The dust has finally settled on Disney's sequel trilogy, and at the end of the day it was...
...interesting.
I thought I'd be done talking about these awhile back, but a couple of things happened. Firstly, I've noticed that people all around the internet still have very strong and divided opinions on this trilogy (especially now that the Mandalorian has wrapped it's 2nd season and reignited a lot of people's passion for Star Wars). Secondly, I realized that my opinion on these films has changed somewhat, and I'm just as passionate about those opinions as ever. So, without further ado, I'd like to finally lay it all on the table; I'll be doing a full on, in-depth breakdown of why I think each of these movies is good, or...not so good.
Spoiler warning: Not only will I be discussing details of these films, but the Mandalorian season 2 as well, because the ending, and some of the internets reactions to it, must now be discussed in relation to one of the sequel movies.
The Force Awakens
The Force Awakens is pretty good, and in fact my enjoyment of this comparatively simple film has grown since the final installment came out. It's easy to like. I could probably just end it there and most people would agree with me; it's a perfectly passable, fun, safe, breath of fresh air for Star Wars, especially following the prequels. There really isn't a whole lot to dive into with this one, at least not compared to the others. I do think that its good qualities definitely outweigh its bad, but just to be safe let's broad-strokes break down what I think does and does not work about this movie so that we all have context going into the next two.
The Good:
The Characters: This movie understands something that the prequels didn't seem to grasp; good characters can carry an otherwise mediocre film. Rey, Kylo Ren, Han Solo, Poe and Finn are all excellent lead characters...in this movie. Rey and Kylo, specifically, have the groundwork laid out for their stellar arcs in the following film, and have cemented themselves as two characters that I believe Star Wars would be lesser without (what with the rumors of Disney scrapping these sequels flying around the internet). Rey's wide-eyed curiosity and unfailing good nature make her an infinitely likeable protagonist. Kylo Ren's struggle with the light, and with his own failings throughout the film, sets up his incredibly dark turn in The Last Jedi, and makes him one of the more fully-fleshed-out villains in Star Wars canon (for awhile, at least).
The Story: While the story does play it pretty safe here, a solid, simple "good vs. evil" narrative isn't exactly out of place in Star Wars, and I don't really have any complaints about where it goes in this particular movie.
The Action: The action scenes in this movie (with one exception, Rathtars) are a blast. We have the Falcon weaving through the interior of the crashed Super Star Destroyer with TIE fighters in pursuit.
X-wings flying into battle over Starkiller base.
The nail-biter lightsaber battle between Kylo, Rey, and Finn, all instant classics and well-deserving of praise.
The Bad:
The Pacing: I've mentioned before that JJ Abrams' movies, by and large, seem to have trouble with slowing down and letting character moments happen through dialogue, and this movie is no exception. It feels like every single scene exists to push the plot forward, or is otherwise interrupted by action (as a couple of critics have put it, this movie contains "no scenes, only plot"). This leads to his films feeling slightly odd, as if you've rushed through the entire thing, because there are few/no scenes where the characters just stop and be characters with each other, or where important events are discussed.
For example, the scene where Starkiller Base is activated and destroys the entire Hosnian system should probably be one of the most dramatic and important moments in the entire movie, and it is at least fairly dramatic in the moment. The problem is, once it's over, no one seems to care all that much? Everyone just moves on so that the plot can continue. There's no mention of how it affects the resistance's moral, or the fact that (and I didn't know this until I read the visual dictionary) the current seat of the entire New Republic government was just destroyed along with most of its fleet, making the First Order the dominant, organized power in the galaxy in one swift move. It's Abrams' style of film making to sweep details like this under the rug, and I think it holds his films back.
The Mystery Box: This is another thing I've mentioned before regarding JJ's movies. For those unfamiliar, the Mystery Box is Abrams idea that you can draw your audience in by setting up a mystery, any mystery, even if the payoff is stupid, or hasn't been thought up yet. It's essentially a cheap way to get your audience hooked, and it does a massive disservice to those having to follow up on those mysteries.
