At its best, the “Star Wars” franchise is undeniably one of the most genuine cinematic expressions of humanity, a perfect distillation of sights, sounds, and emotions that has inspired a nation of storytellers and dreamers since its premiere in 1977.
Out of the many storytellers inspired by the film series, the directors of Disney’s sequel trilogy, J.J. Abrams and, now, Rian Johnson, were chosen to head the newest journey into the “Star Wars” universe. But, now, following the release of Episode VIII, “The Last Jedi,” questions surrounding the legitimacy of Johnson’s helm of the series have arisen.
Creating the next installment of what may be the most influential piece of modern pop culture in recent history is an understandably heavy duty. Writer-director Rian Johnson was put in a considerably difficult position, propelled by his own artistic vision and held back by the constraints of the series. Many have praised Johnson for leaning toward the former, blazing a path of his own making.
And, in many ways, this works beautifully for him. Out of the main series, “The Last Jedi” has the most defined artistic vision. Its scenes are shot with startling creative purpose and independence. With shots reminiscent of other space sagas like “Interstellar,” or even certain scenes of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, the artistic lens through which Johnson directs is so clearly delineated and wholly separate. The final act, with the space battles and their creative choices, and final fight on Crait with the overt color symbolism, truly shined — cementing “The Last Jedi” as the pinnacle of cinematography in perhaps the entire series.
But under the beauty, there seems to be an emptiness that cannot be filled with sharp angles and elegant camera-work. Johnson’s push to separate his work from the previously established “norm” of the “Star Wars” series is almost too forceful, especially mid-way into the new trilogy. There is always a push between maintaining the past and pushing toward the future, and fan backlash is inevitable no matter which direction the creative team takes. While some thought Episode VII held too tightly to the past, Episode VIII has no such qualms.
“The Last Jedi,” unlike the previous installment, does not hold onto the past. Instead, it rather aggressively bulldozes it, obliterating the foundations laid by the other directors. Wiped out in one fell swoop of a lightsaber, the previous installments feel inconsequential — even Episode VII, which is set minutes before the beginning of the film.
When it uses material from any of the past seven episodes, it feels almost Disney-ified and cheap, like they are simply throwaway moments meant to strategically spark a pre-packaged emotion. The film treats its original trilogy characters without deference, using and abusing their role in the film to advance plot before casting them aside — whether or not their actions are truly believable in context of their character, such as with Luke Skywalker.
The humor was the main issue with the dialogue. While genuinely a quite funny film, it was impossible to shake the feeling of being very openly steered, like Johnson had his hands on your shoulder guiding you toward a specific emotion throughout the film. Often, humor is used in order to prove a personal point for Johnson on how he views fan theories and input. Many of the jokes landed well, but they left a hollowness to the plot that was never picked up by any other element.
Without humor, the movie was lacking any sort of character. The character development for which “The Force Awakens” was lauded seemed to take the back-burner in favor of snippy one-liners and skits, such as in the movie’s opening. This is the understandable drawback to any trilogy directed by more than one director, as Johnson and Abrams share two differing artistic views on how to move forward with the series, but “The Last Jedi” truly disregards every element set up by Episode VII — and proudly, too.
Johnson clearly believes in defining the film as his own, rather than merely continuing the established series. Accordingly, he actively works to subvert the previous film, creating his new canon. While an adept writer, Johnson’s wish to distance himself from the previous movies led to a number of plot and characterization elements that did not make sense.
In “The Force Awakens,” the majority of praise stemmed from its powerful characterization, mainly of its major characters Finn and Rey. “The Last Jedi,” however, sidelines Finn to an inconsequential plotline that only hindered the direct action, rather than leading to any concrete progress. The emotional climax that Abrams created with the end of his film concerning Finn’s life is treated as comic relief, rather than with a mature and serious handling that would deal with the emotional fallout of the previous film. This mistreatment of the trilogy’s main character (as set up in the first film, at least) caused irritation with many fans who questioned the sudden importance of Kylo Ren, as compared to their established trio.
Two thirds of “The Force Awakens” trio were treated poorly throughout the movie, and the new character — Rose — was completely overlooked and underutilized. The film’s priorities seemed to be misplaced for the entire film, giving screen time to characters that did not deserve as much as they did, while ignoring their top-billed stars.
Inconsequentiality is one of the major downfalls of modern action cinema, mainly with Marvel and Disney-affiliated films, and this rings true for “The Last Jedi.” Where in “The Force Awakens” each plot line mattered to the final conclusion, “The Last Jedi” attempted to mimic “Return of the Jedi” in its multiple narrative format, but failed to maintain relevance. Finn’s plotline is useless, aside from its purpose as a political commentary that, while important to be made, only slows the plot down.
There is a startling lack of respect for the previous artist’s work as Episode VII characters are shamelessly thrown away for either shock value or ease of storytelling. Epic battle scenes are reduced to cheap gimmicks to sell shock in the same way that Disney intends to sell porg merchandise. There is no emotional resonance with any part of the movie because Johnson wants to neatly package it for modern audiences, trying to streamline the chaos of the original series. But, it remains that one cannot just streamline “Star Wars” — it is messy and chaotic and often poorly conducted, but that’s what makes it a classic.
However, the flip side of that argument is valid too: “Star Wars” is not a perfect film series, and should not be expected to be perfect. It is the heart of “Star Wars,” the intangible Idea that often fails to come to fruition outside of the collective consciousness of fans, that makes it beautiful. Despite the apparent flaws of the “The Last Jedi,” it was still an incredibly enjoyable experience. Its issues do not entirely negate the positive aspects Johnson brings to the series, such as his artistic eye, humorous tone, and solid understanding of the genre. The clear problems with the film should not be a reason to not watch “The Last Jedi”; instead, it is important to be able to both recognize the flaws within media and still be able to enjoy it.
