If Only You Knew The Power of Star Wars Episode VIII The Last Jedi

 

Star Wars Episode VIII The Last Jedi, is delivered to us from writer and director Rian Johnson
(Brick, Looper). Returning characters and cast include General Leia (Carrie Fisher), Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Rey (Daisy Ridely), Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), Poe Dameron (Oscar Issac), Finn (John Boyega), General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson) and C-3PO (Anthony Daniels). Joining the cast are Laura Dern (Jurassic Park) as Vice Admiral Holdo, Benicio Del Toro (Guardians of the Galaxy) as thief/conman, and Kelly Marie Tran (a relative newcomer) as maintenance worker turn hero Rose Tico.

      

The Last Jedi picks up where The Force Awakens left off. For some characters and story lines a day to a few weeks have passed, and for two specific characters mere seconds have passed. Those two characters are Rey and Luke Skywalker. When the film meets them, we get a replay of that final scene where Rey hands the legendary Skywalker lightsaber to Luke on the mountain top of the secluded planet. It is unclear how much time has passed since we saw the rest of the Resistance cast. Finn, Poe, Leia and the crew are all together getting ready to evacuate a planet when The First Order’s armada arrives in orbit to wipe out the remains of the Resistance. To give a sense on how little time has passed we see that Finn is still recovering from his injuries at the end of The Force Awakens. Poe Dameron on the other hand is leading a small charge of fighters in space to meet General Hux’s armada to allow the Resistance to escape. On board the flagship of the armada are General Hux and of course Kylo Ren, who is also recovering from his wounds he received from his battle with Rey at the end of The Force Awakens. And that is where the story begins.

Whereas The Force Awakens was setup and introduction to the saga’s new characters, The Last Jedi really takes off running by fleshing out each of the characters and providing depth in moments that move the story along. And what is really fresh in this film is how we are not only following our new heroes Rey, Poe and Finn, we are also following our “villains” Kylo and Hux. We

see their motivations revealed in the moments they share among themselves. We see the rivalry between Kylo and Hux as they compete for the favor of Supreme Leader Snoke. We see Hux’s pride in his troops and distaste for Kylo. We see how tortured and twisted Kylo has become at the hands of Snoke. The only other “villain” we ever saw behind the scenes was Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker and even then only in the prequels did they flesh out his motivation for his deeds and that was when he was still a “hero” making his shift from light to dark. Showing both sides of the fight to provide investment for the audience is the thing that makes Game of Thrones so enjoyable and it feels so new and refreshing to see that in Star Wars now.

              

  Speaking of new and refreshing, in Star Wars The Last Jedi audiences will see things they have never seen before in Star Wars. The Force Awakens is loved for its use of nostalgia invoking of A New Hope. Rogue One is amazing for its use of Star Wars mythos and grounding within the universe. The original trilogy which spawned the beloved franchise and fans had nothing nostalgic, nothing to build on; George Lucas gave people what they have never seen before. Then the prequels looked back and told the stories that were history for the original trilogy. If the Star Wars Saga is a path then those prequels were a step back in where we have been, Rogue One was us looking back, and now The Last Jedi is a step forward into the future.

There is a line that is repeated twice in the film, “Let go of the past.” This line is said to the characters to tell them that you cannot dwell on the past and let it control you, but it also feels like this is the filmmaker telling the audience the exact same thing. It is said to think of a Star Wars film without original characters Luke, Han, and Leia. I know the prequels did not have those characters but because they were prequels we knew that those characters were still yet to come in the story. Plus those films did have Anakin Skywalker who would become Darth Vader and thus bridge those trilogies. This new trilogy is for the new generation and our beloved characters are bridging the gap for the new heroes for that new generation. And for the first time in a long time for that galaxy that is far far away, I have hope and excitement for those stories. Thus is the power that The Last Jedi had on this Star Wars fan.

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