When last we left our heroes at the end of The Force Awakens, the Resistance had sustained heavy losses but still defended the faith, putting their hope in the legend of the Jedi and Luke Skywalker himself. The chatter surrounding The Last Jedi has called the title into question, wondering if this movie would follow its immediate predecessor, Rogue One, in telling a darker, sadder tale. Is the Jedi referred to in the title singular, giving us a hint at Luke’s fate, or is it plural, the end of the Jedi Order itself? Don’t worry, questions are answered, but as Luke advises Rey, this isn’t going to go the way you think.
The Last Jedi is both a satisfying next chapter in the story and an interesting film in its own right. In two and a half hours of daring rescues, big space battles, and cute critters, this chapter mixes nostalgia and humor with potent sociopolitical commentary and sorrow to bring nuance to the time-honored dance between the Dark Side and the Light. Unexpected audiovisual choices help to heighten these stakes as they serve key pieces of character development. Now that the characters don’t have to serve as bridges between the old story and the new, they can become who they were meant to be, in their own right.
The idea of facing who you were to become who you must is a central thesis for the film and one that works on both the level of individual characters and the larger systems they serve. This kind of multilevel storytelling, where the emotional needs of the characters meet the intellectual needs of the story itself, makes The Last Jedi more than just the bridge between the beginning and the end of this third trilogy, but the game-changer that the franchise needs.
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