Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017) – Encore Review

“Hope is like the sun. If you only believe it when you see it you’ll never make it through the night.” – Leia

Number of Times Seen – 2 (13 Dec 2017 and 14 Mar 2018)

Link to original review – Here

Brief Synopsis – The continuing adventures of the new and old characters from the Star Wars series as they try to win the fight against the evil First Order.

My Take on it – After watching this film for the first time 3 months ago, I was quite torn in my views about it.

I have been a Star Wars fan for as long as I can recall; I’ve seen the original trilogy tens upon tens of times, I read the novels and stories about what happened after Jedi, I highly anticipated and LOVED the prequel trilogy (despite it being far from perfect) and like most people I couldn’t wait to see the new additions to the saga once Disney took over.

This film tho, doesn’t feel like a pure Star Wars story because Director/writer Rian Johnson took things in a whole different direction.

This is both good and bad as far as I’m concerned.

On the one hand, this is no longer George Lucas telling the stories and with new writers, there will always be new ideas that are clearly meant to take the story forward at lightspeed.

On the other hand, this is STAR WARS!!! How can someone take the tone of the films up until now and completely change it?

The answer is obviously the MCU.

Once the MCU started doing films with a certain tone; high action, lots of jokes and very little somber and poignant moments, how could the makers of Star Wars not join the bandwagon?

Johnson hints to us along the way via the dialogue that this is a new Star Wars, it is no longer what we all grew up with, but it has now taken the direction that has proven to work.

Here are two quotes from the film that actually foreshadow how things will change:

“Let the past die. Kill it, if you have to. That’s the only way to become what you are meant to be. ” – Kylo Ren

“This is not going to go the way you think!” – Luke

I was more attuned and receptive this time around of what was happening and I give Johnson lots of credit for taking such a bold leap that indeed paid off because I now can say that I definitely Loved this film and the way it was presented in spite of the fact that it’s different.

We are given the opportunity here to watch how things can be changed and reinvigorated at the same time which gives so much hope for the new direction that this franchise has now embarked on.

The special effects and action sequences are amazing here and keep us wanting even more.

This may be the longest film in the series, but its pace works really well and we don’t feel time moving too slowly at any point.

The music by John Williams is both familiar and fresh and helps remind us of where we are and where this series is heading.

My only quip about this film, which happens often when films in this series follow various characters, is the fact that it doesn’t make much sense that all three storylines are happening simultaneously since each of themes at least seem to take varying amounts of time to actually happen.

This is a film that I can’t wait to see again and eagerly anticipate doing so.

It rightfully remains close to the top of my favorite films of 2017.

Bottom Line – Great addition to the series which can be more appreciated on a rewatch.  This film takes all that we know and turns it on it’s head while at the same time giving new hope to a new direction filled with new adventures.  They take a more modern stance on jokes which helps keeps things fresh along the way. The special effects and action sequences are superbly. As difficult as it will be to move away from the way the original trilogy did things, the new tone of this film helps reinvigorate the series with new and fresh blood. Music, as always is superbly done by Williams.  The only quip I have about this, like in Empire is the fact that all of the storylines are supposedly taking place simultaneously which seems a bit in consistent with all that they manage to do. Can’t wait to see this again…  Highly Highly Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia –  When filming, Laura Dern said “pew” every time she shot her blaster. (From IMDB)

Rating – Oscar Worthy (10/10) (slight upgrade from original review)

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