Countdown to "The Rise of Skywalker" - Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)
Hey guys, Chuck here. Well, here we are. The last review in the Countdown to The Rise of Skywalker. It's hard to believe that after starting this series with my review of The Phantom Menace that I'd get to this point. But here we are: Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Released in December of 2017, this entry of the Star Wars saga was directed by Rian Johnson, and has three major storylines going on at the same time: one of which is Rey training in the ways of the Jedi under the tutelage of Luke Skywalker, and the other two deal with the Resistance fleet trying to de-activate the First Order's active tracker so that they can jump to lightspeed without being followed. Now, I am aware that The Last Jedi was very divisive, with some fans liking it, and others hating it outright. So, with that in mind, let's take a look at The Last Jedi.
The story starts off with the Resistance fleet evacuating the base on D'Qar, when the First Order fleet arrives to destroy them for good. Poe Dameron uses his X-Wing to destroy a series of mounted cannons on the surface of the First Order's Dreadnaught-class Star Destroyer, and callis in the fleet's bombers to finish off the Dreadnaught. Although the Resistance fleet suffers heavy casualties, the plan is successful, the base is evacuated, and the Dreadnaught is destroyed. Leia, upset with Poe, demotes him to the rank of Captain. Finn awakes from his coma, and asks about Rey.
On the planet Ahch-To, Rey hands Luke back his lightsaber, but Luke throws it away, as he has given up on the ways of the Jedi, having gone to the planet to die of old age. Rey catches Luke up to speed on the events of The Force Awakens, and Luke, after a bit of inspiration from R2, agrees to give Rey three lessons on the ways of the Jedi. He shows her the true nature of the Force, and that the Force does not belong to the Jedi. Luke also teaches Rey that, with the Jedi gone, they were romanticized and turned into the stuff of legend, but the true legacy of he Jedi was failure. Luke tells the story that the Jedi Order allowed Sidious to rise to power, form the Galactic Empire, and destroy the Jedi. Luke also tells of how he allowed his own nephew, Ben Solo/Kylo Ren, to destroy everything he built. Rey reassures him that she won't fail him the way that Kylo Ren did. As her training progresses, Rey learns the whole story of what happened between Luke and Kylo: that Luke, during a training session, saw the darkness growing inside of Ben, and one night saw how far it had spread, and attempted to put a stop to all the horror that Ben would unleash on the galaxy, but quickly stopped himself, ashamed of what he was about to do. Luke looked into Ben's eyes, and realized that he failed his own nephew. Rey then leaves in the hope of turning Ben back to the light side. After attempting to destroy the ancient tree holding the sacred Jedi texts, the Force Ghost of Yoda appears to Luke and sets him straight.
Meanwhile, General Hux and Kylo are working to destroy the Resistance fleet. The fleet is running low on fuel, and they cannot escape by jumping to lightspeed, as the First Order used active tracking to follow them. Finn, along with maintenance worker Rose Tico, have a plan to infiltrate Snoke's flagship, deactivate the active tracker, and allow the Resistance fleet to escape. After contacting Maz Kanata, they are directed to the casino city of Canto Bight, on the planet Cantonica, to find a "master code breaker." Shortly before they make contact with the master code breaker, Finn and Rose are arrested for illegally parking their spaceship. In jail, they meet another code breaker named DJ, who offers to help break them out of jail, and get past the defense shielding of Snoke's ship. They make it onto Snoke's ship and go to deactivate the active tracker, only to be caught by Captain Phasma. The Fleet, now under the command of Vice Admiral Holdo, are waiting to know what their next move is, all the while Holdo is secretly re-fueling the shuttles at the cost of the fuel for the bigger starships. Poe accuses her of being both a coward and a traitor and takes command of the fleet. Leia awakens and stuns Poe, taking him aboard a shuttle. On the shuttle, Leia points out the nearby planet of Crait, where there was an old Rebel Base that the Resistance could take shelter in and call for aid. Finn and Rose escape execution, and Finn fights Phasma, which ends in her death. Finn and Rose escape and make it to the base.
