It suggests that the repressive forces of Empire are never fully defeated, but must be beaten back again and again - and if that idea seems particularly applicable right now, well, hmm.Īt the same time, writer-director Rian Johnson clearly worked hard to make sure The Last Jedi didn’t feel terribly dark. But the script directly addresses the fact that Return of the Jedi‘s triumphant finale has been reduced to a temporary victory in an ongoing struggle between light and dark. Let’s not overstate this: We’re not talking about a Lars Von Trier movie. Where The Force Awakens usually moved too quickly to deal with the bleakness of its core conceit (which saw the Rebellion undermined, then nearly wiped out, and its heroes scattered), The Last Jedi actually embraces a sense of futility and defeat. The movie’s final act mixes hope and despair nearly perfectly - I don’t want to admit that this is the first Star Wars movie to make me cry, but here we are. If some of this sounds pretty heavy, it certainly can be. (The film is dedicated to her.) Similarly, Mark Hamill seems to relish the opportunity to portray the disappointment and regret felt by an older Luke Skywalker, while giving us hints of the brash, impatient hero still inside. But she gets some big moments here, both to kick ass and show quiet emotion. Of course, there’s an element of melancholy in seeing Carrie Fisher’s final performance as Leia Organa, and in knowing that if she’d lived, she would have had a larger role in Episode IX. We also see more of the conflict within both Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), and more of the bond between them.Įven more gratifying is the time spent with the remaining stars from the original trilogy. For one thing, there’s good news for Oscar Isaac fans, as his character Poe Dameron gets much more to do. Like Empire, The Last Jedi uses this plot structure to explore its predecessor’s ideas and characters in greater depth. It doesn’t openly ape the story of Empire the way The Force Awakens gleefully copied the original, but there are some pretty obvious parallels: Episodes V and VIII both open with a spectacular attack on a rebel base, then jump back-and-forth between multiple threads, one where our heroes flee from the Empire (or the First Order), another where a talented young Jedi seeks guidance from a reluctant teacher.
The comparison seems particularly apt, since Last Jedi occupies a similar spot in the new Star Wars trilogy. And this time, I have to say it: The Last Jedi is the best Star Wars movie since The Empire Strikes Back.
One of the most common ways to praise a new Star Wars movie is to claim that it’s the best one since The Empire Strikes Back.
0 kommentar(er)
