Review By Darren Chan Keng Leong (Singapore)
There was much anticipation over the latest Star Wars movie because of the long awaited re-introduction of Luke Skywalker portrayed by Mark Hamill. It also marked the last film made by Carrie Fisher as General Leia Organa who passed on in 2016. I am glad that the writers did not write her character off during the film. The interaction between Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia brought back memories of the past Star Wars instalments which will leave fans satisfied and to tie up loose ends of the characters’ story arcs.
The film has its strong points as it brings back many characters both old and new in the Star Wars trilogy especially the Resistance and the Jedi order. The film kicks off with the usual iconic opening credits and ever familiar Star Wars theme song. We see the antagonist of the film, the First Order threaten to destroy the dwindling Resistance fighters which is led by General Leia Organa. The battle scenes are memorable with good and bad fighting to take over each other.
Luke Skywalker, Rey and Kylo Ren are the main characters that the film focuses on and they have the most character development in the film. We get to see the Rey harness the power of the force under Luke’s guidance. Another awesome moment is when we see Luke’s struggle and resolve of not turning to the dark side. We see him getting guidance from a surprise mentor in the form of Yoda as a force ghost where he tells Luke that failure will lead him to success in helping Rey hone her Jedi powers and to let go of the past of not being able to save Kylo Ren from the dark side.
However, the film has instances where the storyline of the character could be much stronger and fluid such as the demise of Supreme Leader Snoke was too abrupt. It would have enhanced the scene better if he did do battle with Rey and Kylo before meeting his end. This missing aspect proved to capitalise on what would be a memorable conclusion to Snoke’s character. Some of the scenes were felt slightly dragged out but credit goes to the cinematography which is breath-taking.
I hope to see Kylo Ren go further into the dark side in the upcoming sequel next year as there are hints in the film where he may embrace the title of being the next Darth Vader. The next sequel might address the on-going conflict of the Jedi and Sith, hopefully there is a re-establishment of the Jedi order with Rey at the helm of it and the introduction of new enemy forces to keep the franchise moving forward.
Director Rian Johnson does a great job of flushing out the characters’ story development and interaction, and some scenes look straight out of a Star Wars game. The soundtrack and minor characters such as C-3PO, the Porgs, Chewbacca and even BB-8 all added up to the overall light heartedness of the flow of the film with their animated banter.
The film has consistency, but with more action scenes, it would be more action packed and sit well with Star Wars fans who love lightsabre duels more than just space battles. There is so much planets and storyline of Rey and Kylo Ren that are left to explore and these need to be addressed in the upcoming sequel next year. May the Force Be with You!
Rating: 3/5
While many people have the classic debate in whether the newer Star wars movies can compete with the ‘Original Trilogy’. Many people have lost themselves, in star wars ,as in pop culture it is a ‘must have’ requirement or as it seems. People also forgot (while the trilogy has not yet been finished while writing this ) Star Wars : The Last Jedi is still apart of a trilogy making this very hard to stand alone as its own movie when we are brought into the movie as im sure u have all seen we are greeted with a cliffside dramatic moment or it appears to be, we the viewer if we isolate this movie have no idea what’s going on. The Nolan Trilogy , x men and even the original trilogy. All, of these movies could stand alone and even with the dynamic range of batman and star wars it is still film the last jedi fails to capture and reminiscence of the jedi order and the star wars law and the weapon of the jedi (Lightsaber) has been turned into a comical joke. Even with the well balanced characters of Kylo Ren and Rey ??? … with one of them being persuaded by the light side and one by the dark there still not enough chemistry and when kylo lets the light consume his decisions in the movie there is no regret in any scenes after making it feel very robotic with any thing the movie had done right. Also if people say that disney was making a more comical turn that’s fine if they change the branch of star wars there’s gonna be a lot of nerds like me upset about that but when they give us such a dark movie as rouge one then move it on later to be all happen and a joke while releasing rebels the tv shows which is amazing they cant act surprised when people are at a 50/50 split but i do ask anything of anyone who reads this re watch the movie as not a star wars movie, by itself and see wha6t your thought s are because most likely you will have the opposite opinion
Rating: 2/5
I’m a life-long Star Wars fan. I’ve seen every film in the theatres since the original. As a family guy now, I have taken my entire family to the last two films. Most people who have seen all of the Star Wars films give them a ranking from top to bottom. Honestly, I would rank this one near the bottom of my personal Star Wars scale, second only to Phantom Menace, which featured Jar Jar Binks, a character often noted as the most ill-conceived character in any of the Star Wars movies. From the very beginning of the movie the viewer is forced to suspend reality beyond the typical expectations of sci-fi fantasy. I didn’t realize that there was gravity in space in some places???
