★★★★

I love Star Wars. I have the action figures, the books – I think I even have a Yoda T – Shirt laying around somewhere. On first watch I didn’t think much of The Last Jedi. There were parts that annoyed the heck out of me, that didn’t seem to make sense. But on a second watch (after I’d calmed down) I thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

This is Luke’s film (even if Mark Hamill absolutely hated the direction Johnson took the character). He’s not an all-powerful Jedi. He’s beaten and broken, ready to give up on the Jedi for good. The character of Rey is developed nicely throughout The Last Jedi, as we see a young woman, alone in the universe, trying to find her part in it. We also find the driving force behind Kylo Ren’s madness, with a wonderful human moment as he and the First Order attack the Resistance’s fleet with his mother on board. It is in the development of these characters; their motivations, their hopes and fears, their good and bad qualities, that the film not only has depth but finds its heart.

There are parts of the film though that don’t particularly work. The casino sequence is good but it’s more than of a distraction than anything, and doesn’t ultimately add value to the story. Finn and Rose’s relationship works up to the final act of the film, but it suddenly jumps to something that makes very little sense.   

 

Overall The Last Jedi is wonderful, filled with surprising twists and reveals and taking our all our expectations and throwing them on their head. The sets are out of this world and the new creatures we discover are fantastic. And the Throne Room fight scene. Just plain awesome.

 

Although not without its faults, Star Wars: The Last Jedi is the fresh and dynamic direction needed for these new tales in a galaxy far, far away.
★★★★