Search the site...

COLME AARON
  • Movie Reviews
  • Yearly Top 10
    • Top Movies of 2021
    • Top Movies of 2020
    • Top Movies of 2019
    • Top Movies 2018
  • About
  • Movie Reviews
  • Yearly Top 10
    • Top Movies of 2021
    • Top Movies of 2020
    • Top Movies of 2019
    • Top Movies 2018
  • About

Movies In RevIew

Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Review

12/15/2017

Comments

 
Picture
Release Date: December 15, 2017
A New Direction

Every mainline Star Wars movie has been very similar to each other up until this point. People forget that Star Wars was always a series targeting families and children. Though there was great wonder and stories surrounding the movies, that tone never seeped into the movies themselves. The stories that populated the rest of the Star Wars universe were always different in tone, and I think people have come to expect that from the movies. Fan theories and wondering where the movies will take you can and are poisonous. This happened when the Matrix trilogy came out and I hope it doesn't happen here.

When The Force Awakens came out, people were ecstatic. The excitement overwhelmed people into overlooking the faults that the movie still bears. This movie does not have that blinding cloud for me, so when I say that the Last Jedi is good enough , I mean it.


The Last Jedi has the best cinematography of any Star Wars movie. There are so many beautiful shots that could be posters themselves, such attention the framing of the movie really went a long way in making the movie feel new. This is important because it reflects on the new direction that no other main Star Wars movie has gone. This isn't a rehash of Empire Strikes Back like the Force Awakens was just A New Hope. There is a new feeling to the movie that can throw some people off, but I'm glad that it happened.

This change does not come without consequences though. The first casualty to the new direction is pacing. This movie is not paced out well. The story beats are not well cut together. You will go from intense scene to more of the same. Any example would give away the plot of the movie, but think about it this way. Imagine a Nascar race, but instead of watching one lap, it cuts halfway through to a car in a pitstop getting its tire changed. When that happens you would think to yourself, "I didn't even get to finish that moment". That is the majority of this movie.

The next problem is overarching story vs micro story. There is finally some real character development at the expense of what the story actually achieves. You finally get some truly great moments of characters coming into their own, but not really progressing. This movie doesn't answer the questions you might have had, but it wasn't made to. All the fan theories and speculation might make you really not like the result that you get. In short, the total story leaves you in a state too similar to the one it starts off in, it feels like nothing is achieved in the movie.

As a movie, this is a good one. As a Star Wars movie, this is a mixed bag. It is in peek form when it acknowledges its legacy and uses that as a building block into creating a deeper story. The most harm it does to itself is trying to work with the new characters that were established in the last movie.

The biggest difference between The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi is that after The Force Awakens, you wanted more. After this movie, you don't feel like you want more. All the questions that the first movie gave you are answered in this one, though many people will not like those answers.

I really appreciate the classic storytelling that was infused into this movie. There was more balance to each side and a mirroring effect that really helped you understand the motivations of the Rebellion and the New Order. It is ironic in a way because it takes a sledgehammer to what Star Wars could have been going forward. The two sides are forever morphed into things that are unfamiliar, even to the prequels.

This movie felt more like a platform that comics, tv series, and books will build upon to flesh out the Star Wars universe. It satiated the desire for a new Star Wars barely but left a trail of pain behind it. With this movie, it is now more apparent than ever that there was never a plan for this trilogy. People defended The Force Awakens by saying that the whole story was already planned out and that everything would fall into place. This argument truly holds no real weight, but then was made even worse when it was revealed that there was no official plan.

This movie is a beautiful mess. A mess, but one that was filmed beautifully. I would recommend you see it on a huge screen if you are a casual Star Wars fan and all the way to super Star Wars nerdom. If you go to the movies for fun, you don't have to watch this.

                                             7/10
                                  What Happened?
Comments
comments powered by Disqus

    Categories

    All
    20th Century Fox
    A24
    Action
    Adventure
    Amazon
    Animation
    Annapurna
    Blue Sky
    Blumhouse
    Comedy
    Comic Book Movie
    DC
    Detective
    Disney
    Disney+
    Disney Animation
    Drama
    DreamWorks
    Fantasy
    Focus Features
    Foreign Language
    Horror
    Illumination
    Kid's Movie
    Laika
    Legendary
    Lionsgate
    Live Action Fairy Tale
    Lucasfilm
    Marvel
    MGM
    Monster Movie
    Musical
    Neon
    Netflix
    Paramount
    Pixar
    Science Fiction
    Sony
    STX Entertainment
    Thriller
    Universal
    Video Game Movie
    War Movie
    Warner Bros.
    Western Japan Movie
    Zombie Movie

    Archives

    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.