Star Wars: The Last Jedi marks the much anticipated continuation of the Star Wars saga. This film picks up the torch right where The Force Awakens left off and brought a lot of great new things to this universe. Before I start my review, I just want to say something about the reception this film has gotten so far. If you don't like this movie for valid reasons, or it just wasn't what you were hoping for, that is completely okay, no one is expected to love a movie no matter what. However, if you are one of the many people that complained about The Force Awakens being too similar to others in the franchise but are now hating on The Last Jedi for being somewhat different, or if you're just one of the people that like to shit on things that people like, just shut up. Having different opinions is more than okay, as long as you can actually back them up with some solid reasoning other than "ew it's different," or "yo these movie all suck, to hell with Disney." Film is a medium that creates great for conversation, so whether you like or dislike this movie, make valid reasons as to why or why not and have a conversation instead of just going on Rotten Tomatoes or Facebook and saying it sucks.
Now that I've gotten that out of the way, it's time to talk about The Last Jedi. This review will be without spoilers as there are a lot of unexpected things that I don't want to be ruined for everyone. Due to that I'm only giving a short synopsis so here it is: Rey wants to be a Jedi, bad guys want to kill good guys, good guys like hope. That's all I'm going to say.
The returning cast in this movie is absolutely fantastic. In my opinion, this is the best Mark Hamill has been in this franchise. He is clearly burdened by his missteps in the past and it's obvious these have taken a strong toll on him. Daisy Ridley as Rey is just as great and charming as she was in The Force Awakens, and seeing her grow is delightful. The standout in this movie for me though is Adam Driver as Kylo Ren. I really liked this character in the last film, although he came across as somewhat whiny, and he was a lot more intimidating with his mask on. In this movie we see the conflicted emotional performance that Adam Driver can provide and it is beyond impressive. He has grown from a great villain to, in my opinion, one of the best in the past few years. Another notable character from The Force Awakens that I liked a lot was Oscar Isaac's Poe Dameron. His character has a much larger role in this movie and he does a great job. I find his characteristics to be somewhat similar to Han Solo's which helps fill his void a little bit. John Boyega is also once again really good. This is also some of the best we've seen from Carrie Fisher in a long time, and while knowing she was gone made her scenes somewhat bittersweet, but it was still great to see her on screen again. As for new additions into the franchise, I was somewhat unimpressed. I was really excited for Benicio del Toro to be in this film, and he let me down. I won't give much on his character but I think his talents were pretty badly wasted. I also wasn't a huge fan of the new character Rose, the actress playing her was fine I just didn't love the character. Laura Dern plays a resistance general and she was probably my favourite newcomer. She doesn't take the slightest ounce of shit from anyone and brought the strongest performance from the new characters.
The visuals in this movie are stunning. Unlike some movies like Justice League, this film realizes that a big tentpole movie should look close to perfect. All the CGI is beautiful and the practical effects also work very well. Rian Johnson also does a great job directing this movie. While some may be unimpressed with the risks this film took and new things it introduced, I was a fan of almost all of it. This movie takes a lot of unexpected turns and takes a lot of risks, some of which payed of really well and some that didn't work as well. Storywise the only thing I'll say is that I wish some more time was spent focusing on Rey's training and there was one scene involving Finn and Rose that I don't think fit the rest of the story as well as it could have.
Overall this movie didn't fill me with the same joy and excitement that The Force Awakens did, but it brought a lot of great new things to the Star Wars universe. The characters are almost all great and I can't wait to see where the rest of the story takes them. My rating could also change in the future as there is a lot to dissect within this movie, but I really loved a lot of what I saw. Of course I stayed away from spoilers for those who haven't seen the movie, but if you have seen the movie and want to discuss it you can message me on twitter @mattmck1999, instagram @mattmckenziereviews, or follow Matt McKenzie Reviews on Facebook.
Rating: 4.4/5
Written by Matt McKenzie
Edited by Amelia Lind
Now that I've gotten that out of the way, it's time to talk about The Last Jedi. This review will be without spoilers as there are a lot of unexpected things that I don't want to be ruined for everyone. Due to that I'm only giving a short synopsis so here it is: Rey wants to be a Jedi, bad guys want to kill good guys, good guys like hope. That's all I'm going to say.
The returning cast in this movie is absolutely fantastic. In my opinion, this is the best Mark Hamill has been in this franchise. He is clearly burdened by his missteps in the past and it's obvious these have taken a strong toll on him. Daisy Ridley as Rey is just as great and charming as she was in The Force Awakens, and seeing her grow is delightful. The standout in this movie for me though is Adam Driver as Kylo Ren. I really liked this character in the last film, although he came across as somewhat whiny, and he was a lot more intimidating with his mask on. In this movie we see the conflicted emotional performance that Adam Driver can provide and it is beyond impressive. He has grown from a great villain to, in my opinion, one of the best in the past few years. Another notable character from The Force Awakens that I liked a lot was Oscar Isaac's Poe Dameron. His character has a much larger role in this movie and he does a great job. I find his characteristics to be somewhat similar to Han Solo's which helps fill his void a little bit. John Boyega is also once again really good. This is also some of the best we've seen from Carrie Fisher in a long time, and while knowing she was gone made her scenes somewhat bittersweet, but it was still great to see her on screen again. As for new additions into the franchise, I was somewhat unimpressed. I was really excited for Benicio del Toro to be in this film, and he let me down. I won't give much on his character but I think his talents were pretty badly wasted. I also wasn't a huge fan of the new character Rose, the actress playing her was fine I just didn't love the character. Laura Dern plays a resistance general and she was probably my favourite newcomer. She doesn't take the slightest ounce of shit from anyone and brought the strongest performance from the new characters.
The visuals in this movie are stunning. Unlike some movies like Justice League, this film realizes that a big tentpole movie should look close to perfect. All the CGI is beautiful and the practical effects also work very well. Rian Johnson also does a great job directing this movie. While some may be unimpressed with the risks this film took and new things it introduced, I was a fan of almost all of it. This movie takes a lot of unexpected turns and takes a lot of risks, some of which payed of really well and some that didn't work as well. Storywise the only thing I'll say is that I wish some more time was spent focusing on Rey's training and there was one scene involving Finn and Rose that I don't think fit the rest of the story as well as it could have.
Overall this movie didn't fill me with the same joy and excitement that The Force Awakens did, but it brought a lot of great new things to the Star Wars universe. The characters are almost all great and I can't wait to see where the rest of the story takes them. My rating could also change in the future as there is a lot to dissect within this movie, but I really loved a lot of what I saw. Of course I stayed away from spoilers for those who haven't seen the movie, but if you have seen the movie and want to discuss it you can message me on twitter @mattmck1999, instagram @mattmckenziereviews, or follow Matt McKenzie Reviews on Facebook.
Rating: 4.4/5
Written by Matt McKenzie
Edited by Amelia Lind
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