Rian Johnson's 2017 sequel is a picture of creative ambition, a work that interrogates the mythology it is expanding with an intelligence and a seriousness that the franchise had not previously attempted. It is also a picture with significant structural problems, a subplot that wastes a third of its runtime, and a relationship with its predecessor's setup that will frustrate anyone who invested in The Force Awakens' mysteries. The debate about The Last Jedi is not between people who understand it and people who do not. It is between people who find its ambitions sufficient compensation for its failures and people who do not. Both positions are defensible.
At a Glance
Director: Rian Johnson
Runtime: 152 minutes
Starring: Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Laura Dern
Release: 2017
Critics Rating: ★★★★ (4/5 stars, ambitious and flawed)
Audience Rating: ★★★ (3/5 stars, deeply divisive)
Review Breakdown
Plot
The Resistance is in retreat, pursued by the First Order across the galaxy. Rey has found Luke Skywalker on the island of Ahch-To and is attempting to persuade him to return. Finn and Rose Tico travel to Canto Bight on a mission to find a codebreaker. The structural problem is the Canto Bight subplot, which occupies a significant portion of the runtime and resolves in a way that makes the entire mission feel narratively pointless. The Rey and Kylo Ren storyline, by contrast, is the sequel trilogy's richest thread, a Force connection between two characters whose relationship is the most complex in the saga.
Characters
Mark Hamill's Luke Skywalker is the most controversial and most rewarding element. Johnson's decision to present Luke as a broken, disillusioned man who has retreated from the world is a creative risk, and Hamill meets it with a performance of extraordinary depth and commitment. Whether this characterisation is faithful to the character established in the original trilogy is a legitimate debate; what is not debatable is the quality of Hamill's performance, which is the best work he has done in the franchise. Adam Driver's Kylo Ren is given the sequel trilogy's most complex material, and his scenes with Ridley through the Force connection are the highlight. Carrie Fisher's final performance as Leia is handled with a grace and a dignity that makes her scenes moving. Hamill and Driver are the twin pillars, and both are exceptional. Ridley is given more demanding material than in The Force Awakens and meets it with assurance. Laura Dern's Vice Admiral Holdo is a polarising character whose arc is more interesting than her initial presentation suggests, and her sacrifice is one of the most visually striking moments in the saga.
Tone
Johnson pitches the picture as a meditation on failure, legacy, and the necessity of letting the past die, and the approach is interesting even when it is not entirely successful. The picture is more willing than any previous Star Wars entry to question its own mythology, to ask whether the Jedi Order deserved to survive and whether the heroes of the past have anything useful to offer the present. The Canto Bight sequences undercut this seriousness with a lightness and a didacticism that the more ambitious elements do not need.
Meaning / Themes
The central argument is that the past must be released rather than preserved, that the weight of legacy and tradition can be as destructive as any external enemy. Luke's failure with Ben Solo, and his response to that failure, is the most honest statement the picture makes. The final image of a young stable boy on Canto Bight reaching for a broom with the Force is one of the most moving images in the sequel trilogy.
Direction
Johnson's direction is the most visually distinctive in the saga since Kershner's Empire Strikes Back. The throne room sequence, in which Rey and Kylo Ren fight side by side against Snoke's Praetorian Guards, is the finest action sequence in the sequel trilogy. The Holdo Manoeuvre is one of the most arresting moments in the saga's history. John Williams's score finds new emotional registers for the more complex terrain.
Cultural Reception
The Last Jedi received outstanding reviews from critics on its release and was a major commercial success. Audience reception was far more divided, with a vocal segment of fans rejecting Johnson's creative choices, particularly the treatment of Luke Skywalker and the dismissal of The Force Awakens' mysteries. It is now regarded as the sequel trilogy's most contested entry, a picture whose critical reputation has remained high while its standing among a portion of the fanbase has not recovered.
Final Verdict: The most creatively daring picture in the sequel trilogy, and the most searching film in the saga since The Empire Strikes Back. Mark Hamill's performance is the finest work he has given the franchise, the Rey and Kylo Ren storyline is its greatest achievement, and Johnson's willingness to interrogate the saga's mythology is admirable. The Canto Bight subplot is a serious structural failure. Brilliant in parts, frustrating in others, and never less than engaged with what it is trying to say.