The War, The Force, Us and Innovation
(Warning this review talks about spoilers in full detail)
Star Wars: The Last Jedi has been put through quite an ordeal on it’s first few days out. The Star Wars fanbase appears to be split right down the middle with half the fans loving the movie and half the fans not loving the movie at all and saying it’s as bad as the prequels. This split is crazy to think about after the film has been hyped up so much and critics have been praising it like crazy. The Last Jedi even got an A on it’s cinemascore which means that on opening day a lot of fans loved it. One has to wonder what Disney will listen to when they consider the next film, will they listen to the half the fanbase who dislike the film or to the critics loving it along with the other half of the fanbase who love it as well. What I find interesting about it, as I’ve spent the last few days reading fan reviews everywhere, is that The Last Jedi and the reaction to The Last Jedi have a bond that is almost mentioned in the film and is the main point that Rian Johnson has created to make Star Wars a film and a franchise that will survive the cinema and criticism of today. The balance between an even light side and dark side.
The Force is always light and dark, light cannot exist without the dark and the dark cannot exist without the light. It’s a special part of Star Wars that gets lost in the mix in the prequels as Anakin is supposed to bring balance to The Force, but what really is balance? The Last Jedi goes to this place and answers it for you saying that The Force is both a balance of light and dark, everyone has The Force because The Force isn’t just a Jedi and Sith thing but also a general essence of life. With the fan reaction to The Last Jedi it’s the same, there is the good reaction to the film and there is the bad reaction to the film, and there simply will never be just a good reaction to a Star Wars film. That is something that Rian Johnson clearly knows and something that he very much uses to his advantage as he takes control of the Star Wars franchise and pushes it to it’s limits to create a film that is fitting for the king of the franchises.
Let’s begin with The Force and the Jedi and Sith displayed in the film. The Last Jedi takes the George Lucas shine off of The Force and what it actually is. In other Star Wars films, we have the understanding that only Jedi and Sith have The Force and that if the Jedi die than The Force will die and that’ll be the end of it. The Last Jedi explores the fact that The Force isn’t something to take as lightly as that by stating that in fact, The Force doesn’t belong to anyone or anything and that it is simply a part of life. You can’t just have the Jedi win and then all of a sudden The Force is balanced, The Force must always have a light and dark side and those sides must match one another to remain balanced. This is explored through Kylo Ren and Rey as they are shown as equals to each other but on opposite sides of The Force, opposite sides of the war that is happening. In The Last Jedi The Force is placed in an ultimate tug of war battle throughout the period of a few days and that showcases the huge power of The Force and how a group of people cannot simply control it all for themselves. Luke Skywalker goes on to mention that at their peak the Jedi order was responsible for ultimately failing and bringing complete chaos to the galaxy which resulted in the dark side rising higher than ever. This statement is important because it’s the film saying that the Star Wars franchise has just used the idea of The Force willy-nilly for the other seven films in the Skywalker saga. Now in The Last Jedi, Rian Johnson explores what The Force actually means to the series and why it’s so important at the core of the galaxy instead of just being used for silly explanations in the story like in previous films. Don’t understand what I mean? Think back to Anakin using The Force to guess what was on a tablet screen to determine if he was a Jedi despite the fact you just watched him be the only human being ever to complete, and win, a podrace because of his Jedi reflexes. The story The Force goes through, the story Rey and Kylo Ren go through, is the first instance of The Last Jedi making Star Wars a smarter franchise.
The Last Jedi is very much a psychological film for its main force users. The film is constantly connecting Rey and Kylo Ren together as their two sides of The Force are interacting with each other and the film is exploring how the galaxy can be in a balance not by fighting but by the light side and dark side working in tandem to create a stable Force. We see this when Rey and Kylo almost join together but Kylo’s dark side has gone too far in his mind for him to be able to help create balance. For eight films before The Last Jedi, it was simply the dark side trying to rid of the light side of The Force and it’s a plot point that you don’t want repeating again and again. Fans who have come out and said that the film isn’t a Star Wars film and that it shouldn’t even be called Star Wars are forgetting about what the key element of the franchise that makes it different to other film franchises. Star Wars is unlike anything else because it’s central lore and exploration of that lore is something you can only find in a Star Wars film and I’m grateful for Rian Johnson having the guts to break traditions, explore and question what that central lore is and why it is important.
Rian Johnson also gifts us with another exploration of a Star Wars element and that is for the first time in a Star Wars film we actually have a complete focus on the war part of Star Wars. Yes, we got a bit of it in Rogue One but this time around it is on centre stage and it is crucial to the story. The film has The Resistance stuck in place in a kind of naval warfare scenario against The First Order, with The Resistance ship being able to keep out of range for a certain period of time as the two ships stick to their course until one dies out. The Resistance (The Rebels) have been fighting for quite some time in the Star Wars story now and they are rightfully down to their last few troops. It’s a story that actually makes you concerned about The Resistance, they could’ve been wiped out any second. It’s this storytelling that brings us, the viewers, and our lives into the mix of the Star Wars franchise. Fans have been saying how pointless the Canto Bight scenes with Finn and Rose are, the casino scenes that look “too much like Earth” which is something I read a lot of times. These scenes, despite clearly setting up the foundations for the next film, are crucial to how one reacts to the film.
