Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi Review

4.0 Stars

Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi is the second installment in the third trilogy of nine mainstream Star Wars movies that started back in 1977 with Episode IV: A New Hope.  Back then, there was no such thing as CGI or 3D.  So filmmaker George Lucas invented technology to make his vision come to life.  His films were groundbreaking and laid the foundation for some of the greatest advances in cinema.  Episodes IV, V, and VI were movies that changed how movies are made.  They were ahead of their time and still hold up forty years later.  In 1999, Lucas went back to tell us how it all began with Episode I: The Phantom Menace.  CGI technology had come a long way, but it wasn't perfect.  For his original trilogy, Lucas invented new technology to create what he saw in his mind.  He received heavy criticism for Episode I as he seemed instead to settle for what technology was available at the time.  He listened to the critics and scaled it back for Episode III, but it still lacked what made the original trilogy so special.  In 2015, JJ Abrams and Disney joined forces (pun intended) to release Episode VII: The Force Awakens and it was the perfect blend of technology versus actual characters and actual props.  Episode VIII continues Rey's (Daisy Ridley) Jedi training with Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill).

In my preview post, I spent much of the post drawing parallels between the 7 existing Star Wars movies.  There are so many similarities between the plots, the twists, the characters, the scenes.  I'll skip most of that, but restate my comparisons between Episode II and Episode V since Episode VIII is the second in the trilogy as well.

In Episode II, Anakin's training is progressing rapidly.  It is revealed that Senator Palpatin is really the dark Sith Lord they've been looking for and he begins to tempt Anakin with the power of the dark side.  During a battle with Count Dooku, Anakin loses his hand.  The movie ends with Anakin's arm and prosthetic hand around Padme (Natalie Portman) with C3PO and R2-D2 at their side.  In Episode V, Luke's training is progressing rapidly.  It is revealed the Darth Vader is actually Luke's father as he begins to try to seduce Luke to the dark side.  During a battle with Vader, Luke loses his hand.  The movie ends with Luke's arm and prosthetic hand around Leah (Carrie Fisher) with C3PO and R2-D2 at their side.  Both movies begin to take a darker turn from their lighter predecessor preparing us for the darkest third installment of Return of the Jedi and Revenge of the Sith.  Ironically, the original working title for Episode VI was Revenge of the Jedi, but Lucas changed it to Return because a Jedi does not seek revenge.  That is a characteristic of the dark side, hence Revenge of the Sith.

So, if history repeated itself a third time, there should have been some similarities in the newly released Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi.  Rey's training should progress rapidly, and it does.  There should be a surprising reveal, but there really wasn't.  The previews lead us to believe there could be some darkness in Luke, but there isn't.  It's more of his whiny self blaming himself for the fall of the Jedi and hoping his own isolation and death would bring an end to the Jedi.  It could also have been in the revealing of who the holographic dark lord Snoke really is.  Well, we do get to see Snoke up close and personal, but we still don't know who he really is or where he came from.  Kylo Ren will grow more powerful as he is increasingly agitated with the struggle inside himself.  That is definitely true.  It will be darker than Episode VII: The Force Awakens, but not nearly as dark as Episode IX will be in two more years.  It was certainly darker than its predecessor, but only time will tell what Episode IX has in store for us.

So this movie did not exactly follow the previous trilogy formulas of similarity.  In fact, The Last Jedi's epic 2 hour and 44 minute adventure had elements of both second and third installments.  Rey advances her training with Luke and faces her own demons.  No one loses their hand in this movie like Anakin did in Attack of the Clones or like Luke did in Empire Strikes Back.  And there really was no dramatic reveal.  Yes, we find out who Rey's parents are, but after years of build-up and anticipation, the reveal from Kylo Ren is anti-climactic at best, if what he said is true.  And we are given no reason to doubt the veracity of his claim.  But that still doesn't explain Rey's connection with Luke and the force.  We are also introduced to a new Han Solo type character.  While Finn (John Boyega) and Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) are imprisoned looking for the master hacker, fellow inmate DJ (Benicio Del Toro) helps them escape and vows to assist them in  their mission for the right price.  He later turns on them for his own freedom and a handsome payoff.  He's a much more suitable Han character than Jar Jar Binks was apparently supposed to represent.

But The Last Jedi also had many elements of Episodes III and VI.  Kylo Ren takes Rey to Supreme Leader Snoke in cuffs, each hoping to turn the other to their side of the force.  Snoke sits confidently in his chair taunting Rey with her lightsaber at his side while the fleeing Rebel forces are under attack from the Galactic Empire.  