The reason this hurts this trilogy so drastically compared to his other works, is the amount of mysteries he sets up that, we now know, never get answered, or get answered poorly. It makes a few parts of this movie very confusing. How did Maz get Luke's old lightsaber? Unknown, why even bring this up? Why does she seem to know who Rey is if the following film is going to set her up to be nobody? Unknown, again why even hint at this? Who is Snoke? Known, it didn't matter and they were silly to allow the fans to stoke this mystery to such a degree. Who are the Knights of Ren and what do they do? Known, but also not really known, they don't do anything besides stand around looking cool before getting offed by Ben, and they only appear in one movie and a flashback.
These are just a few examples, and they may seem minor, but in the moment they create hypothetical plot threads, which then creates the illusion that there are a multitude of plot threads from TFA that go unanswered. It's a very strange, and frankly kind of dumb way to get your audience involved and I wish he would stop.
All in all: That sounds like a lot of negative stuff I just ranted about, but don't think I'm trying to make this movie seem bad. It's a solid, fun blockbuster with a few flaws that really start to show as the trilogy goes on.
The Last Jedi
Alright, here's the big one.
This movie is so divisive, some people are STILL trying to find reasons to tear it a new one three years later. There seem to be two kinds of people who don't like this film; people who had legitimate grievances with the somewhat messy plot/characters, who criticized the film and then moved on, and the people who hate this movie with a burning passion and still can't let it go for reasons that, on some level, I can understand, though I'd argue that at this point they're being a bit ridiculous (this especially goes out to the people who take every opportunity to roundly abuse Rian Johnson, the producers, or any of the cast members on their social media. Seriously, calm down).
You see, it can be hard to be objective about Star Wars; while all of the movies have objectively good or bad traits, enjoying them is largely a personal experience that can be informed by all sorts of things. For example, even though I saw the original trilogy first (and love it the most), much of my young life was heavily involved in the prequels and the media that came from those movies, giving me a nostalgic soft spot for them even though they're all pretty bad. That same phenomenon makes this film hard to discuss, as someone's taste in what makes Star Wars, well, Star Wars might be completely different then mine. Unfortunately, trying to discuss this film objectively also becomes increasingly more frustrating every time a new piece of Star Wars media comes out that the "won't let it go" camp views as "real Star Wars", because we get 800 more think-pieces about how some actor/show/scene/game/film invalidates or is otherwise a middle finger to this film in particular.
Personally, I think this is not only the strongest film in the trilogy by a large margin, but one of the better Star Wars films in general. Unlike the other two films, this one actually has concrete themes and ideas, it actually has something new to say about the Star Wars universe; What does it mean to be a hero? What makes someone heroic? What role does failure play in making us who we are? Can you be more than what people say you are?
Shit, you guys, I just like this movie so much, flaws and all. In the interest of keeping things organized, I'll try and break it down in a similar manner but be warned, I'm about to discuss a lot of stuff (mostly because, unlike the other two films, this one seems to have a lot more going on under its surface), and I'll be nerding out for most of it...
The Good:
Luke: Luke's arc in this movie is really, really, really good and I won't hear another word about it. For those who missed the entire point of the film; you are not supposed to like Luke at the beginning of this movie. He's a shadow of his former self; an angry, fearful old man defeated by his failure to live up to his own legend, who abandoned the galaxy to turmoil for fear of causing any more harm. He refuses to believe that the cycle of good and evil can change, or that he has anything to offer the galaxy, even as the people call for his help. He tries to pass this on to Rey as a lesson, tries to convince her that the Jedi and their failings are equally to blame for the troubles in the galaxy as the evil machinations of the Sith. And then, the Yoda scene happens. One of the best scenes in any Star Wars film, it was a huge surprise and it still brings a tear to my eye. Yoda arrives as a force ghost to tell Luke to get over himself, that learning from your failures is just as important as your successes, and that it's Luke's burden to pass this on, as it was once his. "We are what they grow beyond". Luke realizes that his failure to save Ben and his students doesn't define who he is or what he can do, and that, as a legend, he can still offer the one thing the galaxy so desperately needs: Hope.
