Morgan Drum

Rian Johnson's brilliance revives this franchise for me. This movie truly made me love Star Wars with every fiber of my being. Visually stunning and intimate, this movie made me feel like a true Star Wars movie should; hopeful and like I was a part of something bigger than myself. Packed full with symbolism and parallels, in-depth character development, and a moral to this story that resonates with people of all walks of life. Anyone can be a hero. I can't say enough about this film. Every time I watch it, I find something new that I didn't notice before that enhances the story. It's tragic that some fans don't appreciate this movie for the creative genius it is.

This movie isn't half bad if you don't think too much about it. Never mind the fact that this space fairy tale doesn't have a "and they lived happily ever after". There are some visually stunning moments; the Death Star ruins fight, the Pasana festival, Adam Driver's face. Yet, all of it seems incredibly rushed, especially at the beginning. The scenes needed time to breathe and the characters needed to be fleshed out more. I get what Abrams and Terrio were trying to do, but the end result doesn't work. It's way too chaotic. I liked the idea of Palpatine returning (the ultimate evil), but everything about it made no sense. Not to mention that the weird mechanism he was hooked up to made him look like a puppet and I had to keep myself from audibly laughing out loud every time I saw him. And Rey being a Palpatine? Where the hell did that come from? What ever happened to Rey nobody? That story is one that seemed to resonate with lots of people and contrasted well to Kylo Ren's agony carrying the weight of legacy. Speaking of Kylo Ren, his character arc in this film was one of the most tragic things of all. His redemption was beautiful and Ben Solo at his finest was the best thing about this film, but it all fell short when he was robbed of happiness. He was manipulated all his life, felt like an outcast to his own family, and was easily the best character to ever come from Star Wars (a large part of that we have Adam Driver to thank). Yes he has done some terrible, awful things, but at the end of the day, we all want to believe that redemption isn't just possible but that you can find happiness and peace from all of the demons that have haunted you all your life. Not to mention that both Han and Leia died trying to save their son and he still didn't get to live? But worst of all was that they made Rey and Ben (Kylo) a dyad, the space version of twin flames (two people sharing one soul aka literal soul mates) where one cannot exist without the other, yet Ben dies and Rey is just fine. She doesn't even grieve him. Not even a force ghost at the end scene. If this is all Disney/Lucasfilm's way of leaving it open so they can sell more books/comics/etc, then all they've done is cheapen the film. It's sad, really. There are no Skywalkers left and Rey should've been a Solo. I could've forgiven everything in this film if they had at least shown Rey try to re-open the force bond at the end and we see her smile. They wouldn't have even had to show Ben, just imply it was him and I would've been okay with it all. But alas, there was no payoff for the emotional distress this saga has brought me. The Last Jedi's Rian Johnson seemed to understand the characters better than the man who created them. Ultimately, I left the theater feeling depressed and void of all hope. In the future, Star Wars trilogies need to be mapped out from the beginning to make an actual cohesive story.