I can say, that for the most part, The Force Awakens left us with a great many possibilities that could unfold.
As production progressed on The Last Jedi, we discovered many tidbits of information that were leaked from various cast and crew members, allowing for a much clearer picture of what was to come; or so we thought.
When The Last Jedi begins, it immediately continues where The Force Awakens left off. This is something that has never occurred in a Star Wars film prior to it.
In the first moments of the The Last Jedi, we are greeted once again by an elder Luke Skywalker, who accepts his old lightsaber from young Rey.
Rather than asking her who she is, (or where his severed hand might be found) or how she got it, he tosses it over his shoulder, without uttering a single word!
As the story progresses we meet a much different Luke than the one we knew from forty five years earlier. Once a brave headstrong warrior, humble and full of hope, we now meet an old man destroyed by hubris.
It is difficult to imagine Luke Skywalker ever losing his focus, or his hope. In the words of Mark Hamill himself, “Luke would never do that, he would find a way.”
So we see a glimpse of the conflict continue between Mark Hamill’s vision for his character, and the one written for him to portray. Rian Johnson stated in defense that he needed Luke to be like Obi-Wan forty five years ago.
An older, wise sage to a younger generation. Every scene involving Luke was painful to watch, because none of it felt right. The most controversial and least liked scene of the entire film was the force projection of Luke dueling with Ben Solo.
Even the timing of Luke’s untimely death was contested by Mark Hamill, to no avail. Though there are many more aspects of the film that created uncontrollable backlash from fans, I have chosen to focus on these aspects for a reason.
The Last Jedi, in my opinion was the worst film in the franchise to date. It failed to develop the story of Rey, choosing rather to make her character a nobody, rather than a part of the Skywalker lineage.
Where she should have found control and discipline, we see disorder. Where she should have gained insight into a powerful past, we learn that her parents were just “filthy junk traders who sold her for drinking money.”
For those believing that those words were an intentional misdirection, I urge you to research Rian Johnson’s statement on that issue. His intent was to make Rey a nobody, and so he dashed to pieces the hopes of millions of fans worldwide.
From day one everything that was hinted at in The Force Awakens told us that she was somebody important, with J.J. Abrams himself stating that he intended for her origin to be of significant importance.
So why the change? Why the abuse and detriment of Luke Skywalker? To answer those questions, we must look at several decisions made.
First, unlike with George Lucas, there was no complete outline written for these films in advance. Each film was written and directed by a different person, with different visions.
Though there was creative discussions between Abrams and Johnson, there was no set path for them to agree upon. There was no outlined story treatment as in years past.
This in and of itself created the failures that we have seen. As part of the proposal for Disney to acquire Lucasfilm, George Lucas was required to present a draft of his version of the sequel films.
Unknown to fans, Lucasfilm was in the early stages ofdevelopment for Episode VII, when it was sold to Disney. Bob Iger ( and subsequently Kathleen Kennedy) rejected Lucas’ version of the story, as well as rejecting him as an advisor during production.
(When Gareth Edwards was tapped to direct Rogue One A Star Wars story, he flew George Lucas to Pinewood in London to get his input on production.
“George really liked what he saw” is what Gareth was later quoted as saying. I believe that Disney disagreed with the young director’s bold move to involve Lucas, and brought in a second director to conduct re-shoots as a form of reprimand.
Unlike the rumors swirling that Rogue One was a production nightmare like Solo, they simply weren’t true.
Nothing occurred during production of Rogue One that would necessitate either Lucasfilm or Disney to either question or remove Gareth Edwards as the film’s director.
The only changes that were agreed upon and made revolved around the film’s ending, which Gareth was not only a part of, but directing.
(Later on the tone would change as Lucas continued to be used as an off screen consultant. The Last Jedi may have been a financial success, but it was an utter failure as an integral chapter in the Star Wars universe.)
In addition to there not being an established story treatment for all three films in the sequel trilogy, there seemed to be an almost violent resistance by director Rian Johnson to accept input from Mark Hamill.
Had Johnson stopped to consider the role that he had prepared for mark’s character from his perspective, then surely it would have necessitated rewriting the script to adapt to a new direction.
In hindsight, the overall film may have only changed subtlety, but it would have given us a far richer story that would have been less fragmented.
In addition to Luke’s role, the Mary Poppins flight of Princess Leia, and the death of Admiral Ackbar are also thorns in the flesh for Star Wars fans.
One kills off a very memorable character in a very disrespectful manner; while the other portrays Leia in a very unbelievable and silly scene written just for the sake of having her character.
These are just three very noticeable, and unjustifiable mistakes made during the production of The Last Jedi. In my opinion they are arguably some of the poorest examples of storytelling that I have yet to see in a film.
With the conclusion of The Last Jedi, perhaps you were like me and left the theater still liking the overall movie, but disagreeing with the story ( I think that fact should at least be apparent by now).
So where does that leave us? And what are we to take away from this experience? First, the backlash from this film did not go unnoticed at Disney or Lucasfilm.
In fact, Kathleen Kennedy has stated this year that The Rise of Skywalker will live up to the Hype. I apologize if I am skeptical at this point. After all, we just saw the worst STAR WARS film in history!
Not to mention that three prominent characters die, having had no real depth to their story. (One of them in fact, Lieutenant Tallie Lintra, only had twelve seconds of screen time, before being blown out the hanger bay of the Raddus.
I don’t think that a character could have been wasted as fodder anymore than she was.) Next, we should not get fixated on the failures of this film, but rather see the moments that it did give us.
In closing, the failures and success of The Last Jedi are influenced by our own point of view. For ultra passionate fans of Star Wars, we see it for what it failed to be.
It was and will always be a missed opportunity to deliver a truly great chapter at the end of a story. Many like myself have invested their entire life to Star Wars in some way or another, and this failure resonates deeply within.
Still others will see it as a great movie, and argue for it’s praises. Whatever side of the aisle you may be upon, The Last Jedi has in many ways, set the tone for The Rise of Skywalker.
The fate of the Star Wars universe is literally hanging in the balance, and in my third and final article on this subject, I will discuss what we know, and what we might expect from the final film in the Skywalker Saga.
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