He saves the day by facing down the entire First Order with a laser sword (exactly what he said he wouldn't do at the beginning of the film), makes a fool of Kylo Ren, delivers one of the best one-liners in Star Wars history, and then passes into the force peacefully in front of rising twin suns. That's glorious. This arc isn't Rian Johnson ruining your childhood, quite the opposite. It's Johnson confirming that Luke is human, and makes mistakes like his masters did before him, but he's still every bit the hero we remember from the original trilogy.
It should also be mentioned that Mark Hamill is really bringing his A-game here.
And this one is just for the record, but Luke showing up as his original self in the Mandalorian, which takes place roughly 30 years before The Last Jedi, does not invalidate his character in this movie as some people have claimed. This also goes for the idea that his arc would make more sense if "Ahsoka warned him about the dangers of starting a temple", as this would change absolutely nothing about the arc that we experience in this film. I don't normally like to deal in absolutes (haha), but these ideas are grasping and nonsensical.
An alarming amount of people seem to think that Rian Johnson went maverick with this film and ignored whatever "plan" was in place after The Force Awakens, and I'm very confused by this. What did everyone think Luke's arc was going to be after Rey had to track him to an uncharted planet, using a map that he, himself, had removed half of, only to find him alone on an island? Did they think he was going to be just chilling? That he would hop right into training Rey? The fact that no one seemed to pick up that something was off is very strange to me.
Rey: Pardon my French, but Rey's arc in this movie is so goddam good. This is the movie where I really started to love Rey as a character (and one of the reasons I'm so annoyed by the next film). The reveal that her parents are nobody, that she comes from nothing, completely flips the script on what we know of Star Wars up until this point. She has (at least for now) no powerful bloodline, no famous, surprise family members on top of which to build her legend. She's just a random, capable person, who is powerful in the force and has the will to do what is right no matter what. The scene where she ventures into the darkness for answers and comes out on the other side, beginning to physically and emotionally shed the things that tie her to Jakku (literally letting her hair down and beginning to accept that maybe her parentage isn't important) is just...incredible. She fails to return with Luke, fails to save Kylo, and so she learns that she must be the hero that she, and the galaxy, have been looking for, and that's just beautiful. As Snoke himself admits, she has the spirit of a true Jedi.
Kylo Ren: Kylo Ren is, along with Luke, quite possibly the best thing about this entire movie (and not just because Adam Driver steals every scene he's in). Here we have a character who has, by his reckoning, given everything he has to the Dark Side for the sake of power. He's told by his mentor that it's still not enough, that he failed, and what does he do? Spirals into absolute, villainous chaos. This isn't the Anakin Skywalker story, where he makes bad choices for love. Kylo Ren makes bad choices out of spite, for himself, in what can only be conscious knowledge and refusal of what is right. Given the opportunity to change the entire course of galactic history for the better, he instead chooses power like the Sith that came before him. He is the only character in this movie that doesn't acknowledge or learn from his failures, and in the end he loses because of this. He is truly a monster, an honest-to-God villain who doesn't deserve redemption (Luke and Leia even say this, out loud, to the audience, right before Kylo threatens to commit mass murder, but somehow JJ missed the point going forward...oh well).
The Action/Cinematography: I'm putting these two together here because in this movie, they kind of go hand-in-hand. I don't normally care too much about the cinematography in Star Wars films, but the quality of the shots in this movie must be given special mention. The action scenes, on their own, are already very good, but they're elevated by excellent camera work and shot composition. Just take a look at how the camera here enhances the impact of this scene:
We zoom in close to see Kylo's face as he focuses his attention on all three enemies around him.
