Review of Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) by Shangspy M — 08 Jan 2018

The Last Jedi stands strong on the mythology that is the Star Wars Saga. Being a devoted original trilogy fan and fine with the "inferior" prequel trilogy, I initially thought this movie would be like Empire Strikes Back again since The Force Awakens felt like a remaking of A New Hope. The Force Awakens was good but did not feel as original, provocative, and groundbreaking as prior installments. The Last Jedi attempts to break these boundaries that The Force Awakens dared not to go and does so perfectly. Episode VIII is the Star Wars movie with the twists that made Empire (Episode V) so well-made, the acting that feels like a New Hope done right, and has deep characterizations of the characters in the movie, giving it a hearty feeling for general movie watchers and fans of the series. Luke was the most surprising aspect of the movie since he is in a deep intra-like struggle with himself (30) years after he realized his father turned to the Dark Side of the Force. When he made his own academy for Jedi younglings to let them know the ways of the Force and how to balance it, he feared one's learnings to be too far. Enter Ben Solo, son of Han Solo and Leia, who acquired strong ties to the Dark Side thanks to Supreme Leader/Sith Lord, Snoke manipulating his ways of the Force. Luke tries to break away his ties by ending his life (an event like of Episode III's scene where Darth Sidious/Palpatine was in a similar scenario) but ultimately, Ben leaves to the Dark Side with Luke feeling betrayed and saddened; making himself in exile to prevent further problems from occurring (likewise done by Yodi and Obi-Wan). With him now having to resentfully teach the former scavenger, Rey, the ways of the Force (where we see how Rey's parents were also smuggling scavengers but with a mysteriously unknown/unseen quality of the Force) in order to try and stop The First Order's assault on the Resistance, we also find out that Luke and Rey are able to communicate with others close with the Force as well. The theme of their communications lies within the great key of the Force, a key which contains the Force with lighthearted and dark-hearted moments. (Spoiler: Luke can acquire a spiritual, immortal form of himself when mediating the ways of the Force and Rey can communicate with Ben Solo through Force-talking, a form of communication briefly used in Episodes IV, V, and VI.) Along with the supporting cast of Finn (who helps find a person that can hack the system of Star Destroyers attacking the Resistance); the innocent, but cunning Rose; the rebellion-hungry Poe and other supporting members that include many fan favorites, The Last Jedi finally solidifies George Lucas' themes on his brainchild series without losing much essence to his sci-fi masterful saga.

One of the Best Films of 2017, The Last Jedi deserves a 10/10, around par with A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back as one of the, if not (in my opinion) the best Star Wars film of the series. It honors the Star Wars Title in more ways than ever in the series.