Plot: Picking up immediately after the events of The Force Awakens, Rey has finally found the legendary Jedi Master Luke Skywalker and hopes to find understanding in her powers and her destiny. However, Luke’s disgruntled nature due to his failure with Kylo Ren complicates her efforts. Meanwhile, Leia and the Resistance fighters are on a desperate fight for survival as they are mercilessly chased across the galaxy by Ren and the First Order.
Review:
Time for another confession: I am not a big fan of the Star Wars (SW) movies.
That’s not to say I don’t find the original SW trilogy fun, but it’s mostly from a visual effects and action standpoint. I can for countless hours admire the meticulous craft put into sequences such as the Death Star trench run, the Battle of Hoth, and the awesomely choreographed lightsaber fights courtesy of Industrial Light & Magic.
However, from a storytelling and character perspective; SW was always lacking for me.
These same issues carried over to the J.J. Abrams-directed soft reboot The Force Awakens where despite grade-A action and visuals effects; suffered from an overly-formulaic plot that felt more like a glorified teaser for future movies than a real story. That and the Mary Sue protagonist, a disappointing villain in the form of Kylo Ren, and ANOTHER rehash of the Death Star plot.
Please make no mistake in thinking I’m being contrary for the sake of contrary, that’s just how I feel.
Despite my personal bias, I always go into these movies with an open-mind and admittedly; the last SW movie Rogue One (obviously taking notes from The Dirty Dozen) did manage to surprisingly grab me a bit from an emotional perspective.
Does this latest entry in the SW saga, directed by Rian Johnson, manage to do the same?
Without any spoilers, almost but not really.
Unless you have been living in self-imposed exile like Luke for the past two weeks, you probably already know that despite great write-ups from the critics, reactions from audiences and SW fans alike have been very divided. LJ is not only shaping up to the be the most polarizing SW film ever….but possibly the most divisive movie of 2017 period.
I felt very divided myself as I was watching LJ. Rarely have I watched a movie where moments of sheer awesomeness are intermixed with moments that made me want to smack the upside of my head!
I was like Helga G. Pataki from Hey Arnold in the theater where I’m like “I love you, but I hate you!! But I also love you, but I hate you too!!”
Let’s start with the Light side of LJ.
LJ carries over the tradition of the last two SW entries by being some of the most gorgeously executed special effects extravaganzas of the modern age. Seriously there some jaw-dropping action sequences in this movie from Poe’s (Oscar Isaac) assault on a First Order dreadnought to the lightsaber fight in Snoke’s throne room just to name a few.
There is also a great final battle between the Resistance and the First Order on a salt planet, as showcased in the trailers. Let’s just say the salt planet battle features one of the most beautiful uses of the color red I’ve seen in probably any movie ever.
It’s almost art-house level….
I also really liked the sequences in which Rey is exploring the Force as well as her own emotional insecurities stemming from her uncertainty to her place in the universe.
Holy crap…..where the hell was this with Rey in the last movie!?! This is how you build a CHARACTER, not a shallow power fantasy.
I also liked how Johnson gives these sequences a slightly surreal and psychological portrayal, much like how it was in the original trilogy. Having the Force be a mystical entity is way more fascinating than the ill-conceived “Midichlorian” scientific explanation given in the prequels.
There were also admittedly plenty of laugh-out-loud moments throughout too, in fact, it maybe the funniest SW movie to date.
From a filmmaking and cinematography standpoint, SW has really never looked better!
It’s when we get into discussions about the actual plot and story that LJ causes major disturbances. Johnson is credited as the sole writer and I give him plenty of credit with being bold enough try new things with the Star Wars formula. Johnson is hardly a “safe” filmmaker like J.J. Abrams.
The storyline involving Rey, Luke, and Ren is by far the most interesting stuff.
Luke’s character is taken in a very unexpected direction and Mark Hamill is more than capable of pulling off a more weary, vulnerable, and morally-greyed version of the iconic space hero. Rey still remains over-powered but she did feel less like a Mary Sue this time around due to the focus on her emotional insecurities. That and the fascinating new layer given to the dynamic between Rey and Ren.
Speaking of Ren, I’ve always liked Adam Driver and it was nice to see him being given better material to work with this time around. If Johnson succeeded at anything, it was turning Ren from a overgrown pathetic whiny brat to the complicated lost soul that FA attempted to portray him as but failed. If anything Ren is by far the best character now because he is the only one that goes through any real arc in LJ outside of Luke.
Because outside of the Rey, Luke and Ren storyline; everything else about the plot is an under explained and baffling mess with so-many questionable creative choices.
Like with Alien Covenant, if you are hoping for any answers to the questions posed by FA, then you are going to be severely disappointed.
Instead of being given more backstory that would help contextualize the drama and make us more invested in the plot; signifiant time is wasted following Finn (Boyega) and Rose Tico (Tran) on a planet straight from The Fifth Element in search of a codebreaker that I swear was ENTIRELY POINTLESS!!!
Who is Rose Tico?
Probably the most blatant example of adding an unnecessary character to a movie in a predictable attempt to appeal to Asian markets since Angelababy from Independence Day: Resurgence. It also doesn’t help that Tran is given some of the worst dialogue in the movie.
The First Order also continues it’s tradition of being the most incompetent evil oppressive empire since…well…the Empire. The Resistance also showcases baffling levels of incompetence. While I really enjoy Poe as a character due to Isaac’s effortlessly charismatic portrayal, his continuous unruly attitude and disregard for chain of command severely makes you question the quality of Leia’s judgement.
Laura Dern also randomly shows up in the movie as a supposed “legendary” Resistance leader although with that stupid purple wig she looks more like a hipster college professor if anything. I love Dern but she was simply wasted in this despite having one admittedly awesome scene, a literal non-character.
There are other frustrating or confusing moments but since I’m trying to keep this article spoiler-free, I will get into those another time because seriously…..it deserves it’s own article.
It’s not like I didn’t have some fun watching LJ, heck I think it is a slight step above FA, but I simply can’t ignore the questionable script on display. I personally can’t understand how anybody, critics or otherwise, can watch this and FA and tell me with a straight face they are examples of quality writing.
It’s far from the worst Star Wars movie, that honor goes to Attack of the Clones and it’s “worse than Twilight” chemistry-free love story between Anakin Skywalker and Padme, but it’s certainly not one of the best.
Rating: 3/5
Director: Rian Johnson (Brick, Looper)
Cast: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Laura Dern, Kelly Marie Tran and Benicio del Toro
Genre: Space Opera
Release Date: December 15, 2017
Budget: $200 million
Box Office: $777.6 million
Facts you probably didn’t know:
*Is it just me, or did the initial tracking shot for the casino on The Fifth Element planet seem similar to the famous dolly shot from Wings?
*I think I also spotted a homage to the famous mirror sequence from Citizen Kane!
*After reading the script for the film, Mark Hamill told director Rian Johnson, “I pretty much fundamentally disagree with every choice you’ve made for this character [Luke Skywalker]. Now, having said that, I have gotten it off my chest, and my job now is to take what you’ve created and do my best to realize your vision.”
*With the passing of Kenny Baker (R2-D2), Anthony Daniels (C3PO) is now the only remaining actor to appear in all the official Star Wars films.
*Rian Johnson’s original cut of the film exceeded three hours. Reports say he cut between 45 and 60 minutes to get the film down to a more palatable run time.
*With a running time of 152 minutes, this is the longest movie of the Star Wars saga.
*The film was released over forty years after Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977) and marked the 40th anniversary of the Star Wars film franchise.
Natural Born Film Critic 