I did take issue with a few things in the movie.  I didn't care for all the "connection" scenes between Rey and Kylo Ren.  Luke had a similar connection with Darth Vader, but this took it to almost an annoying level.  I didn't care for Leah's "powers" that came out of nowhere.  We were given a glimpse of her abilities in Empire Strikes Back when she feels Luke's whereabouts in Cloud City, and Yoda promises there is another hope for the Jedi referring to Leah and Luke says the force is in her, but we see none of it in Return of the Jedi or The Force Awakens.  Also, actress Carrie Fisher sadly passed away before the film's release, but her character completed The Last Jedi which means it will have to be addressed in Episode IX.  And I didn't care for Luke's trick against Kylo Ren. 

JJ Abrams did not direct The Last Jedi, but handed over the reigns to a fairly new director Rian Johnson who's most notable works are a few episodes of Breaking Bad and the Sci-Fi movie Looper.  But, from the previews, Johnson looked like he was more than up for the challenge.  Unfortunately, I did feel that a bit of the JJ balance of CGI to real-life was sacrificed in this second installment.  It was still leagues ahead of Episodes I-III, but not as flawless as Episode VII.  Supreme Leader Snoke was animated with the same facial recognition technology as Lord of the Rings, Planet of the Apes and Avatar.  It was good.  But his disfigured face and mastery of the dark side were supposed to be menacing.  I honestly found the Emperor from Episodes V and VI to be more scary and that was done purely through makeup.  It looked like his animation wasn't limited to his face and hands, but included his clothes.  For some reason, we can do hair, water, explosions really well, but clothes still elude animators when striving for undetectable perfection.

I gave Episode VII a rare perfect 5 Star rating so I expected the same perfection giving a 5 Star follow-up prediction for Episode VIII: The Last Jedi.  I thought most of the animation was fantastic.  It was a great story and thoroughly entertaining.  I'm glad I saw it in the theatre and it was worth the money.  I know I'll be owning it, but I am dropping my rating to 4 Stars.  So, what movie will be on my mind next?  We shall see.

Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi Preview

Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi is the second installment in the third trilogy of nine mainstream Star Wars movies that started back in 1977 with Episode IV: A New Hope.  Back then, there was no such thing as CGI or 3D.  So filmmaker George Lucas invented technology to make his vision come to life.  His films were groundbreaking and laid the foundation for some of the greatest advances in cinema.  Episodes IV, V, and VI were movies that changed how movies are made.  They were ahead of their time and still hold up forty years later.  In 1999, Lucas went back to tell us how it all began with Episode I: The Phantom Menace.  CGI technology had come a long way, but it wasn't perfect.  For his original trilogy, Lucas invented new technology to create what he saw in his mind.  He received heavy criticism for Episode I as he seemed instead to settle for what technology was available at the time.  He listened to the critics and scaled it back for Episode III, but it still lacked what made the original trilogy so special.  In 2015, JJ Abrams and Disney joined forces (pun intended) to release Episode VII: The Force Awakens and it was the perfect blend of technology versus actual characters and actual props.  Episode VIII continues Rey's (Daisy Ridley) Jedi training with Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill).

Rather than talk too much about Episode VIII, I want to draw some parallels between the 7 that are already out there.  Some people criticized Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) for being too weak and whiny.  But look at how Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd and Hayden Christensen) and Luke both started out.  It seems that the whinier you are as a juvenile, the stronger Jedi you will eventually become.

In Episode I, we meet young Anakin Skywalker.  He's a whiny boy but the force is strong in him.  Qui-Gon Jin (Liam Neeson) takes him under his wing to begin Jedi training, against the advice of the council.  The movie ends with a pod race that Anakin wins and is rewarded at a trophy ceremony.  In Episode IV, we meet young Luke Skywalker.  He's a whiny boy but the force is strong in him.  Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness) takes him under his wing to begin Jedi training, against the advice of Yoda.  The movie ends with Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Luke saving Princess Leah and they are rewarded at a medal ceremony.  Episode VII introduces us to Rey. She's not whiny, but she's alone and the force is inexplicably strong within her.  She joins the fight with the Rebellion.  While there is no trophy ceremony, she is the one who ultimately finds the long lost Luke Skywalker and presents him with his own light saber.