Then cut wide as we follow the ferocious but calculated swings of his lightsaber. This is not only a really exciting action sequence, but is also a wonderful demonstration of showing, not telling, how dangerous Kylo Ren is.
The Holdo Maneuver scene is another great example of this; An already awesome scene, made breathtaking by good (digital) camera work. First, in total silence, we get a birds-eye shot of the devastation caused by a lightspeed kamikaze, then we get close to see just how bad (and beautiful) the damage is to every Star Destroyer in its path, and finally, one last cut from far away to see the extent of the havoc that was just wreaked upon the First Order fleet just as the sound kicks back in.
Seriously, I could do a breakdown like this for every single action scene in this film, they're spectacular, but then we'd be here all day and I still have an entire movie to talk about, so we'll move on.
The Visuals: It's hard to put your finger on exactly why, but this movie just looks better visually than the other films in the trilogy. The CGI looks a little more crisp and well lit, the shots are more dynamic and interesting, the art direction makes every single location feel unique and unforgettable (even the one we'd like to forget), and it's all brought together with (mostly) excellent editing. It just...looks more like Star Wars to me.
The Not Quite As Good (AKA: Maybe these could have been handled better)
Poe/Holdo: Poe's arc in this movie is not bad, but his relationship with Admiral Holdo makes it...confusing. I understand that the lesson Poe needs to learn in this movie is to be less of a hot-head, to step up and become the real leader that the resistance needs, but his confrontation with Holdo's character doesn't inform his arc well. I sense that his mutiny against her, for what he thought was the good of the resistance, was meant to seem like a failure based on misunderstanding; he wasn't observing the situation tactically (or something like this). But, with Holdo withholding her plan from the majority of the crew (for seemingly no reason), I remember being on Poe's side for the entire second act. This arc isn't quite messy enough to land it in the "bad" portion of this review, since it ends well and Oscar Isaac brings a stellar amount of charisma to the role, but it just feels a bit odd.
Snoke: This movie hits us with a big surprise reveal: After setting up this films version of the "emperor's throne room" scene, Snoke, the supposed big bad of the trilogy, is bisected by Kylo Ren in its second act.
This is not bad, in fact it's a really great subversion of the audience expectations based on what we know of previous Star Wars films (a running theme for this movie). Not to mention, the "mystery" surrounding Snoke wasn't really much of a mystery (exactly none of the characters in either of these films question who Snoke is in regards to the past Star Wars movies), and I love that the "big bad" of the movie ends up being just a stepping stone for our true villains rise to power. That said, having SOME idea, at the time, of who Snoke was and where he came from would have been nice, especially considering the work that Rian Johnson and his art department did to give him so much visual personality, but I think a lot of my problems with this can be blamed on his treatment in the following film, which we'll be discussing.
The Plot: I would say the plot of this movie is solid for most of its runtime, but we do get bogged down with some truly unnecessary stuff in the second act (getting to that shortly). Generally though, it's still a solid good vs evil story with some nice twists and grey areas thrown into the mix that I certainly wasn't expecting. I like when Star Wars movies surprise me, and this movie was the first in awhile to pull it off.
The Bad:
Well now it's time to discuss the weakest part of this film, and I'm afraid that we all know what it is: Rose and Finn. Unfortunately, the side plot and character beats for Rose and Finn are just plain lackluster, almost goofy, and they take up far too much of the runtime in the second act. This absolutely kills the pacing of the film (thank goodness for the incredible third act), and the entire thing feels like one big waste of time (it also feels tonally out of place with the rest of the film). Not only does their mission not succeed, but they gain nothing from the experience. They hunt for a character who doesn't even end up helping them, while Rose guides Finn through the character arc he already had in The Force Awakens, essentially meaning that the two of them spend their screen time running in place until they're reunited with the main cast. At least Finn gets a decent fight scene against Phasma I suppose (although the deleted scene version of their fight was so much better.)
