived, he would have been the reason for Ben Solo to turn back to the light side (or at least gray side).

 

 

So, we’re about to get into the worst parts of the movie. I feel like the movie could’ve been something. They must’ve heard people compare IV o VII too much, so they decided to make this one feel nothing like an actual Star Wars movie. Here’s what really took me out of this movie.

 

The Ugly –

• Luke Skywalker’s overall character felt off. I understand why the writers decided to “kill off” Luke. I don’t understand why they did it the way they did. It would have flowed much better, to me, for Luke to have actually let Kylo kill him than to have faked him out with this hologram thing, then die from exhaustion. Like how does the most powerful character in Star Wars die from exhaustion? Next time, just drink a Gatorade.. All joking aside, from the get-go I thought that Luke just seemed off. This whole idea that almost killing Kylo, then Kylo destroying his temple and students would totally make him a hermit just didn’t sit right with me. Why didn’t Luke consult with Leia and Han when he sensed that Snoke had gotten control over Ben? There just seems to be a lot of plot holes surrounding Luke in general. Lastly, was I the only one that noticed that Mark Hamill sounded more like his Joker than Luke?

 

• Miscues in the plot were so obvious. The last thing I have to say about The Last Jedi was that there was so much missed opportunity. The biggest miscue was not having Rey and Kylo join forces. Like, what a world that could’ve opened for us fans! And if people didn’t like Rey joining him, it could all be fixed and restored in episode IX. It was a moment that I felt would’ve turned a movie that didn’t feel anything like a Star Wars film, into a distinct memory that would feel like a classic moment of the franchise. Apparently, the writers didn’t want to ruffle any feathers by throwing everyone for a loop. It’s almost like the franchise has had some success with shaking things up (like say the biggest cinematic reveal in history in episode V). As if that wasn’t enough to “grind my gears,” there was NO mention or semblance of a Grey Jedi. The ONE thing that I was hoping this movie would bring to the cinema from the expanded universe. Another small plot hole was this idea that Holdo had to keep the “escape plan” a secret from Poe. Why couldn’t she just tell him? I know this seems like incoherent rambling, but that’s how this movie made me feel for two and a half hours.

 

Overall, this movie was a disappointment. It wasn’t worth me waiting for two years. This movie did a few things great, and A LOT of things poorly. After Ep. VII, I thought that they could actually give us something that built off of that. This felt like a whole world away from The Force Awakens. Nothing, besides the names and actors of characters, seemed to correlate. Whether it was the lack of development in Finn and Snoke or the fact that Leia FLEW THROUGH SPACE,  this movie just didn’t seem to live up to the hype, something I thought TFA did well. This movie didn’t give any answers, only more questions. And because of the killing of some characters, we can’t even answer some questions that we looked forward to hearing the answer to.

 

This movie did no justice to the late Carrie Fischer. She seemed unimportant and wasn’t used correctly. Now, we have to figure out what they’ll do with her in Ep. IX.

 

Star Wars Episode VII: The Last Jedi gets a 6/10 solely for the few things it did perfectly.

 

Like I said before, I was disappointed with the movie. My first words out of the theater to my colleagues were “eh.” “Eh” perfectly described how this movie made me feel. Close to awful, but saved by some aspects of the film. Hopefully, two years from now, I’ll be singing the praises of Episode IX. It would be nice to save this film with a well-executed film that isn’t a waste of $15.00 a ticket and two and a half hours of my time.

 

Let me know your thoughts on The Last Jedi in the comments or on twitter, @teenviewmag, with the hashtag: #TVMLastJedi

 

Until next time, May the Force be with You. Always.