Review: Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker is back in “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.”John Wilson/Lucasfilm via AP

“The Last Jedi” begins more or less where its predecessor left off, with Rey (Daisy Ridley) finding Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) in hopes of recruiting him to aid The Resistance against the oppressive First Order. Meanwhile, everyone else is on the run, searching for a new base for the rebellion.

This film adds several new characters to the mix, including a rebel vice admiral portrayed by Laura Dern and a sketchy underworld character played by Benecio Del Toro, but they mostly play second fiddle to Rey, Finn (John Boyega), Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). The late Carrie Fisher reprises the role of Leia for a large portion of the film, sending off the character well.

For the ninth live-action movie in the franchise, “The Last Jedi” has some interesting visuals, especially when it comes to space and air battles. The setting and creature designs are also a bit novel. One would expect the puffin-like porgs on Luke Skywalker’s island sanctuary to get old fast, but they provide some of the movie’s best laughs. And perhaps the most impressive environment is a salt flat, of all places.

The plot of “The Last Jedi” subverts expectations in quite a few places, zigging when you expect it to zag. As a result, it’s difficult to predict what will happen throughout the movie and a lot of the twists are genuinely surprising. There are several places where it could have called back to the original trilogy, as, say, the prequel movies would have done. This movie, though, refreshingly chooses to go in its own direction.

This is not to say that it is devoid of classic Star Wars references. One of the movie’s more touching scenes brings back a beloved character without becoming too cloying in the process, as it easily could have. Similarly, instead of being annoying, its allusions to “A New Hope” serve to effectively bookend the saga up to this point.

“The Last Jedi” feels like what it is – the second movie in a trilogy. Its conclusion leaves viewers wondering how the next installment will tie up this movie’s loose ends, though not with the same sense of urgency as “The Empire Strikes Back” or even “The Attack of the Clones.” It’s still a solid and entertaining Star Wars movie, though, and fan of the series should be pleased with its current direction. Someone who had never seen any of them before would likely be hopelessly lost (I mean, it is the ninth movie), but anyone else should be able to enjoy Episode VIII.

[email protected]. Nick Gonzales is one of The Durango Herald newsroom’s resident film buffs. He welcomes movie recommendations. Follow him on Twitter @lackingzones.

How to watch Star Wars

“The Last Jedi” is here and if you haven’t already, it’s time to get in line to see it. But what should you do before you see the new film? Many are planning to rewatch some or all the previous Star Wars films first, either for fun or to introduce people to the series. This however, raises its own question: What order should you view them in?
The two most obvious approaches are by release date and by episode number.
In the former, you start with 1977’s “Episode IV: A New Hope,” proceed through episodes V, VI, I, II and III, and end with either 2015’s “Episode VII: The Force Awakens” or “Rogue 1,” depending on your level of dedication.
The latter simply goes episode I, II, III, IV, V, VI and then VII. “Rogue One” can be included either last or between episodes III and IV, where it occurs within the internal chronology of the series.
Both of these watch orders lack nuance, though. Watching the movies in episodic order spoils one of the biggest twists in the history of cinema. It also puts the core story of the Star Wars saga – the struggle of the Rebel Alliance against the Galactic Empire – at the end and places what is essentially a bunch of somewhat confusing back story up front.
Watching the movies in order of release date makes more sense, but is still problematic. For instance, the 2004 release of “Episode VI: Return of the Jedi” replaced actor Sebastian Shaw with the much younger Hayden Christensen as the ghost of Anakin Skywalker – who neither viewers nor Luke Skywalker would recognize at that point in this viewing order.
One of the orders more widely accepted by Star Wars fanatics seems to be the “Machete order,” named after Absolutely No Machete Juggling (
http://bit.ly/LyScly
), the blog that first proposed it. This order goes: IV, V, II, III, VI.
The Machete order presents the Star Wars saga as primarily the story of Luke Skywalker, leading up to the point where viewers learn that Darth Vader is more than just a powerful Sith Lord. It then jumps back and tells that character’s back story, just in time for us to return to Episode VI, combining the arc of his story with that of Luke’s. It also breaks to show the prequels right after the cliffhanger in “The Empire Strikes Back,” making the resolution in “Return of the Jedi” that much more satisfying.
This order typically excludes Episode I because it is largely nonessential to the story of the others, and would exclude “Rogue One” for the same reason. It does, however, perfectly prepare viewers for episodes VII and VII.
[email protected]. Nick Gonzales is one of The Durango Herald newsroom’s resident film buffs. He welcomes movie recommendations. Follow him on Twitter @lackingzones.