“This is not going to go the way you think!” If The Force Awakens is an act of reinvigorating the ever-popular space-opera, The Last Jedi is the epitome of rebirth. Director Rian Johnson burns down past relics, answers the unanswered. Essentially emptying the chess board, allowing fresh new blood to find “their place in all of this.” Johnson both expands established mythos and challenges audiences’ expectations. Placing Kylo Ren, Rey, Finn, Poe, and Luke in unique circumstances—all leading to paths of self-discovery.
Straying away from conventional film structure, The Last Jedi balances all but one subplots with equal conviction. Converging to a climactic payoff that is as emotionally satisfying as it is visually staggering.
Though flawed, The Last Jedi is a welcome expansion to the galaxy far far away; a journey of character growth and mind-bending spectacle worth experiencing—one that sparks genuine awe and completely subverts pre-conceived notions of this franchise. To enjoy it, “you must unlearn what you’ve learned”, eliminate existing head-canon and simply embrace its world of possibilities
My Personal Ranking of the Saga
1. Empire Strikes Back
2. The Last Jedi
3. The Force Awakens
4. A New Hope
5. Revenge of the Sith
6. Return of the Jedi
7. Phantom Menace
8. Attack of the Clone