Rian Johnson isn’t just making some side story to pass the time and ensuring there are other things to watch in the film, even though it is always nice to see another setting, I believe he has done it to give us a real-world reaction to the war that is happening in The Last Jedi. The Last Jedi makes a point of having Finn and Rose dressed completely different in a foreign place that looks like somewhere the 1% would go if they had access to the stars. Here are two everyday people trying to find one of these people to help them out and so that they can save the galaxy but when they find that person he is too distracted by money and greed to pay any attention to them whatsoever. It’s a sad tale that isn’t completely about the war going on in your favourite franchise but instead about what is happening in the world outside your cinema. People can be mad about this so-called pointless adventure all they want but what they are being mad at is really something that is crucial to our own lives and the lives of people who are fighting for their good causes, like The Resistance is fighting for their good causes in the film. After being ignored Finn and Rose find DJ who kindly informs Finn that these people get all their money from selling weapons and products to both sides of the fight, this is after Rose talks to Finn about how war is the ultimate money machine. Rose here is simply stating that for there to be a balance for everyone in the galaxy then the war money machine must be broken so those trapped underneath it can break through and live their lives to the fullest. The film even goes as far as to easter egg mention small things like global warming and the destruction of planets. In Canto Bight there are familiar looking trees and those trees are from the now destroyed Alderaan, this might be me trying to get a message out of nothing but I think it is a well-placed easter egg and production choice as it further explains the type of people who go to Canto Bight.
This brings us to the last aspect of the film and that is the spark at the end of The Last Jedi. A lot of people were expecting answers in this movie, answers to questions that were brought up a bit in The Force Awakens. Some of those same fans find themselves shocked and appalled by the lack of answers and to them, I can say that the film covers familiar ground in order to keep a balance across the Star Wars movies. The big bad guy Snoke is simply a bad guy, just like how the Emperor was simply just a big bad guy in the original trilogy and you only knew more about him because there was then three films exploring his rise. There is nothing I want less than three films exploring Snoke’s rise to power because who cares. Phasma is essentially the same as Boba Fett, except I’m pretty sure she has more lines so fans should be happy about that. Then there are Rey’s parents, oh boy what a disappointment to a lot of fans that her parents are nobodies. There has been this idea going around that Kylo Ren was lying to Rey and we’re going to find out about her parents another time but Rey’s parents being nobodies is actually quite crucial to the story that Johnson is trying to tell. The Force has chosen Rey, a nobody and this is what helps the idea of The Resistance lighting the spark to save the galaxy and bring balance. To everyone who could never make it to the high roller tables of Canto Bight they can now all be force wielders too just like Rey and Luke Skywalker. The story of Luke’s final battle resonates throughout the galaxy, as does the story of the few Resistance troops who escaped the hands of looming death. Rey’s parents being nobody isn’t a screw-up but in fact the smartest part of this film, and I really wanted it to be Obi-Wan Kenobi. Rian Johnson pretty much retconned the idea of midichlorians being passed down generations and to other people by stating that even a nobody like Rey can be one of the most important people in the galaxy and that drives the next film to explore the new people in The Resistance, the everyday people who actually have something to fight for. Rian Johnson does a fantastic job at covering almost every fan theory in the film and then striking it down and creating a simple yet unexpected answer to every question.
This review/essay has been pretty long by our standards so I’ll leave it with this last point. Nothing better sums up this whole film than John William’s score. John Williams somehow managed to create some form of Star Wars greatest hits whilst infusing new themes to capture the essential sounds of the Star Wars galaxy. Listening to his score by itself is a breathtaking and exciting experience to be had, in fact, I’m listening to it right now as I type away. There is one track, in particular, The Battle of Crait, which has themes and from every Star Wars trilogy in it and its a joy to listen too. The score mixed in with what is the best looking Star Wars film ever made makes The Last Jedi a must-see film. The score, the sound, the visuals and the story take you on a Star Wars journey you haven’t been on whilst also resonating the best elements from the original trilogy.
What I’ve constantly read/heard is that everyone thinks Rian Johnson is taking risks with this new Star Wars film, saying stuff like “he takes risks and they don’t work” or “he takes risks and they turn out great”. Saying that Rian Johnson takes risks is completely the wrong thing to say and the wrong way of thinking about it. Rian Johnson takes Star Wars and he innovates to create a Star Wars that fits in with correct modern day views where Star Wars and the world should be inclusive of race, genders and background. Perhaps the film is too inclusive for some but really that is their own fault and not the thoughts of the Star Wars fanbase as a whole. The leaders of The Resistance are mainly women, the fighter who destroys the dreadnaught at the start is Asian and The Last Jedi is a woman. The Resistance wins over The First Order, who are have a mainly male chain of command and if that is your problem with the film then you need to look elsewhere for entertainment. The Lat Jedi has a story that makes you think about ideals you should at least aspire to have. It’s the best made Star Wars film and might even be my favourite Star Wars film, I love how much Rian Johnson has innovated Star Wars and how he turns familiarity into something new. The Force is strong with this one because for the first time I watched a Star Wars film that gifted the audience with a story actually about The Force and a star war.