The worst part of this is the wasted potential on display. Finn had already proven to be one of the most interesting characters in his debut, but the writers seem to have no idea where to take him after the first film (a problem carried through into the final film as well, though at least he fares better than Rose, who is essentially written out of the franchise). You'd think there'd be plenty of potential stories for a disillusioned First Order child-soldier-turned-rebel, but apparently everyone's at a loss for what they could be. Likewise, Rose has all the makings of a perfectly good character, who can rally people to the cause of the Resistance because she's lived under the First Order and experienced their wanton disregard for life. In theory, these two should be the perfect pair to start building a resistance movement among galactic populations. It's a shame that the movie wastes these potentially interesting, and relevant, side stories on an overlong wild goose chase.
I won't be doing an all in all section for this one, as I think my stance on the film should be pretty clear at this point. I do have on minor "not so great" note to add, however: Some of the deleted scenes in this movie are full of great character moments and I wish they hadn't been removed. I mean, check out this deleted scene involving Luke and Rey, where we see not only how cynical Luke has become, but also how quick Rey is to jump into danger for what she thinks is right.
Anyway, great movie, on to the next one!
The Rise of Skywalker
I like to imagine a world where the final installment of this trilogy came out and justified every controversial decision made in The Last Jedi. A movie where our hero, Rey, does battle with the villainous Kylo Ren while Poe and Finn, now secure in their roles as Resistance heroes, lead the galaxy in an epic clash against the forces of the First Order, having rebuilt the Resistance from the downtrodden peoples of the galaxy.
Instead, we got The Rise of Skywalker, a movie so deathly afraid of fan backlash from the previous film, that instead of following up on the potential of The Last Jedi, elects to pretend that almost none of it happened. In trying to play it safe, JJ and crew end up making a disjointed, confusing film that feels like it has little connection to either of the films before it.
In case you aren't picking up on the vibe I'm laying down, my opinion on this movie has changed a lot after multiple viewings. On its own, it's easy to come out of this movie riding a "big dumb action movie" high, because it's actually pretty good at being that. As a follow up to the previous two films, however, it's about as weak as they come. I don't want to write too much of a preamble here, so let's get right down into the nitty gritty of what happened with this one.
The Good:
The Action: The action scenes in this movie are all pretty fun. While The Last Jedi was more reminiscent of the original trilogy with the style and speed of its action scenes (especially the lightsaber duels), this movie really lets loose, becoming much more like the prequel trilogy in terms of how the Jedi do battle. While I personally prefer the former, it is pretty cool to see the Jedi doing force-enhanced acrobatics, and the way the film uses Kylo and Rey's force-link makes for some really inventive sequences.
Also, that moment where Palpatine shoots off that massive blast of force lightning was pretty awesome in theaters, so I'll give the movie that one as well.
The Force Healing: This is one of the few cool ideas in this movie: Despite Palpatine's claim in the prequels that it takes great power to bring someone back to life with the force, what it really requires is self-sacrifice, something a Sith wouldn't even consider. This is an actual good piece of writing (that I have a sneaking suspicion may have been accidental but...whatever).
The Acting I Suppose?: I don't know guys, I'm really reaching for more nice things to say here besides "well it was a good action movie I guess". The acting is still good all around, and everyone is doing an admirable job of trying to sell the shit character arcs that are getting handed out in this movie. Daisy Ridley, especially, does a good job of not coming off as awkward while pretending to talk to a non-existent Carrie Fisher, and the scene between Han and Ben Solo at the end of the second act has good emotional weight from both performers.
Alright, enough pretense let's talk about why this move falls on its face so hard.
