Star Wars continues be be success

A scene from the latest Star Wars installment.

Photo Courtesy of Creative Commons.

A scene from the latest Star Wars installment.

By Ethan C. Miller, Staff Writer

 

Warning! Spoilers Ahead! The second installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” is packed with action, excitement and a fresh plot not seen before in a Star Wars movie. Episode VIII achieves greatness, despite several flaws.

 

Directed and written by Rian Johnson, the film begins after the destruction of The First Order’s Starkiller Base. First Order leaders Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) are in hot-pursuit of the fleeing Resistance headed by General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac). Meanwhile, Rey (Daisy Ridley), an amateur Jedi, seeks the help of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill).

 

The film sees an increased role from Hamill, who appeared for only the last several seconds of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” The star and main protagonist of the original trilogy resistantly becomes Rey’s teacher.

 

Another thing that “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” sees an increase in is humor. However, many of the jokes felt excessive and forced into the situation.

 

While Rey is training with Luke, she develops a psychic connection created by “the force” with Kylo Ren. Ridley and Driver show great chemistry while their characters attempt to sway each other between the light and dark side of the force.

 

Another interesting duo in the movie is between Finn (John Boyega) and Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran), who detour from the Resistance’s fleeing ship to find help. While Finn continues to be the hero he’s supposed to be, the debut of Rose proved to be bad, as she forces a sob story into every situation she’s put into.

 

As the film progresses, the Resistance finds themselves in an increasingly tough situation, with the First Order’s powerful spaceship on the tail of the Resistance’s last few weaker ships, all of them running out of fuel.

 

At this point, Rey returns from her training and is captured by the First Order. She is taken aboard the First Order’s ship and is brought before Supreme Leader Snoke and Kylo Ren. In an interesting twist, Rey is aided by Kylo Ren, who helps them to kill Snoke and allows Rey to escape the ship. This proves necessary to show the conflict that remains inside Kylo Ren and to justify that he is the main, most powerful villain of the sequel. Unlike Darth Vader, who was undermined by Emperor Palpatine, Kylo Ren is the supreme antagonist of this trilogy.

 

As the Resistance successfully flees to an abandoned rebel base on the mining planet Crait, Luke makes his return to sister Leia and her allies. Hamill puts on display an Oscar-worthy performance as his character single-handedly takes on the First Order.

 

Johnson includes yet another crazy twist when he reveals that Luke was not actually on the planet Crait, but he was merely projecting an allusion of himself there. This move allows the Resistance to make an escape, however it causes Luke to die due to the tremendous amounts of energy he exerts. This is questionable, as Luke is killed and Leia remains alive, because of Fisher’s death in Dec. 2016.

 

Although much more action-packed than the original trilogy, “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” provides a rejuvenating plot, unique characters and a similar, yet great soundtrack (composed by John Williams).

 

The inclusion of force-sensitive children in the ending scene and the movie’s $220 million opening weekend provide hope for many more Star Wars movies to come.