The Last Jedi Review (spoilers)

I recently saw Star Wars: The Last Jedi for the second time and thought that I should review it because I have a lot of thoughts on the film. Specifically, the fan backlash which for the most part was completely unjustified and in my opinion very petty. There will be spoilers in this review so turn away now if you don't want to know anything.

Firstly, the review:

I loved it. To me it was possibly the strongest entry in the franchise since Empire Strikes Back. The performances from all of the cast were fantastic. Particularly Mark Hamill's performance as Luke Skywalker. I thought he was the stand out character of the movie and seeing where Luke had gone since Return of the Jedi and why he had made his decisions was really interesting. I really enjoyed his training of Rey and his opinion on the failings of the Jedi and why they needed to end. And Rey's journey to become the last Jedi was also great. I really enjoyed the parallel of her character's journey towards the light mirroring the downfall of Ben Solo towards the dark. I also liked that the reveal of her family coming from nowhere meant that she was just a normal person who was chosen by the Force as being worthy enough to be a Jedi. I also found Carrie Fisher's performance as Leia fantastic and really enjoyed her reunion with Luke. RIP Princess. The conflict in Kylo Ren was also really intriguing and the conclusion of his arc in the film was a really interesting twist on a previous plot from Episode VI.

I really enjoyed the story of the Rebels escape as well as the training of Rey on Ahch To with Luke. To me the Rey/Luke scenes were more interesting than those with Finn, Poe and new character Rose. However, that's not to say I didn't enjoy their respective story arcs and character development. Upon my first viewing I thought that the conclusion of Kylo Ren's arc with him killing Snoke was a bit disappointing because we barely spent any time building up the Supreme Leader as a villain. However, Snoke's death was a dark reflection to the death of Sidious at the hands of Darth Vader, in that the apprentice, instead of being redeemed and joining the light, falls even deeper and becomes the larger villain of the overall trilogy. Which makes sense because we've gotten to know Kylo's character better so he's more interesting as a villain. Also speaking of Sidious, until the prequels we knew nothing about his backstory either so he and Snoke are very similar in that respect. The final confrontation between Luke and Kylo was also great as it showed off Luke's spiritual power as a Jedi and his final act as a hero to allow the Rebels to escape was incredibly satisfying and moving. The appearance of Yoda was also a fantastic surprise and his conversation with Luke about the failings of the Jedi and how he should move beyond it was great. And visually the film was beautiful. One scene in particular stands out where a rebel cruiser jumps to light speed through Snoke's flagship and the visuals were absolutely stunning which added further emotional weight to the scene.

Overall the film was fantastic and I would highly recommend seeing it if you are a fan of the Star Wars franchise. Is what I'd like to say. But apparently the Star Wars fanbase is in an uproar over the film with many attempting to petition for it to be removed from the canon. Which I think is a complete over exaggeration. As I will now briefly rant about.

*RANT ALERT*

Right.

Here we go.

Firstly, the blatant discrimination of the female leads in the film with complaints about them taking over main roles from the male characters. This coming in the same year that everyone fawned over Wonder Woman which also had a main female protagonist that was the driving force of the movie. It's incredibly hypocritical to me. I think that to have the main protagonist of the trilogy be a female is a great idea considering the previous trilogies had male dominated casts with the females taking a back seat often. Leia being a bit of an exception to this. However, the fans complaining about this as well as Leia having her own force abilities makes it seem as though they believe only male characters can be the heroes with the Force powers which in my opinion is utter crap. Luke even says in the film that the Force belongs to everyone and that anyone has the right to use it not just the Jedi and definitely not just men.

Secondly the deaths of characters. I previously stated that I initially felt underwhelmed by Snoke. He only had a few scenes in the film and his character felt a bit underdeveloped, as if he was there only to further Kylo's character. And then I remembered that it was exactly the same with the Emperor in the Original Trilogy. The only difference was that he showed up officially at the end of the trilogy instead of in the middle and the aftermath was completely different. Which was the point of the character. With Sidious, it was to give Vader his redeeming moment at the end by killing his master and saving Luke. But with Snoke it was to torment and abuse Kylo Ren to the point that his anger turned on his master and instead of killing him to protect someone he cared about he killed him to get revenge which we know from previous films is a Sith trait that leads to the Dark Side. Hence why Kylo lost his way completely at the end. And Luke's death also made sense because it was his final act passing on the torch to Rey. Like Yoda and Obi-Wan did to him in the Original Trilogy. As well as being one of the most satisfying and emotional scenes in the whole film.

Then there's the complaints about Rose. Firstly, the racism of the fact she was Asian, even there being a reviewer calling her "that fat Asian bitch". I mean come on. Fair enough if you didn't enjoy the character, that doesn't give you the right to slag off the way the actress that portrays her looks. It was completely uncalled for. Secondly that her character served no purpose to the plot. Even though she greatly helped Finn to develop as a character. First by showing him that the war has affected everyone no matter where they come from or what race they are. And then second by helping Finn realise how to fight. Not by destroying what they hate, and thus using anger as a means to win, which by the way is a Dark Side trait, but by saving what they love, therefore fighting to protect something not destroy something else, which by the way is a Light Side trait. And let's not forget who figured out how the First Order were tracking them in the first place. Hint: it was Rose.

And lastly the petition to remove The Last Jedi from the Star Wars canon. Really? Are you really that self-entitled? Attack of the Clones is a million times worse that this film and no one wanted that banished from cinema history. Jar Jar Binks was an annoying and useless character who literally added nothing to the plot of Phantom Menace but no one tried to remove him from the canon. And who could forget the amazing acting talents of Hayden Christensen. Let's be real here for a second. The only reason that the Original Star Wars Trilogy is considered to be great is because of how ground-breaking it was when it was released. If they were released today the films would not have been received half as well as they originally were. It's our nostalgia for Star Wars that makes the films good. And The Force Awakens capitalised on that by basically re-treading the plot of A New Hope. But with the sequel fans were worried that it would be a re-tread of The Empire Strikes Back and instead we were given something fresh and original and they still hated it. So in the end it comes down to fan entitlement as the main problem here. And the fans need to realise that the studio is making the film for everyone. Not just them. And the studio is not going to appeal to the fans every whim just because they have a tantrum over things they disliked. Star Wars needs to change to be more modern because if they don't it'll lose its relevance and people won't care about the movies anymore.

In conclusion, this is just a dumb movie about Space Nazis fighting Laser Sword wielding Space Wizards. People shouldn't be getting so worked up over it. Its just a movie.

WRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!

Rant Over

But yeah go see The Last Jedi it's great.