Fellman's Movie Reviews

Star Wars: Episode 8 – The Last Jedi is the eighth film in the Star Wars franchise, and the second movie in the Star Wars sequel trilogy. The Last Jedi brings back Mark Hamill, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Carrie Fisher, Dohhnall Gleeson, Gwendolyn Christie, Lupita Nyong’O, and Anthony Daniels as C-3PO. While introducing several new characters, like Kelly Marie Tran as Rose, Laura Dern as Vice-Admiral Holdo, and Benecio del Toro as the master codebreaker, DJ.  

Episode 8 is the only one of the sequel movies that I actually like. Probably because J.J. Abrams didn’t direct it. It actually has its own original content. The Last Jedi has its own storyline going on. It can stand alone as its own movie. There are new characters introduced, and the characters from the previous sequel movies are developed in new ways that aren’t expected and presupposed just because it’s a Star Wars movie.  

A lot of fans expected Rey to be Luke Skywalker’s daughter somehow. When she didn’t turn out to be, there was some division between some fans. As well as when Snoke dies near the end. People weren’t expecting the main villain of the movie to be taken out so early. It was a good plot twist to drop on people. This is the kind of writing that is needed in a Star Wars movie. Not just following the typical formula to appease fans who are expecting something to happen. 

There were some subtle similarities that couldn’t be ignored, however. The scene with Snoke was eerily reminiscent of the scene with The Emperor in Return of the Jedi. And the scene on Crait was obviously inspired by the battle of Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back. So, It’s not like the movie was completely originally done. But I suppose some things are going to repeat themselves just by coincidence after a while. 

But the development of Luke and Rey’s characters throughout the movie is better done than was expected. It could have taken a much more disappointing turn with a lot more obvious decisions that didn’t leave anything to the imagination. At least the writers gave it some thought and decided to mix things up, rather than give the fans what they thought they wanted, as opposed to making a new story. Because when it comes to fiction, new is better than rehashing. Nostalgia gets old pretty quickly. Pun intended. 

So, yeah. Go and see Star Wars: Episode 8 – The Last Jedi. It’s the one sequel that will actually give you what you want in a Star Wars movie. Something new. Something exciting. A little bit of funny. And a lot of action. Because it’s Star Wars. And action is the name of the game. And as always, may the force be with you…