Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den!
Now, if you follow me on twitter, you know that I saw The Last Jedi yesterday. And I'll be blunt; I like it, and I have no idea where all the fandom hate comes from. Well, maybe some idea, but I'll talk about that later.
So, review time. I'm going to say massive spoilers ahead, since I'm going to analyze character arcs and important plot moments in the movie. So, if you haven't see it yet, be warned.
TLJ starts off where TFA ends; directly after it ends. The First Order knows where the Resistance base is and are attacking it, forcing them to escape, while Rey is on Ahch-To, presenting herself to Luke Skywalker, to both get his help for the Resistance and her own training in the Force. And with this setup, we have a few major threads; Rey's training with Luke, Rey's Force Bond with Kylo Ren, learning why Ben Solo became Kylo Ren, Finn's character grown, and the Resistance on the run from the First Order, who had developed technology to track ships through Hyperspace, forcing the Resistance to burn through their fuel to keep out of the range of the First Order turbolasers.
Finn's adventure with new character Rose Tico is a result of the Resistance fleet being on the run; he has the idea to shut down the First Order scanners to let the Resistance escape into Hyperspace, but they require a slicer to get past the First Order security measures. This leads Finn and Rose to the planet of Cantonica, where they look for the slicer at the Canto Bight casino.
The other major thread involves the Resistance fleet, Poe Dameron, Leia Organa, and Vice Admiral Holdo. Admiral Holdo plans on getting the Resistance to an old Rebel Alliance base so the could get the Resistance into shuttles to get them down to the planet Crait while the First Order pounded the Resistance flagship. Unfortunately, this plot thread circles back around with Finn's story, when the First Order realizes what is happening, and starts targeting the transports, forcing Admiral Holdo to turn the flagship around and ram right into the First Order ship, saving the Resistance and leading to the battle on Crait.
And now, we finally get to the focus on Rey. Rey, who had been on Ahch-To, was on her path to opening her path to the Force under Luke's "tutelage", and we learned about her Force Bond with Kylo Ren and his history with Luke, from both sides. A Bond so strong that Kylo and Rey are actually able to communicate telepathically. And not just the way Luke and Leia did, where he called out to her and she heard him. No, Rey and Kylo were able to have full conversations, and even, at one point, touch hands.
After Rey gets opened to the Force and she gets the full story of Ben, she heads back to the Resistance fleet and gets her chance to meet Snoke in a similar way Luke met Palpatine in Return of the Jedi. However, unlike Luke, Rey was not tempted by the Dark Side. But, neither was Kylo tempted tempted by the Light. He may have killed Snoke, but it was to take his place as Supreme Leader of the First Order.
It's here when we come to the climax of the movie; attack of Crait, and the battle between "Luke" and Kylo Ren, which allows for the escape of the Resistance to the Millennium Falcon, which was being used by Rey and Chewbacca. Luke, who had been on Ahch-To the whole time, used the Force to create a projection of himself as he was when Kylo last saw him, appeared to give the Resistance hope, and distract his nephew, giving a quick chat with his sister before going off to face is destiny. A destiny that involved him becoming a Force Ghost, to help Rey continue her training as she fought for the Resistance in the next movie.
With the plot summary out of the way, I want to talk about two important characters, Rey and Leia. I'll tackle Rey first, and say that, unlike Luke, she was never tempted by the Dark Side. As was said several times in the movie, She was the Light to Kylo's Dark, but unlike the Jedi of the Clone Wars, she accepted the Dark, though she remained wary of its pull. At a couple points, she used her anger for power, but didn't become a slave to it the way Anakin did decades earlier. She was as the Jedi in the Old Republic era before the Clone Wars were; a defender of peace and protector hope, but didn't forget that she had to strive for balance. I'm eager to see how she turns out in Episode 9, and what kind of lightsaber she builds, and what color the crystals will be, since, according to the new canon, lightsaber crystals' color is determined by the user and their focus as a Force user.
Now, we talk about Leia. Even though it will have to be rewritten due to the untimely passing of Carrie Fisher, this movie set for Leia to be a major character in Episode 9, while at the same time being someone who is getting old and tired of losing friends. From the beginning, Leia is mourning the loss of each and every soldier that falls, saying "too many" many times over. She's tired, and just wants the fighting to be over, while at the same time, knows that she's the only person who can lead these young fighters. Her name carries weight and she knows it, and she does everything she can to be a rallying figure to these young people. Which is why it's such a tragedy that we never get to see it bear fruit, due to the Carrie Fisher no longer being with is.
Now, there's a lot of funny moments in this movie, and a lot of cool moments. I laughed so hard when, in the beginning, when Rey handed Luke his father's lightsaber to him in a moment with such solemn music and dramatic looks on Rey's face, only for Luke to just toss the lightsaber over his shoulder and walk back to his house. Or when Luke told Rey to close her eyes and reach out so she could touch the Force, and she misunderstood and reached out with her hand instead of her senses. And the lightsaber duel between Kylo Ren and Rey on one side and Snoke's guards on the other? That was awesome. As was when Leia used the Force to save herself in the vacuum of space and return to safety on a Resistance flagship? That was awesome.
Now, I'd be remiss to not talk about Luke. This is not Grandmaster Luke from Legends. This is not the man who has made every right decision since Return of the Jedi and successfully rebuilt the Jedi into the galaxy spanning heroes they were in their heyday. This is a man who made mistakes. With Ben, with the Jedi, and with his family. And instead learning from them, he ran from them, and exiled himself in the place the Jedi were born. And until he finally talks to Yoda, (yes, Yoda is in the film. As a Force ghost, but still, Yoda's in the movie.) he resists the call to action. But when he does, it's with a less flashy power than we saw him do in Legends, but no less impressive. He uses the Force to create a tangible illusion who could interact with Leia, and even partially duel with his nephew on Crait.
Now, for my final thoughts. I think the new trilogy is about sweeping the Skywalker lineage from the galaxy so a new generation can flourish. Episodes 1-6 were all about how Anakin, Luke and Leia all shaped the galaxy, and if Rey and Kylo show us anything, it's time for a new generation to take their place, as is the fate of everything. (Yes, I know Kylo Ren is technically a Skywalker, which is why I think he won't survive Episode 9).
All in all, I enjoyed the movie, as did my dad, who is best described as a casual fan; he'll watch the movies, but not much more than that. If you haven't seen it, do so. Just don't let a love of Legends cloud what the movie is trying to do.
But for now, stay beautiful freaks!
