Star Wars: The Last Jedi is the new epic space opera film and the 9th part in the legendary Star Wars franchise. The film is written and directed by franchise newcomer Rian Johnson. The movie stars Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Mark Hamill, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, and Carrie Fisher. Widely considered the most anticipated movie of the year, the hype for this movie is unreal so let’s review The Last Jedi.

So obviously there will be NO SPOILERS in this review because shit goes down in this movie and I want you to experience it in the theater like I did. But overall did I like The Last Jedi? Yes, yes I did. This isn’t a perfect movie and it’s not the best Star Wars movie; but it is a very good movie in a galaxy far, far away. So starting off with the performances, I thought everyone gave good performances. Daisy Ridley as Rey is the star of the movie and she is great once again. Rey continues to go on journey to learn how powerful she actually is. Adam Driver as Kylo Ren is also amazing and he is quickly becoming one of my favorite Star Wars characters. This movie delves into the phycology about why he turned to the Dark Side and it’s fascinating to watch. But the standout by far is Mark Hamill returning as Luke Skywalker. Luke is my favorite Star Wars character of all-time and I loved what they did with him in this movie. Luke is damaged and mentally scarred from failing to rebuild the Jedi order and I was amazed watching Hamill showing how messed up he is.

Another thing I liked is that this movie is not as straight forward as you think it would be. A major complaint that Star Wars fans had about The Force Awakens is that it was a rehash of A New Hope. That is not the case with The Last Jedi. Sure there are some dark elements shared with this and The Empire Strikes Back but it is absolutely not the same. I also thought the movie was beautifully shot and there are some incredible set pieces that you normally don’t see in a huge blockbuster. Finally, when the action goes down, it’s really good once again.

But like I said earlier, this isn’t a perfect movie so here are my complaints. To start off, I can officially say that Captain Phasma has dethroned Boba Fett as the most overrated Star Wars character of all-time. I don’t understand the hype around her and she just sucks. As for my other complaint, I am going to have to dance around spoilers but here’s my main point. There are storylines and character archs that are set up in The Force Awakens that are concluded in this movie and I don’t like where they ended up. It happens multiple times and I don’t think they paid off from what they delivered in The Force Awakens. But that is just my personal preference and it is not a knock on the quality of the movie.

In conclusion, The Last Jedi is another really good Star Wars movie and it is an emotional ride. The movie is a bit too long and some character archs don’t end up where I thought they would end up. Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, and especially Mark Hamill are all fantastic in the movie and it was so great to see Luke Skywalker back on the big screen. Finally, it was really emotional to see Carrie Fisher once last time as she gave her final performance as Leia Organa. She was a lot better in this movie than she was in The Force Awakens and her legacy will live on forever. The force will be with you Carrie, always.

Rating: B+/89%

Written By: Steve Santoro (SVS_1993)