In Episode II, Anakin's training is progressing rapidly.  It is revealed that Senator Palpatin is really the dark Sith Lord they've been looking for and he begins to tempt Anakin with the power of the dark side.  During a battle with Count Dooku, Anakin loses his hand.  The movie ends with Anakin's arm and prosthetic hand around Padme (Natalie Portman) with C3PO and R2-D2 at their side.  In Episode V, Luke's training is progressing rapidly.  It is revealed the Darth Vader is actually Luke's father as he begins to try to seduce Luke to the dark side.  During a battle with Vader, Luke loses his hand.  The movie ends with Luke's arm and prosthetic hand around Leah (Carrie Fisher) with C3PO and R2-D2 at their side.  Both movies begin to take a darker turn from their lighter predecessor preparing us for the darkest third installment of Return of the Jedi and Revenge of the Sith.  Ironically, the original working title for Episode VI was Revenge of the Jedi, but Lucas changed it to Return because a Jedi does not seek revenge.  That is a characteristic of the dark side, hence Revenge of the Sith.

In Episode III, there are three major battles at the end of the movie.  On land, the Gungans are fighting with the Rebels against the battle droids.  And Yoda fights against Emperor Sidious.  And Anakin goes toe-to-toe with his mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor).  Obi-Wan wins and Anakin is transformed into Darth Vader.  In Episode VI, there are three major battles at the end of the movie.  On land, the Ewoks are fighting with the Storm Troopers trying to help Han and Leah take down the Death Star's protective shield.  In space, Lando (Billy Dee Williams) leads a battle against the Empire's fleet to take down the Death Star.  And Luke fights against Darth Vader.  This time Luke wins, with the aid of his father against the Emperor as Luke has successfully brought Anakin back from the dark side.

So, if history repeats itself a third time, there should be some similarities in the newly released Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi.  Rey's training should progress rapidly.  There should be a surprising reveal.  The previews lead us to believe there could be some darkness in Luke.  It could also be in the revealing of who the holographic dark lord Snoke really is.  Kylo Ren will grow more powerful as he is increasingly agitated with the struggle inside himself.  It will be darker than Episode VII: The Force Awakens, but not nearly as dark as Episode IX will be in two more years.  JJ Abrams is not directing The Last Jedi, but has handed over the reigns to a fairly new director Rian Johnson who's most notable works are a few episodes of Breaking Bad and the Sci-Fi movie Looper.  But, from the previews, Johnson looks like he is more than up for the challenge.  I gave Episode VII a rare perfect 5 Star rating.  I'm expecting the same perfection, so I'm going to go ahead and predict a 5 Star follow-up for Episode VIII: The Last Jedi.  Am I right?  We shall see.

Star Wars: Rogue One Review

3.5 Stars

 

"A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away . . ."  Those iconic words lit up the screen for the eighth major Star Wars film, just a year after Episode VII: The Force Awakens revitalized the franchise with director J.J. Abrams calling the shots.  Star Wars: Rogue One could also be called Episode 3.5 as it takes place approximately 20 years after Episode III ends and leads right into Episode IV: A New Hope.  Rogue One was not directed by Abrams, but rather the English director Gareth Edwards who doesn't have much of a library of directorial credits.  Most notably, he has directed Monsters (an alien invasion sci-fi drama) and Godzilla in 2014.  Both of those films boasted intense special effects which played into his Star Wars debut.

A lot happened at the end of Episode III.  Obi Wan (Ewan McGregor) reluctantly fought and defeated his apprentice Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) who was burned by lava over most of his body.  Anakin was saved and became the dark sith lord Darth Vader made up mostly of machine to keep him alive.  He was seduced by the dark side for its potential power, namely that of saving his beloved wife Padme (Natalie Portman) from death, something he could not do for his mother.  However, Padme died giving birth to twins Luke and Leia.  To hide both children from Vader, Yoda and Obi Wan (the only remaining Jedi) and Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits)(one of the few Senators not deceived by Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid)) determined their fate.  Bail adopted Leia and raised her to be the princess of Alderaan.  Luke was raised by his uncle Owen and aunt Beru Lars on the desert planet of Tatooine with Obi Wan keeping a distant but watchful eye.

The formation of the Galactic Empire was Palpatine's master plan to take over the galaxy and destroy all Jedi.  With one of the strongest Jedi at his side in Darth Vader, the evil Empire has developed  a powerful weapon called the Death Star.  It's the size of a small moon and has the capacity to destroy an entire planet in seconds.  There is a small, but growing faction of fighters opposed to the Empire called the Rebels.  They know the successful completion of the Death Star would almost guarantee the eradication of their Rebellion.  Rogue One is the story of the Rebellion's mission to steal the blue prints to the Death Star to analyze its design and discover a weakness.  Spoiler alert: they get the schematics to Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), they do find a weakness, and Luke (Mark Hamill) uses the Force to help guide his X-Wings' shot with the accuracy he compared to bullseyeing a womp rat in his T-16 on Tatooine.