Back on Snoke's flagship, Kylo takes Rey to Supreme Leader Snoke, and during this confrontation, Kylo uses the Force to trigger Rey's lightsaber and kill Snoke, which is followed by Rey and Kylo fighting off the Praetorian Guard. Kylo, who wants to let the past die completely, asks Rey to join him. Rey, still hopeful to save him, refuses, and escapes. Hux arrives, and Kylo is the new Supreme Leader of the First Order. The First Order heads to the planet to snuff out the Resistance, who makes a stand to destroy a laser battering ram (based on Death Star tech, by the way), and Rey and Chewie arrive in the Falcon to draw off the TIE fighters. After the Resistance is forced back into the base, Luke arrives to face off against Kylo, buying time for the Resistance to escape via a natural passageway, where they are located by Rey on the Falcon ,and board the ship to get away. During their confrontation, Luke is revealed to be a Force projection, as Luke was still in Ahch-To, where the sheer use of the Force to project himself so far across the galaxy ends his life, and he dies peacefully, looking out at the sunset. Back on the Falcon, Rey and Leia chat about Luke being gone, and that all they need to rebuild the Resistance is on board the Falcon, ending the movie.
The Last Jedi had a lot going on, and there were moments that did drag a bit, like the scenes with Finn and Rose at Canto Bight. However, I feel that Rian Johnson really deepened the mythology of the Force and added to the deeper mythology of the Star Wars saga. The scenes with Rey and Luke were terrific, and both Daisy Ridley ands Mark Hamill were terrific. I also liked the scenes where Rey and Kylo were communicating to each other through the Force, which really built great chemistry between the two. Oscar Isaac had a lot more to do as Poe, and Laura Dern was great as Vice Admiral Holdo. While we didn't get to learn anything about Snoke, and the mystery about Rey's parents was given a disappointing answer, I feel that Rey is who she is because she learned to survive on her own. Her parents left her behind, and she was all she needed. Kylo wants to burn the past down, and Rey learns that it's best to move forward and close the door on the past. Kelly Marie Tran was great as Rose, and her scenes with John Boyega as Finn were good, but they did distract from the stuff I most wanted to see, like the scenes with Rey and Luke. Overall, I really liked The Last Jedi, but not nearly as much as The Force Awakens. Therefore, I give Star Wars: The Last Jedi a rating of 4.5/5.
Well, that wraps up the Countdown to The Rise of Skywalker. Be sure to go check out The Rise of Skywalker when it arrives in theaters on December 20th. This is Chuck signing off. See you guys next time.
The story starts off with the Resistance fleet evacuating the base on D'Qar, when the First Order fleet arrives to destroy them for good. Poe Dameron uses his X-Wing to destroy a series of mounted cannons on the surface of the First Order's Dreadnaught-class Star Destroyer, and callis in the fleet's bombers to finish off the Dreadnaught. Although the Resistance fleet suffers heavy casualties, the plan is successful, the base is evacuated, and the Dreadnaught is destroyed. Leia, upset with Poe, demotes him to the rank of Captain. Finn awakes from his coma, and asks about Rey.
On the planet Ahch-To, Rey hands Luke back his lightsaber, but Luke throws it away, as he has given up on the ways of the Jedi, having gone to the planet to die of old age. Rey catches Luke up to speed on the events of The Force Awakens, and Luke, after a bit of inspiration from R2, agrees to give Rey three lessons on the ways of the Jedi. He shows her the true nature of the Force, and that the Force does not belong to the Jedi. Luke also teaches Rey that, with the Jedi gone, they were romanticized and turned into the stuff of legend, but the true legacy of he Jedi was failure. Luke tells the story that the Jedi Order allowed Sidious to rise to power, form the Galactic Empire, and destroy the Jedi. Luke also tells of how he allowed his own nephew, Ben Solo/Kylo Ren, to destroy everything he built. Rey reassures him that she won't fail him the way that Kylo Ren did. As her training progresses, Rey learns the whole story of what happened between Luke and Kylo: that Luke, during a training session, saw the darkness growing inside of Ben, and one night saw how far it had spread, and attempted to put a stop to all the horror that Ben would unleash on the galaxy, but quickly stopped himself, ashamed of what he was about to do. Luke looked into Ben's eyes, and realized that he failed his own nephew. Rey then leaves in the hope of turning Ben back to the light side. After attempting to destroy the ancient tree holding the sacred Jedi texts, the Force Ghost of Yoda appears to Luke and sets him straight.
