At first, reviews of the film tended to be divided between “It fixed Star Wars” and “It broke Star Wars.” After going to separate corners to breathe, most reviewers settled on "It's a mixed bag."
A mixed bag is not the same as saying it is a mediocre movie. A mediocre movie never really obtains a high or a low. The Last Jedi obtains both. It is not a good movie, but it has the best lightsaber fight of any Star Wars movie. It is not a bad movie, but it doesn’t know how to use half its characters. This is not mediocrity. This is inconsistency.
I suppose that the current political climate requires me to state my position on the nontraditional casting, although it oughtn’t. Let me be clear that I am firmly in the not-all-our-movie-heroes-need-to-be-white-men camp. (However, as an egg-shaped white man who will never be cast as a heroic protagonist, it costs me nothing to say this. My opinion on the funny, fat sidekick not needing to be a white man are identical, however.)
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about what I consider the single best moment and the single worst moment of the movie. (Unfortunately, Netflix prevents you from screenshots, so I literally had to take pictures of my screen with my cell phone. I apologize. Also, all images in this article are property of Lucasfilm, obviously.)
Why? Because it’s filthy. There’s dirt and grease on it, but old dirt and grease. It's been stained by them over time. This detonator has a *history*. And because it has a history, the entire fictional galaxy has a history too.
Star Wars, before the prequels, was a universe you could live in. It was dirty and detailed. Not gritty, just worn out. Old. The prequels skimped on practical effects, and the universe lost its main charm. Say what you will about the new trilogy, but it brought this weightiness back to the galaxy.
Yes, it was funny. Yes, I know Luke was trying to distract the First Order while the rebels escaped. It doesn’t matter. Luke is finally facing his own mistakes (i.e. confronting a blood relative he tried to MURDER), yet the tone given to this moment of SALVATION is an extremely modern, dismissive, and berating gag.
I take no issue with Luke being a man who in a moment of pride/fear does horrible things. I have no issue with him being a crazy hermit on an island or neglecting his duty to the galaxy. All of these are motivated character choices. What isn’t motivated is physical sarcasm during an offering of grace to two souls.
These two moments encapsulate the spirit of the new trilogy. The original trilogy’s character’s had gravitas on their moral journey; even when the moment called for comedy, they had as much weight as the aforementioned scenery. They were heroes in a universe where you could smell the greasepaint. The prequel trilogy scrubbed away the greasepaint, but not the heroes. This new trilogy gets the scenery right, but the heroes keep tripping and falling out of the mythic realm into our own. This may be true to real life. It may even be a better moral lesson for our time. But it is bad myth-making.
I suppose that the current political climate requires me to state my position on the nontraditional casting, although it oughtn’t. Let me be clear that I am firmly in the not-all-our-movie-heroes-need-to-be-white-men camp. (However, as an egg-shaped white man who will never be cast as a heroic protagonist, it costs me nothing to say this. My opinion on the funny, fat sidekick not needing to be a white man are identical, however.)
The Best Moment
The best part of The Last Jedi was this detonation remote from the bombing run scene:
Why? Because it’s filthy. There’s dirt and grease on it, but old dirt and grease. It's been stained by them over time. This detonator has a *history*. And because it has a history, the entire fictional galaxy has a history too.
Star Wars, before the prequels, was a universe you could live in. It was dirty and detailed. Not gritty, just worn out. Old. The prequels skimped on practical effects, and the universe lost its main charm. Say what you will about the new trilogy, but it brought this weightiness back to the galaxy.
The Worst Moment
The worst moment in The Last Jedi is this shoulder brush when Luke confronts Kylo:
Yes, it was funny. Yes, I know Luke was trying to distract the First Order while the rebels escaped. It doesn’t matter. Luke is finally facing his own mistakes (i.e. confronting a blood relative he tried to MURDER), yet the tone given to this moment of SALVATION is an extremely modern, dismissive, and berating gag.
I take no issue with Luke being a man who in a moment of pride/fear does horrible things. I have no issue with him being a crazy hermit on an island or neglecting his duty to the galaxy. All of these are motivated character choices. What isn’t motivated is physical sarcasm during an offering of grace to two souls.
These two moments encapsulate the spirit of the new trilogy. The original trilogy’s character’s had gravitas on their moral journey; even when the moment called for comedy, they had as much weight as the aforementioned scenery. They were heroes in a universe where you could smell the greasepaint. The prequel trilogy scrubbed away the greasepaint, but not the heroes. This new trilogy gets the scenery right, but the heroes keep tripping and falling out of the mythic realm into our own. This may be true to real life. It may even be a better moral lesson for our time. But it is bad myth-making.
3 comments:
I think Abrams is just trying to score nostalgia points. I think he's really just winging it. Not that Lucas had everything figured out at the beginning, but he had a big vision that he needed to condense into a series of movies (first one, then three; then a vision for 9). Abrams is just like: How many things from the original can we squeeze in, and lets figure out all the fundamental questions at the last minute. That being said; they are "entertaining". We'll have to see if there is an "moral" sense when Rise of Skywalker comes out; right now, there is nothing discernible; at least, nothing particularly profound. The only hints are that the First Order is really baaad, and that the good guys free animals. (contrast this with Luke's desire to flip Vader; and with the sneakiness of evil in 1-3).
Last Jedi attempted to "up" the discourse, but that wasn't Abrams.
Thanks for your thoughts, unknown. On a practical level, I don't disagree; I'd have to think about it more. I'm less concerned with the author's intent in this article and more the text-as-is. Intent is worth another article (one I don't feel I have the energy to write).
I agree, it will all come down to Rise of Skywalker to make the moral message cohesive, or not.
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