The Bad:
The Plot: The dead speak! Let's get this out of the way right now: The plot of this movie is bad. It would be one thing if it was as dead set on ignoring The Last Jedi as it clearly is, but it seems to want to ignore...most other Star Wars movies too. Two movies worth of setup for a completely different story, and they decide to resurrect Emperor Palpatine off-screen and go in a completely new direction for their final film? So instead of our heroes spending the movie preparing for the final battle against Kylo Ren and the First Order, we waste the entire film following our heroes as they chase after a magic macguffin and ignore all of their previous character arcs. They go on a brand new adventure (in the trilogy's third act), hit some rough spots, get over them, and then it's big final battle time. In leu of explaining the entire thing to you, I'll instead just ask a bunch of questions that the movie raises so you can get an idea of why I dislike it so much:
- Why does the First Order need the surprise secret fleet of ships from Palpatine when they're already the dominant force in the galaxy (as set up by JJ's initial movie, no less)? And, this ones just a bit of nerd trivia, but why is the fleet made up of the technologically inferior Imperial-Class Star Destroyers?
- Where did this fleet come from and how/why was it literally just buried under ice?
- Who are the thousands of people in the throne room with Palpatine and why have we never heard a peep from them until now?
- Was it really too much to ask that we keep the First Order as the villains, and have the galaxy band together as one to remove the stain of fascism without having to make a whole convoluted plot about how the Emperor was behind all of it?
- What is the point of C3P0 not being able to speak the Sith language aside from sending us to a new planet for new plot, and why on earth would Anakin Skywalker program him to not be able to do this now that we know that he built him?!
- Why do we get three (four?) fake-out deaths in this movie, and why do none of them have any emotional resonance?
- How does the magic macguffin dagger that Rey finds perfectly match a formation of pieces of the crashed Death Star? Was the Emperor just keeping one of the Sith wayfinders (that lead to a planet he currently had no reason to use) in storage on the Death Star? Somehow it didn't blow up with the rest of the station? That's lucky.
- So if Snoke was just another failed clone of the Emperor, what was he doing running the First Order in the other two films? Did they just decide "eh, good enough" and give him command of an entire fleet as well as his own personal ship the size of a small moon that they just happened to have lying around? Does the film really expect us to believe that even a failed clone of Palpatine would look nothing like him and also be seven feet tall?
- I dare this movie to look me in the face and try to tell me that Luke, who had cut himself off from the force and gone into self-imposed exile, was actually looking for the Emperors secret bachelor pad the entire time. This isn't even tenuously connected to Luke's arc in The Last Jedi, this is a straight-up retcon of the previous film.
Kylo Ren: What a waste. After the previous film confirms Kylo Ren as our new, unstable, power hungry head villain, The Rise of Skywalker decides to relegate him to the role of an unwitting pawn. That is, until the movie randomly decides that it's time for his redemption arc which????? What?!?! I mean, he had moments of hesitation in the previous films, but I'd say they were largely eclipsed by his atrocities. This movie OPENS with Ren going on a crazy murder spree, to say nothing of his deeds before now such as: actually committing mass murder, destroying Luke's temple, killing his father, committing even more mass murder, and trying to turn Rey to the dark side all in the name of power. After all of this, Ben is turned back to the light...because his mom dies? Because he loves Rey? Because his dad's ghost tells him it's all good? Unclear, and also, stupid. Same old redemption story, against the same old villain.
Rey: Surprise! Rey is no longer a random good person with the will and power to do the right thing, that would make her character too original and full of hope for the future of the franchise! Nope, she's now Palpatine's granddaughter, because only people from powerful bloodlines can be powerful. Why is she suddenly Palpatine's granddaughter and why is this important? Great question, the film doesn't seem to have a solid answer, outside of the soft implication that his force lightning ability is somehow hereditary (despite having seen other character use/control it. Have these writers watched the other Star Wars films?). Oh, and also she's going to start struggling with the dark side for the second act of the film, despite being almost entirely pure-hearted before now, because I guess finding out your Grandpa was an asshole can fundamentally change who you are as a person when you're in your mid 20's.
She's also wearing her hair the same way as she was in the first film because visual metaphors are lost on JJ Abrams (this goes for Ren's helmet as well).