Why are there “bombers” attacking the Imperial fleet with gravity bombs??? This just got the whole thing off to a bad start for me. Shortly after that the ship carrying Princess Leia is attacked and she is seen drifting out into space. Then, suddenly, almost completely frozen, she uses the force to draw her back into the ship. Another significant moment of suspending reality that went too far. There are many other issues with the story-line and characters. Laura Dern is not convincing in her role. Luke Skywalker’s character seemed more like a ‘Grumpy old Man’ than a Jedi. Yes, I realize that he has apparently decided to forget his past and live the hermit’s life on a remote island on a remote planet, but there’s a reason that Mark Hamill hasn’t acted in years. He just was never really that good to begin with.
The hand-to-hand fight scene in Snoke’s chambers was just hokie! Why are all the other guards just standing there while Rey and Kylo Ren fight one or two of them at a time? BTW – Kylo Ren seems rather soft, too unfocused to be such an evil character. He just doesn’t have that total buy-in to the dark side that, oh, I don’t know, Darth Vader had. He’s just way too vulnerable!
How many times is the Empire going to be revived?? How did the Rebel forces become so depleted? If Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) is now dead, are they going to revive Luke Skywalker, who apparently became part of the Force at the end of this one? I’m sure that they are already hard at work on the next one. Disney has to get their money’s-worth out of this. All those Star Wars licensed products have to sell to make any real money on these flicks.
A little more thought in the story line and perhaps better directing might have saved this one, but for me it was a snoozer. Honestly, I enjoyed watching Jumanji much more than this episode of Star Wars. I’m sure that they will continue to make a great deal of money from the Star Wars films as they continue to cultivate the next generation of fanatics of the franchise. Personally, I will think twice before laying down my hard-earned cash to see the next one.
Rating: 2/5
(No Spoilers)
The only glimmer of hope to be seen in The Last Jedi was in Carrie Fisher’s facial muscles attempting to move from behind 20 layers of plastic.
It would seem Rian Johnson believes good writing is being reminded you’re watching a Disney film every 5 minutes through some of the most abysmal, cringe inducing dialogue since the days of “I hate sand”.
I knew many people, including myself, had higher hopes for The Last Jedi after the boring rehash that was The Force Awakens. These hopes have yet again been quickly dashed as Rian wastes no time letting us know that we’re in for the longest 2h and 33m a Star Wars fan has faced yet.
There were many scenes during the film that were colossal on the scale of ‘what the actual fuck’ that one can only question the sanity of Mr. Johnson upon completing this utter mess of a picture.
I could only help but yawn through the never ending arcs as 5 second characters are endlessly introduced solely for the sales of their figurine counter parts. I’ve heard Rian Johnson has been given three more films under the Star Wars name and I can’t help but feel they’ve been given to him purely from the projected sales of the never-ending Porg/Plushie collection.
It’s hard for me to explain the complexity of Disney’s latest shit stain without spoiling it, so let me regrettably tell you that Star Wars is officially dead and it’s corpse will be ridden until the end of our life times. So for old times sake, let us look away now, while we still can.
Rating: 2/5
The Force Awakens saw its end when Rey (Daisy Ridley) met Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) handling him over the lightsaber. The Last Jedi which is supposedly the movie where last of the Jedi race will face the dark side and it starts with distinguishing a line between good (The Resistance) and the bad (The First Order). Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) boldly leading the resistance starts her journey to find her missing brother Luke Skywalker.
We bid a sad farewell to Han Solo (Harrison Ford) in the Force Awakens but we’ve Kylo Ren this time who has been seduced by the dark side fencing Rey and team. Rey is a Jedi and how she trains to one, whether or not she’ll be able to convince Luke to come back on the field, will the Jedi(s) become extinct? It’s hope vs power & watch the movie to see who wins.
Rating: 5/5