Here’s the premise: Rey develops her newly discovered abilities with the guidance of Luke Skywalker, who is unsettled by the strength of her powers. Meanwhile, the Resistance prepares to do battle with the First Order.
While THE LAST JEDI is not the best of the series, it is still a solid film in its own right; it gives more insight on what the force truly is and bridges the gaps of what the war is all about. I really enjoyed the interactions between Luke and Rey, and I really enjoyed Kylo Ren’s struggle with good and evil, I could actually feel his frustrations as he is being pulled in different directions and not knowing what to believe. Mark Hamill did an amazing job, I was torn between what the old Luke was like and accepting the new Luke, but I went with Rian Johnson’s vision and I saw a correlation between Clint Eastwood’s portrayal in UNFORGIVEN, about an gunslinger tired of the fight; wonder if this is what Rian Johnson was going for?
The movie has its issues, my main complaint was the pacing, parts of the middle were downright boring, and this is something that I was really disappointed in. As much as I love Laura Dern, she felt kind of out of place during the movie, but that does not ruin the movie at all.
Overall, there is more good than bad in the movie, and I want to see more of the adventures that Rey has coming, it is good to see a new generation of Start Wars heroes and villains being ushered in to keep the series alive.
Russell Lockhart
