#8
Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi
2017 Dir.: Rian Johnson
218 Points, 8 Votes, Highest Vote: #1 (Daikaiju), Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%
Let the past die. Kill it, if you have to.
Where the first
Star Wars film is universally beloved, this one was, perhaps, the most divisive. The prequels had some things to recommend them, but by and large they were massive disappointments. Then, in 2015,
The Force Awakens returned the series to its roots, and most fans were overjoyed, and J.J. Abrams once again proved that he's
really good at getting a series going. For the next film, auteur director Rian Johnson was tapped. A lot of people were unsure, as his two most well known previous films were
Brick, an indie mystery thriller, and of course,
Looper. Some fans were worried that this movie would be a very different type of
Star Wars film, while others were excited to see what a fresh take might look like. They were both right, and wrong.
The Last Jedi is a refreshing take on the franchise, but it is still, undeniably, a
Star Wars film.
After the events of
The Force Awakens, the Resistance fleet, led by General Leia, is on the run from First Order ships, while Rey confronts Luke Skywalker on his cliffside hideaway in order to bring him back to help the Resistance. Both situations turn around fairly quickly. The First Order has figured out how to track a vessel through hyperspace, and Luke wants no part of the Resistance or the Jedi. Much of the film is resolving these two threads, and culminating in some of the finest action setpieces the franchise has ever seen.
Upon rewatching this movie, I noticed so much I'd missed the first time around. Johnson's use of lighting and color is masterful, the dichotomy between Rey and Ben is at its height, and it is perfectly paced (whether you think Canto Bight was worth the thematic payoff or not is your call). So why all the hate? Well, there are a lot of fans that just didn't like the direction it took. J.J. Abrams is all about teasing you with mysteries he may or may not intend to solve (disclaimer:
Lost is my favorite show). Rian Johnson prefers mysteries for the sake of themes, be it
Looper,
Knives Out or
The Last Jedi. I, for one, loved a couple of his curve balls, one in particular, but a lot of people felt cheated, perhaps. It's also very different in tone. But there is another reason. Even though Lucas is (or was) pretty progressive, that ideology was never as on display as it was here. Neckbeards got
mad. And they decided that Laura Dern's character was dumb poohead SJW propaganda and that Kelly Marie Tran deserved to be hounded off social media and made to fear for her life. Fandoms are toxic, nerd fandoms especially so, and the dark side of Star Wars fandom was on full display.
However,
The Last Jedi showing up high on this list shouldn't be too much of a surprise. It was always much better received on Talking Time than in the darker holes of the internet. What happened with
Rise of Skywalker, especially in relation to this film, has already taken up a major portion of that particular thread here, so I'll leave that alone.
The Last Jedi, though, really does deserve to be respected as one of the finest entries in the world's biggest film franchise.