But this isn't that story.  This is Rogue One and it's the story of Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones).  As a child, she barely escaped a Stormtrooper attack on her planet.  15 years later, she is a criminal who finds herself in the captivity of the Rebellion.  They promise her freedom if she can help find out what the Empire's plans are.  In doing so, she learns her father was coerced into helping design the Death Star.  This prompts Jyn to not only join the Rebels, but lead their mission to steal the plans to the planet-destroying weapon.

The preview for Rogue One looked just as visually stunning as the recently released Episode VII, even though director Edwards would still be considered somewhat of a rookie based on his very small sample size of projects.  Of course, I was excited because it's a Star Wars movie and I was also curious to see who of our favorite classic Star Wars characters would make some sort of cameo appearance. We already knew Darth Vader was in the film.  Unfortunately, two others showed up, but I'll get to that in a second. I had high hopes for Rogue One, though I cautiously gave it a 4 Star Prediction out of 5 stars.  I had hoped that number would go up after seeing it; however, it looks like it's going to go down.

If you don't want any spoilers, you should stop right here.  Otherwise, here we go.  Right from the beginning, a black screen displayed the blue words "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away . . . " and then it jumped right into the movie.  That's right, no scrolling yellow synopsis to let you know what's going to happen.  Then, after the first scene, the title popped onto the screen with no traditional Star Wars theme music that was the score for all seven other movies.  Next, the movie jumps from planet to planet it seemed every 5 minutes for the first half of the film.  Since it jumped around so much, it was hard to keep track, except for the subtitle telling you where you were and what the significance was of its location.  Every other Star Wars movie didn't need that because the dialogue effectively let you know where you were.  Felicity Jones did great as Jyn Erso, however, like the movie itself, she had the unfortunate task of having to follow Daisy Ridley's performance as Rey in Episode VII and it fell a bit short.  She was, however, one of the three bright spots in the movie among a sea of unmemorable characters.  And the final gripe I had with Rogue One was the appearances of Princess Leia and Grand Moff Tarkin.  So how did a 60 year old Carrie Fisher and a Peter Cushing who passed away 22 years ago reprise their roles? Computer animation.  Really good computer animation, but still noticeable and distracting computer animation.  

Okay, enough with the downers.  In addition to an entertaining performance from Felicity Jones, there were two other things that really made this worth watching.  The droid K-2SO (voiced by Alan Tudyk) was a security droid for the Empire before being reprogrammed to serve the Rebel Alliance.  And he was programmed with a snarky personality that has clever one liners in the movie that made him quite endearing.  The other scene that was probably the best scene in the whole movie was Darth Vader showing off what an angry Sith Lord can do with the dark side of the force.  In his own words from Empire Strikes Back, it was "impressive, most impressive."

So, I anticipated 4 Stars, but Rogue One was a bit of a letdown for me.  I'm dropping it to 3.5 Stars as my final rating.  It's worth watching in the theatre, but more of a rental.  I'll definitely be owning it, but that's more because a Star Wars fan has to have all of them in their collection.  If this was a stand alone movie, I doubt I would.  That being said, it made me even more anxious to see Episode VIII next year.  So, what movie will be on my mind next?  We shall see.

Star Wars: Rogue One Preview

"A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away . . ."  Those iconic words will scroll up the screen for the eighth major Star Wars film, just a year after Episode VII: The Force Awakens revitalized the franchise with director J.J. Abrams calling the shots.  Star Wars: Rogue One could also be called Episode 3.5 as it apparently takes place approximately 20 years after Episode III ends and leads right into Episode IV: A New Hope.  Rogue One is not directed by Abrams, but rather the English director Gareth Edwards who doesn't have much of a library of directorial credits.  Most notably, he has directed Monsters (an alien invasion sci-fi drama) and Godzilla in 2014.  Both of those films boasted intense special effects which should play into his Star Wars debut; and, from the preview, it looks like Edwards took more cues from Abrams' work on Episode VII than that of George Lucas from Episodes I - III that earned him harsh criticism.

A lot happened at the end of Episode III.  Obi Wan (Ewan McGregor) reluctantly fought and defeated his apprentice Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) who was burned by lava over most of his body.  Anakin was saved and became the dark sith lord Darth Vader made up mostly of machine to keep him alive.  He was seduced by the dark side for its potential power, namely that of saving his beloved wife Padme (Natalie Portman) from death, something he could not do for his mother.  However, Padme died giving birth to twins Luke and Leia.  To hide both children from Vader, Yoda and Obi Wan (the only remaining Jedi) and Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits)(one of the few Senators not deceived by Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid)) determined their fate.  Bail adopted Leia and raised her to be the princess of Alderaan.  Luke was raised by his uncle Owen and aunt Beru Lars on the desert planet of Tatooine with Obi Wan keeping a distant but watchful eye.