Meanwhile, General Hux and Kylo are working to destroy the Resistance fleet. The fleet is running low on fuel, and they cannot escape by jumping to lightspeed, as the First Order used active tracking to follow them. Finn, along with maintenance worker Rose Tico, have a plan to infiltrate Snoke's flagship, deactivate the active tracker, and allow the Resistance fleet to escape. After contacting Maz Kanata, they are directed to the casino city of Canto Bight, on the planet Cantonica, to find a "master code breaker." Shortly before they make contact with the master code breaker, Finn and Rose are arrested for illegally parking their spaceship. In jail, they meet another code breaker named DJ, who offers to help break them out of jail, and get past the defense shielding of Snoke's ship. They make it onto Snoke's ship and go to deactivate the active tracker, only to be caught by Captain Phasma. The Fleet, now under the command of Vice Admiral Holdo, are waiting to know what their next move is, all the while Holdo is secretly re-fueling the shuttles at the cost of the fuel for the bigger starships. Poe accuses her of being both a coward and a traitor and takes command of the fleet. Leia awakens and stuns Poe, taking him aboard a shuttle. On the shuttle, Leia points out the nearby planet of Crait, where there was an old Rebel Base that the Resistance could take shelter in and call for aid. Finn and Rose escape execution, and Finn fights Phasma, which ends in her death. Finn and Rose escape and make it to the base.
Back on Snoke's flagship, Kylo takes Rey to Supreme Leader Snoke, and during this confrontation, Kylo uses the Force to trigger Rey's lightsaber and kill Snoke, which is followed by Rey and Kylo fighting off the Praetorian Guard. Kylo, who wants to let the past die completely, asks Rey to join him. Rey, still hopeful to save him, refuses, and escapes. Hux arrives, and Kylo is the new Supreme Leader of the First Order. The First Order heads to the planet to snuff out the Resistance, who makes a stand to destroy a laser battering ram (based on Death Star tech, by the way), and Rey and Chewie arrive in the Falcon to draw off the TIE fighters. After the Resistance is forced back into the base, Luke arrives to face off against Kylo, buying time for the Resistance to escape via a natural passageway, where they are located by Rey on the Falcon ,and board the ship to get away. During their confrontation, Luke is revealed to be a Force projection, as Luke was still in Ahch-To, where the sheer use of the Force to project himself so far across the galaxy ends his life, and he dies peacefully, looking out at the sunset. Back on the Falcon, Rey and Leia chat about Luke being gone, and that all they need to rebuild the Resistance is on board the Falcon, ending the movie.
The Last Jedi had a lot going on, and there were moments that did drag a bit, like the scenes with Finn and Rose at Canto Bight. However, I feel that Rian Johnson really deepened the mythology of the Force and added to the deeper mythology of the Star Wars saga. The scenes with Rey and Luke were terrific, and both Daisy Ridley ands Mark Hamill were terrific. I also liked the scenes where Rey and Kylo were communicating to each other through the Force, which really built great chemistry between the two. Oscar Isaac had a lot more to do as Poe, and Laura Dern was great as Vice Admiral Holdo. While we didn't get to learn anything about Snoke, and the mystery about Rey's parents was given a disappointing answer, I feel that Rey is who she is because she learned to survive on her own. Her parents left her behind, and she was all she needed. Kylo wants to burn the past down, and Rey learns that it's best to move forward and close the door on the past. Kelly Marie Tran was great as Rose, and her scenes with John Boyega as Finn were good, but they did distract from the stuff I most wanted to see, like the scenes with Rey and Luke. Overall, I really liked The Last Jedi, but not nearly as much as The Force Awakens. Therefore, I give Star Wars: The Last Jedi a rating of 4.5/5.
Well, that wraps up the Countdown to The Rise of Skywalker. Be sure to go check out The Rise of Skywalker when it arrives in theaters on December 20th. This is Chuck signing off. See you guys next time.
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