A Force to Reckon With

No Star Wars movie has ever seemed to come close to being as good as the original two, which is what I believed to be the case until I saw “The Last Jedi.” This movie is perhaps the most unique Star Wars film to have ever been created and is a must see for any Star Wars fan. This movie, like any other, is best viewed without knowing anything about it, so don’t worry, there will be no spoilers of any kind here.

Like any other Star Wars movie, “The Last Jedi” has light sabers, spaceships, and lasers, but also contains something else that makes it particularly special. With it being a whopping two hours and 30 minutes, the longest Star Wars movie ever, there was plenty of room to squeeze in some extra details. Among other things, this movie does an absolutely amazing job of world building and expanding the Star Wars universe as a whole.

An example of this is when Finn and another character visit a casino on a particular planet. Most of the Star Wars movies take place in space or on planets such as Hoth, Jakku, or Tatooine that are just barren wastelands. The one exception to this is Coruscant, but “The Last Jedi” does a much better job of portraying a more believable sci-fi city complete with hover cars, police, and rich people who have nothing better to do than gamble away their wealth at the sabacc tables.

For the longest time, Star Wars has stuck to relatively the same force powers and has only recently introduced some new ones with Kylo Ren’s ability to freeze people and read their minds in “The Force Awakens.” However, in this new installment to the series, some more powerful force abilities are revealed.

What really made this movie somewhat unique from the rest was the cinematography. The movie still has the same feel as the rest, but there were some stunning shots and fascinating scenes that were different from anything seen in previous Star Wars movies.

The acting, writing, and action scenes were superb and there was plenty of humor as well. However, there is one particular scene that seems a little out of place and almost silly. I unfortunately cannot expand on what this scene is without spoiling it, but for those of you who have seen it, I’m pretty sure you know exactly what I’m talking about. Perhaps spaceships should be the only things allowed to fly in space.

The movie itself was an exhilarating experience, even when watching it at 11 p.m. on Friday night, and was still amazing to watch when I left in the middle of writing this review to see it again on Sunday. I would overall give the movie a 9 / 10. “The Last Jedi” isn’t quite as good as “The Empire Strikes Back” or the original film, but I would personally rank it as my third favorite Star Wars movie of all time.