A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, there was a piece of Star Wars media that was twice as hated as The Acolyte. A movie that was hated so much, that even one of its key actors—Mark Hamill himself—had issues with it. A movie that, even after seven years, continues to greatly divide and spark conflicts between fans and critics alike. And that is none other than the eighth installment of the Skywalker Saga: The Last Jedi.
However, in spite of all this hate, I am not ashamed to admit that The Last Jedi is my absolute favorite out of the sequel trilogy. I will even go to my grave defending this movie, because I genuinely don’t see much, if anything, wrong with it. I can already hear people saying “what? You’re crazy! You’re not even a true Star Wars fan,” but all I ask is to be heard out as I make my case.
The New Luke Skywalker
First, let’s be honest here: when certain fans are asked why they hate The Last Jedi, one of their first thoughts is undoubtedly the characters. More specifically, people mainly have issues with how Luke was presented in contrast to his original portrayal in the first trilogy, with how he’s become a depressed hermit ready to kill his nephew over a bad dream. While I can understand where these people are coming from, we still have to examine the facts.
I mean, if you were in Luke’s shoes, if you peered into someone’s mind and found unspeakable darkness inside, would you just as easily walk away? Luke didn’t act any differently than any of us would have, and that’s what makes this moment even better. We’re reminded that Luke is not the perfect hero we idolize him to be, he’s just as capable of great evil as he is of great good. After all, he gave into fear and abandoned his training on Dagobah to save his friends, he gave into anger when fighting Vader on the Death Star and almost killed him, but the biggest kick is when he actually turned to the Dark Side in the Dark Empire comics. Sure, they’re considered Legends canon now, and Luke may have only done it to understand Vader’s turn to the Dark Side, but it nonetheless shows that Luke isn’t perfect.
Another thing I would like to highlight is Luke’s mindset in Ben’s hut. By this point, he’s already started building his new Jedi Order, an unbearable amount of responsibility is placed on his shoulders, and the eyes of the galaxy are on him and what his new Jedi are supposed to be. As if all this wasn’t enough pressure, there was also the doctrine and teachings of the old Jedi looming over his head. Unlike the Legends books, where Luke encouraged relationships in his pupils never worried about their age when joining, this is Disney Canon Luke, who is trying to follow the old ways to the letter. We’ve seen him in The Book of Boba Fett giving young Grogu the choice to return to the Mandalorian and forget about becoming a Jedi, or remain with him and forgo all attachment to his father-figure. A Jedi with this mindset has only two goals when discovering darkness anywhere: the betterment of the Jedi Order and the safety of the galaxy. While this isn’t ultimately justified in the end, Luke’s instinctual feeling was to prevent a darker future from happening and another Vader along with it.
Kylo Ren: Emo Teen and MAJOR Vader Fan
This character arguably gets almost as much hate as Jar Jar, due to his constant toddler tantrums and doesn’t fully carry the same level of threat and fear that Vader did. However, the key issue with most fans is how he willingly killed his own father when he tried to bring him back to the Light Side. At times, he may indeed be “a child in a mask” as Snoke put it, but this movie shows the shockingly deep moral and emotional conflict within him.
Right at the beginning of the movie, Snoke calls him out on how killing Han broke and unbalanced him, which led to his defeat by a girl who literally never even saw a lightsaber until yesterday. Ben took that criticism pretty hard, as he later smashes his helmet in an elevator and is ready to prove himself once again, only to hesitate on killing his mother and leaving the other TIE pilots to do it for him. The most interesting part of all of this is the elevator scene, because all of those harsh words are circling around inside his head, and he knew they were all true. Deep down, he knew that he wasn’t a full Sith apprentice, barely even a competent Dark Side user, and therefore couldn’t live up to Vader’s legacy if he stayed the way he was. So, by crushing his helmet to pieces, he was attempting to leave the scared boy persona behind, destroying the one thing that frightened child could hide behind. In summary, he was trying to reinvent himself and truly dedicate himself to the Dark Side. Of course, sparing his mom would prove that this failed, but the symbolism continues to amaze me.
However, this can go even deeper when you fast forward towards the end of the movie, where Ben brings Rey before Snoke. Where fans have problems with how quickly Snoke was killed off after barely knowing anything about him, or the fact that Ben still decided to stay as a bad guy, I see Disney giving us a deeper look inside Ben’s character. Throughout the movie, we see Rey go from hating Ben, to understanding and sympathizing with him, even willing to risk capture and death based on the hope he would change. And at first, it appears that she succeeded when Ben murdered his former master and fought off the Praetorian Guards with Rey, fighting in perfect sync with her. However, Ben pulls the rug from under us not only by staying a villain, but more so on why he remained a “villain.” Ben prompts Rey to let all old things die, the Sith and Jedi, the First Order and Resistance, everything had to go in order for the new order to be established. A new order where he and Rey would rule, getting rid of all the chaos from these conflicts and peace that wouldn’t be influenced by either side. Ben isn’t affiliating himself with the First Order or the Resistance, this is all him, choosing no one’s side or vision other than his own. This moral conflict, the exploration of this mysterious but morally grey area, that is what I love to see in any character in any movie.
My Favorite Part of The Last Jedi
Finally, we reach the core of why this movie sits at the top of the whole sequel trilogy. However, to understand it, I need to share something I learned about storytelling: to make a good story, things need to keep getting worse! In other words, one needs to keep raising the stakes in order to keep the audience captivated and on the edge of their seats, begging for the next scene to find out what happens next. The Last Jedi not only does this, but also throws some plot twists into the mix.
Literally right when the movie starts, the Resistance already has to evacuate their home base while risk death at the frightening size of the First Order fleet. As if that weren’t enough, the Resistance can’t even escape because the First Order can track them through light speed, so they have to fly sub-light while their fuel only decreases more and more. Think it can’t get much worse? Well, think again! Admiral Holdo has to keep all this together while Poe stages his own plan to save the fleet, which actually almost worked, until Rey and Finn’s new (shifty) ally betrays them and sells out the whole fleet, which results in even more deaths!
When I first saw this movie, I was captivated by the steady increase of all the drama, suspense, and again, rising of stakes as every minute passed. The whole time, I was on the edge of my seat just waiting for a solution to arise, and just when it looked like it did, an event that was somehow worse than the last one pops up and ruins everything. However, it all pays off in the end when we’re left with a bittersweet ending: the few survivors of the massacre escape on the Falcon, and Ben is left with a lot to think about after his encounters with Rey and Luke.
Conclusion
In summary, while this movie is definitely not Star Wars’ best, it’s nonetheless a diamond in the rough. Even though things kept getting worse for all the characters, they power on through and find a way to survive and win in some way. Plus, say what you will about the characters, but if you actually stop to analyze them, there’s endless labyrinths of mindsets, morals, and other traits to explore. So, next time May the Fourth comes around, don’t be so quick to shoot down this movie.
