Director Rian Johnson
Starring Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Mark Hamill
Rated M
Score 3/6 (Originally 5/6 2 points have been deducted because of the constant defending and explaining of various plot points by the Rian Johnson and for the use movie novelization to cover his arse)
Having taken her first steps into the Jedi world, Rey joins Luke Skywalker on an adventure with Leia, Finn and Poe that unlocks mysteries of the Force and secrets of the past.
I wonder how long it is going to take until the fanboys are going to start complaining about this one. To those fanboys please feel free to post your review on The Movie Boards, just remember you can’t go dragging the novelizations into any argument. I know it might be hard to believe but I can name at least one website who tried to do this in the defence of The Force Awakens.
No with that minor piece of housekeeping and poking fun at a much larger website, I’d like to say that of the Disney era of Star Wars movies that I probably hold The Last Jedi in the highest regard of the movies that have been made so far. I will admit that I did have a brief ‘oh crap’ moment when I thought that The Last Jedi was running the risk of being thinly veiled retelling of The Empire Strikes Back. There are a couple of moments throughout the movie that might remind you of the 1980 movie, but director Rian Johnson seemed to have ability to craft these moments into something else entirely. On the matter of Johnson being chosen as the director of The Last Jedi, it was good to see that executives in charge of this movie had the presence of mind to give this movie to a seemingly slightly more capable director, unlike what you might see with other movie franchises that are doing the rounds at the moment.
Both Daisy Ridley and John Boyega gave decent performances. I liked the scenes that Ridley had with Mark Hamill and the revelation about Rey’s parents is something that most people where not expecting (it will be interesting to see how the movie theorists react to this). Those of who were disappointed by Mark Hamill’s lack of involvement will be suitably impressed by The Last Jedi’s climax. I also found myself enjoying Kelly Marie Tran’s performance as Rose Tico, it was good to see that a seemingly ordinary person in the Star Wars universe getting their moment. As a villain I am still not onboard with Kylo Ren. Though he did have some interesting moments throughout the movie, Ren really needs to put away the moody teenager management guide if he is ever going to be considered the next Darth Vader.