Star Wars The Last Jedi review

Mayla Gilliam and Isaiah Brewer

“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” is unlike any other movie in the franchise. The film combines fresh humor with the same nostalgic feelings the previous films evoked. Now that Disney owns the franchise, Star Wars has advanced at light speed.

The entire viewing experience left me in awe. As well as the beauty of the cinematography, there were four aspects of the movie that were beneficial to the movie as a whole.

The subtle comedy incorporated into the script kept audiences captivated, even at the most dull moments. Movies I-VII did not attempt to encompass a movie that was both an adventure and a comedy. This movie did just that. The film was easy to watch, despite its length, because of the comedy intertwined with the characters’ dazzling journey.

Nostalgic moments throughout “The Last Jedi” are what truly made it a Star Wars movie. Characters we haven’t seen in a decade made appearances that took the audience by surprise. Original character Yoda came back for a short period of time only to help his once-young apprentice Luke one final time. The scene is a tear grabber that brings back the same feelings the original trilogy brought us. And the film wouldn’t be a Star Wars movie without characters such as Chewbacca, R2-D2 and C-3PO.

One aspect of this movie that was starkly different from previous movies was that the force was used in ways that it hasn’t been used before. For instance, Rey was able to connect to both the light and the dark side of the force, and use them both equally, despite her Skywalker lineage being debunked. This and other uses of the force were an exciting addition to a franchise that has traditionally expressed the force only through Luke and other Skywalkers, generally to show a battle between the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire.

Lastly, the film threw in numerous new characters. Of these new characters, many were women as well. Finn and Rey (who were both introduced to us in Star Wars: The Force Awakens), develop into characters that captivate a new generation of Star Wars lovers. To build even more upon their strong female lead Rey, Disney gave us the hero that is now Rose.

While most critics praise the film, several are quick to acknowledge the questionable decisions that director Rian Johnson made.

Despite the force being used in innovative ways, the force was given too willingly to characters who didn’t show the strength of the force in the past. Leia was able to use the force almost equally as strong as her twin Luke. This was incredibly different in the original trilogy, where Luke was the main source of the force between the twins. The producers seemed to be trigger happy with the force in this movie, which seemed to take away from aspects of the original movies.

Even though the movie was enjoyable from start to finish, there were parts of the film that were too long. Some scenes were prolonged as a way to build the stories for new characters. This being said, some of the scenes dragged and didn’t serve much purpose in continuing the plot. It seemed as if some parts of the movie served as filler between scenes packed with attention-grabbing action.

Despite minor complaints, The Last Jedi was a magnificent movie that has viewers anxiously waiting for the final installment of the trilogy.