Revisiting Star Wars: The Last Jedi


Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opens on December 20. It is meant to be an end to the saga we've known for more than 40 years, and that includes 10 previous movies (eight in series and two stand alone tales in the world). In the run up to that release, I'll be revisiting all 10 of the released Star Wars films and sharing thoughts as we prepare for the final chapter.

Star Wars, Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017)
Starring: Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Laura Dern, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Rose Marie Tran, and Adam Driver
About: And now we come to the last film in this series, and perhaps the most controversial. Rian Johnson was handed the reigns for this installment, a critical piece of the puzzle. And there was SO much excitement and curiosity about this film. And the reaction could not have been more polarizing. There seemed to be two reactions—those who loved it and felt the film was an incredible leap forward, and those who felt it betrayed the history of "Star Wars" and was a failure. It's amazing how polarizing it came, a fact that seemingly led to J.J. Abrams returning for "The Rise of Skywalker." For my part, I loved the film. It was my favorite film of 2017, I think it's one of the best of the decade, and it sits atop my "Star Wars" rankings. There is a lot I love about the film. Porgs were amazing. The visuals in this were stunning. And I thought the story really worked. This was a great showcase for Ridley and Driver, and deepened their narrative. Dern delivers a beautiful performance and a fascinating storyline. And Hamill is great, too. The sequence with him and force Yoda was pretty great as well. Their dialogue and the big ideas were big, too. This is a beautiful, emotional and an incredibly well done film. The middle part of a trilogy is often the best piece. That was the case with "Empire Strikes Back," and I think it will end up being true of 'The Last Jedi," which was a great film and one you should try again with fresh eyes if it didn't do it for you the first time.
Rating: PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi action and violence.

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