The Last Jedi is of course the 8th episode of the long-running franchise, directed this time by Rian Johnson, and starring Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Domhnall Gleeson, Mark Hamill, Kelly Marie Tran, Benicio del Toro, Laura Dern, and Andy Serkis.
It is a dark time for the Rebellion...no, wait, that's Empire. Anyway, the First Order has basically killed off much of the...Resistance, not Rebellion, not that there's any functional difference, and now they're just wiping them up as the Dark Overlord Supreme Leader Snoke (Serkis) drives his pupil Kylo Ren (Driver) to find and turn apprentice Jedi Rey (Ridley). Meanwhile dashing scoundrel Poe Dameron (Isaac) is coping with being a man having to take orders from highly capable women like Leia (Fisher) and Vice-Admiral Holdo (Dern), who just never tell him anything darn it even though, like, he's lower ranked than they are and isn't entitled to have all the plans.
So the movie is basically split between three plotlines: the Resistance fleet retreating from the First Order big ol' ship that somehow can't close the distance, but that can't flee to hyperspace because they don't have enough fuel to go to Ludicrous Speed or something; Rey on planet Walrustitty trying to convince Luke Skywalker (Hamill) to come out of retirement and train her and somehow he doesn't realize that she's basically making all the arguments that he once made to Yoda (Frank Oz, who cameos here); and Finn (Boyega) and his new buddy Rose Tico (Tran) going to Rich Asshole World to find a legendary code-breaker (Del Toro) who can get them into the big First Order ship and disable the MacGuffin 3000 so the fleet can escape.
I mean, I talk shit, but it's not a bad movie. Sure, it's got four different endings, and sure, it's beat-for-beat very similar to Empire must as Force Awakens is to New Hope. But the cast is solid, including the newcomers. I don't agree with all of the character decisions - I think letting Finn sacrifice himself and having it make a difference, particularly since doing that might have thrown into sharp relief how badly Poe had fucked the dog all the way along, might have been better than Rose nearly blowing herself up. I also think having Poe face a little more consequence for his actions would have been nice - by disobeying orders he set in motion the whole plan that leads to the code-breaker betraying the Resistance, which gets a lot of people killed who didn't need to because Holdo's plan was working. Basically I like the themes and the events that happen, I just wish some shit had gotten called out a little more.
And then there's whole Luke/Rey/Kylo plotline, and like, I think it works. Luke's being an ass, yes, but Yoda actually does call him out. I've always liked that Rey's family were just nobodies, even if that whole thing gets muddied in the next movie (and I don't remember the particulars very well; I only ever saw Rise of Skywalker once when it was in theaters, so although I don't own it I think I want to watch it again just to complete the set). Basically there's a lot to like in Last Jedi, and, as with Force Awakens, it's a shame that so much of the movie's discourse was obscured by the dude-bro screaming about there being WOMEN and NON-WHITE PEOPLE in their MOVIE about SPACE WIZARDS.
My Grade: B
Rewatch Value: Medium
Next up: Stardust
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