Be Reel: Star Wars The Last Jedi Forces Fans to Pick a Side in the New Era of Star Wars

Star Wars The Last Jedi has been in theaters for 17 days, and it has managed to become not only the highest grossing film domestically of the year, but also one of the most polarizing films of the year. Rian Johnson's take on a galaxy far far away has divided audiences on whether the film is well made, or a flaming pile garbage. Those who stand for it stand strong as it has a 91% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes; however, those who disliked also firmly believe in their views as it has a mere 51% fan approval. At this point the real question is, did Rian Johnson create a film that deserves one of the highest approval ratings for the franchise, or one of the lowest?

The Last Jedi is the much anticipated sequel to 2015's The Force Awakens. It once again follows Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega), Poe (Oscar Isaac), and the rest of the rebellion as they battle the First Order which is headed by Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis), General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson), and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). This film also brings Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) back to the silver screen for longer than five seconds, and gives audiences the late Carrie Fisher's final performance as General Leia Organa. Mentioning much more about the plot would likely spoil something as a lot of this film's plot was kept under wraps throughout the ad campaign. So at this point, the easiest thing to say is if you want to know what is going to happen, go see the movie. 

Now, the thing that has really made this film so polarizing is its content. Rian Johnson took a lot of creative liberties when writing and directing this film. The first big thing to look at is how he structured the movie. The first hour or-so plays like a puzzle that has yet to be pieced together. Rey is in one place, while Poe is in another, Leia is in another, Finn is in another, and Kylo is in yet another. While it may be a little bit much to follow at first, the structure is in fact forgivable. JJ Abrams, director of The Force Awakens, left his characters scattered, so it makes sense that it would take time for them to be reunited with each other. After they are reunited, the story really picks up and the final act is wildly intense and satisfying to watch unfold. 

The other piece of content that has been heavily questioned is the character choices made by Johnson. He did made some choices for long time characters that seemed strange. The direction he took with Luke is a strange pill to swallow, and even Leia seems different than she did when we saw her just two years ago. While there is no question that the choices were different from what audiences may have been expecting, they were not bad choices to make. The complaints are almost entirely subjective as the choices where not severely detrimental to the story or the characters themselves, they just changed some things that long time fans felt would never be changed. 

After seeing the film, the big question to be asked is "What did I just watch for 155 minutes?" At first, it may seem as though you watched nothing. The film has a strange feeling where a lot seems to happen non-stop, but by the end it feels like you're right where you began. After a little bit of closer inspection though, a lot of things are changed by this film. One very important character does in fact die, one side of an ongoing battle is immensely weakened, and two very important characters become much more powerful by the end of this film. Above all of that though, the film makes a very strong claim about the force within the Star Wars universe. As opposed to what most would be led to believe up until this point, the force is not a black and white idea, and good vs evil cannot always be as simple as one vs two. Sometimes there are grey areas that are much more difficult to comprehend, and Johnson does a very good job establishing that. 

The Last Jedi is not a bad movie, it is simply a change in formula for the Star Wars universe. After JJ Abrams received harsh complaints about The Force Awakens being too similar to Star Wars : A New Hope, it makes sense that Johnson would try to change things. Unfortunately, it seems he went from one extreme to the other and made The Last Jedi too different for hard core fans. On the objective scale, The Last Jedi is not a bad movie, it is just different from what people are used to Star Wars producing. On my personal subjective scale, it is a very good film. I do recognize that it has its flaws, but I cannot imagine why it deserves a mere 51% approval. At this point it seems one can only hope that JJ Abrams learns from the mistakes both he and Johnson have made in the last three years, and strikes a good balance between new and old in episode IX. 

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