Star Wars Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017)

“We are the spark, that will light the fire that’ll burn the First Order down. ” – Poe

Number of Times Seen – 1 (13 Dec 2017)

Brief Synopsis – Continuing adventures of Poe, Finn and Rey as they help the Rebellion in their struggle against The First Order.

My Take on it – This film is a difficult one to describe largely due to the fact that like with most sandwich films, there are questions left unanswered which means that it will only be possible to fully understand everything that happened in this film once the next one os released in 2 years from now.

This film has a much darker feel than most of the films in the series and is actually better for it.

The themes dealt with here are great and mostly untapped ideas that are welcomely explored here.

The story itself picks up mere moments after the previous one and immediately creates new momentum that keeps going as the film moves along.

Despite it being a direct sequel, it still has a feeling of being a unique storyline and the direction that they chose to move things moves into very dark and gripping territory.

I love the way that they seemingly integrate the old cats with the new cast while still adding even newer characters for this adventure.

One of the things that I’ve always loved about the Star Wars universe is the fact that it always feels worn down and dirty with a very lived-in feeling about it which helps make things seem even more genuine.

There are lots of themes from the previous films in the series that pop up now and again here which gives things a very nostalgic feeling about it all.

In addition, they still manage to find ways to replicate newer themes from the most recent film that deal with freedom, rebellion and like most films in the series, HOPE.

The score by John Williams was once again superb and for those of us familiar enough with the music of the series, there are subtle hints to many of the events in previous films.

Having said all this, I do have a few (small) gripes about this film.

1) They overdo it with the amount of jokes because it comes off as more of “Disney” thing and instead of giving us a clear enough dramatic and dark story, we get slapstick comedy where it isn’t needed.

2) The characters of R2-D2 and C-3PO are not as central to this story as they were in the previous 6 films and they feel as if they have been added to this film just as a way to keep a few more familiar faces around instead of finding a way to make the characters who were central to the first six films have more to do here.

3) there are scenes that seem to play out exactly like they did in previous films just with new characters saying thier dualogue.

This film has so much going on and hopefully, once I see it again, even those aspects of this rich story that I missed will be returned to me.

I really can’t wait to go see this film yet again to see how it fares in my opinion of Star Wars Saga.

I’m also quite curious to see where this story goes in the next film, but I’ll have to wait patiently just like everyone else for 2 more years.

It has the potential to be one of the best films of the series due to its darker tone, so I’ll hopefully have even more insight and thoughts about it once the ending of the story comes to a head.

Bottom Line – As with most sandwich films, we will only know the true impact of it once the final film comes out in two years from now. The story is great and continues along the momentum of the previous film while still feeling unique in its direction while still remaining very dark and gripping. Great to see the old cast return, the new cast return and also to meet some great new characters and places along the way. The world of a Galaxy Far Far Away still feels used and dirty which helps make this entire story feel so genuine. Lots of the themes that appeared in recent Star Wars films reappear here and we especially get moments dealing with freedom, rebellion and of course hope. I think they slightly overdid it with the jokes to help balance the dark tone of it all. There is so much to absorb here that I can’t wait to go and see this again to get a better grip on it all. Highly Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Daisy Ridley took her father to the set in Ireland, where the ending scene of Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) was about to be recreated. When her father met Mark Hamill, he asked him “Who do you play, then?”. Ridley admitted that she wasn’t sure if he was joking.  (From IMDB)

Rating – Oscar Worthy

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