Also, I have to discuss a huge pet peeve of mine: During an earlier scene in this film, Rey is asked by a small child what her family name is, and she replies, sadly, that she's "just Rey". At the end of the film, when asked a similar question she says "Rey Skywalker" and...just...ugh. You already had the PERFECT line for this scene written and in the movie. Having her reply "just Rey" in an upbeat, confident tone would have been a great exclamation point on the character arc she goes through in this film, heck, throughout the entire trilogy! Her ENTIRE arc was about coming to terms with who she is, even before the ridiculous Grandfather reveal. Again, what a waste.
Basically Every Character: Finn once again has nothing to do in this movie besides hint that he's force sensitive (an idea the writers played with and then...dropped? Is it going to go anywhere now?). Poe, likewise, seems to have very little going for him. I wish I had more to say on these two, but in true JJ Abrams fashion, every scene with them just exists to move the plot forward. I can't think of a single moment in the film where these characters just discuss what is happening or what they're feeling (outside of the awful jokes), and then suddenly at the end they just kind of...become the resistance leaders, after spending the entire movie on the macguffin hunt with Rey. These two still have great chemistry on screen together, and the scenes with them can be enjoyable despite their shallow nature, it's just a shame they aren't given a lot to work with.
Rose is tossed out like yesterdays garbage in what feels like Disney/the writers bowing to pressure from Star Wars' shittier, racist fans (who, in case you didn't know, bullied Rose actress Kelly Marie Tran off of social media after The Last Jedi).
General Hux has become the butt of a joke that the audience doesn't seem to be in on, as he's gone from high ranking member of the First Order to a guy who shows up in a couple of scenes, reveals he's a mole, and then dies unceremoniously.
Lando magically appears in a few scenes (and I mean that literally, it feels like he's just teleporting around), and as much as I enjoy Billy Dee Williams unfaltering charisma, it feels like there's no reason for him to be here.
The Soundtrack: Oh man it pains me to write this part, but I feel like someone has to say it. John Williams is a legend, there's no two ways about it, but this soundtrack feels so confused. When Williams said in pre-release interviews that he was incorporating every Star Wars theme he'd ever written into this film, my head was filled with ideas of magical moments of saga-spanning significance, connecting all sorts of crazy plot threads.
It turns out what he meant was "pieces from other films' soundtracks are literally just pasted into unrelated scenes in this film, and it's gonna be super distracting". Thanks, Mystery Box! You never let us down.
All in All: I could probably keep going on about the things in this film that irk me, but this is already the longest piece I've ever written and I'm worried I may become overly critical of this one. Not the greatest end to this particular trilogy, but a perfectly passable action adventure film carried by charismatic performances, and dammit, I still just love Star Wars.
So, where do we stand now that the trilogy has come to a close?
It's hard to say. Overall, all three movies are still a lot of fun to watch on one level or another, and like I mentioned above, every Star Wars movie is a personal experience for its fans. Also, it's great to see kids latch onto these characters/films like I did when I was young. The bad news is that Disney might end up retconning all of it, and I'm not sure I can make a compelling argument for them not to do that; when viewed from a purely technical standpoint, the Sequel Trilogy is a very confused set of movies (mostly because of the third installment, but still). The good news is that I think Star Wars is just too big to fail, which is to say that maybe a few missteps here and there don't need to be drastically corrected (I mean hell, people in my generation still have fun sitting down to watch the prequels and compared to those, this new trilogy is squeaky clean). It should also be mentioned that despite the mixed reaction to this trilogy (and Disney's direction for Star Wars in general), we still get great new Star Wars media all the time! The Mandalorian, Jedi: Fallen Order, the final season of The Clone Wars, hopefully a Solo sequel (it really deserves it), all of these released under Disney and were top tier Star Wars content. I think it's alright that we have a not-quite-perfect trilogy of films, because with Star Wars, there's always something exciting around the corner.
And who knows, maybe a decade from now everyone will have calmed down and realized I'm right about The Last Jedi being one of the best Star Wars films.
Keep it optimistic, and may the Force be with you.
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