The Last Jedi Blew My Mind

I had originally planned on doing this post last night after I got back from seeing The Last Jedi, but I just couldn’t do it. My mind was still reeling from the greatness that was The Last Jedi.

Before anyone goes running and screaming from this page in fear of spoilers, I can guarantee you that anything I say here will not spoil a single moment from the movie. There are so many amazing scenes from this movie that everyone should experience for their own eyes. I’ll save the spoiler-filled review/rant/gushfest for next week once people have had ample time to see the movie.

When the premiere of this movie happened earlier in the week and the initial impressions were rolling out, there was a common one I saw that rang incredibly true in the end. Many media members stated that TLJ did things with Star Wars that had never been done before. I was trying to figure out exactly what that could mean since every movie so far has basically fell in line with the formula we know and love. Some even argued that The Force Awakens adhered too much to that formula and rehashed too many elements from A New Hope. With TLJ, however, they seemed to have thrown that formula out the window completely, but in the best way possible.

While I didn’t agree with necessarily think that it was a negative how TFA had some similar elements to ANH, I could always see what they were talking about. Main character lives in a desert world, finds a droid, and escapes from said world on the Millennium Falcon. Gigantic structure that needs to be destroyed. Mentor/father figure is killed in the third act. The list goes on. In spite of those, however, was a great movie that kicked off a promising trilogy.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t afraid that TLJ would follow the same formula and rehash moments we had seen from Empire Strikes Back in the original trilogy. Even before we had seen a trailer or anything, Rian Johnson and some cast members said that the film gave them ESB vibes, to which we all sort of collectively groaned.

Now that I live in a post-TLJ world, I can say with a sigh of relief that I didn’t walk out the theater making any parallels to ESB. Johnson somehow managed to make a movie that felt like a true Star Wars story, but was completely new and unique in its own right. After seeing this movie, I can fully understand why Disney has given him the reigns to a brand-new trilogy. What he did with these characters, new and old, was truly amazing.

One of the biggest wins for me was how many comedic bits were in there. Star Wars movies have always included some elements of comedy, but it always came in fleeting moments. With TLJ, there was such a great mix of comedy and high-stakes action that felt so perfect in the moment that it’s hard to imagine Star Wars without it at this point. The fact that one of the funniest bits came during one of the biggest moments during the climax of the film is a testament to how comedic bits can certainly be thrown into tense moments.

I really want to get into more specifics, but we’d be here all night because there is so much I want to say about this movie.

I can confidently say that this movie has what is quite possibly my new favorite scene in all of Star Wars. If it’s not the best, it’s certainly the second best. I’ll let you guys who have seen it speculate as to what scene that is and those who are seeing it sometime this weekend be on the lookout for it during your viewing.

While there certainly were some scenes and plotlines that felt a bit weak in the grand scheme of things (everything involving Finn and Rose, with the exception of the Captain Phasma fight), The Last Jedi was a damn good movie.

I’m pretty sure that I’ll see it again at some point this week to allow me to watch it more freely and get my thoughts a bit more together for a spoiler-filled post (or two).

In the meantime, may the force be with you.