The formation of the Galactic Empire was Palpatine's master plan to take over the galaxy and destroy all Jedi.  With one of the strongest Jedi at his side in Darth Vader, the evil Empire has developed  a powerful weapon called the Death Star.  It's the size of a small moon and has the capacity to destroy an entire planet in seconds.  There is a small, but growing faction of fighters opposed to the Empire called the Rebels.  They know the successful completion of the Death Star would almost guarantee the eradication of their Rebellion.  Rogue One is the story of the Rebellion's mission to steal the blue prints to the Death Star to analyze its design and discover a weakness.  Spoiler alert: they get the schematics to Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), they do find a weakness, and Luke (Mark Hamill) uses the Force to help guide his X-Wings' shot with the accuracy he compared to bullseyeing a womp rat in his T-16 on Tatooine.

But this isn't that story.  This is Rogue One and it's the story of Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones).  As a child, she barely escaped a Stormtrooper attack on her planet.  15 years later, she is a criminal who finds herself in the captivity of the Rebellion.  They promise her freedom if she can help find out what the Empire's plans are.  In doing so, she learns her father was coerced into helping design the Death Star.  This prompts Jyn to not only join the Rebels, but lead their mission to steal the plans to the planet-destroying weapon.

Like most Star Wars fans, I was delighted to hear of J. J. Abrams and Episode VII and gave it a rare perfect 5 Star rating.  I saw it twice in theatres and immediately bought it once it was available.  The preview for Rogue One looks just as visually stunning, even though director Edwards would still be considered somewhat of a rookie based on his very small sample size of projects.  That is my only hesitation.  Of course, I'm excited because it's a Star Wars movie.  I'm also curious to see who of our favorite classic Star Wars characters will make some sort of cameo appearance.  C3PO, R2D2, Lando Calrissian, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Yoda, Obi Wan, Princess Leia, Boba Fett.  We already know Darth Vader is in the film.  I have high hopes for Rogue One, though I'm going to be cautious and only give a 4 Star Prediction out of 5 stars.  I'm hoping my ranking will go up once I see it.  Am I right?  We shall see.

Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens Review

5.0 Stars

Thirty years after the defeat of the Galactic Empire, the galaxy faces a new threat from the evil Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and the First Order. When a defector named Finn crash-lands on a desert planet, he meets Rey (Daisy Ridley), a tough scavenger whose droid contains a top-secret map. Together, the young duo joins forces with Han Solo (Harrison Ford) to make sure the Resistance receives the intelligence concerning the whereabouts of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), the last of the Jedi Knights.

I initially gave Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens a 5 star prediction.  I saw it opening weekend and was blown away from start to finish.  There were so many throw back to the original trilogy, the return of our favorite characters, the introduction to new exciting characters, a great story, stunningly perfect visual effects, and music that moves you from start to finish.  But I had to see it a second time because something was bothering me: was I, at all, in even the slightest way, influenced in my enthusiasm for this movie because of how bad Episodes I through III were?  Would this still be the amazing movie I felt it was had I through III been better, or just not been made at all and we went right from Return of the Jedi to The Force Awakens?

So I watched it again.  And it was even better the second time.   I picked up on a few of what movie fans refer to as Easter Eggs in the movie that I missed the first time.  An Easter Egg is an inside joke or a hidden message that is either delivered by a line, a piece of clothing, or a prop that is usually "hiding in plain sight" that you usually don't see right away.  For example, nearly every Pixar movie will have a reference to A113 in it.  A113 was the classroom number for the graphics design students at California's Institute of the Arts.  The Easter Egg can be a reference to nothing related to the movie, as with A113, or it can be a tribute to previous movies, a foreshadowing of something yet to come, or something that can have a double meaning.  The very first line of The Force Awakens is "This will begin to make things right."  This is easily explained as the missing piece of a map to Luke Skywalker's whereabouts and that finding him will help the Rebellion to take down the newly formed dark side faction called the First Order.  But some fans are taking it as a jab at George Lucas and his defiling of Episodes I-III with his over-use of computer graphics.  Regardless of how it was intended, or how you took it, JJ Abrams has brought Star Wars back in a big way.

There are many things reminiscent to the original trilogy in this movie.  Without giving too much away, it starts on a remote desert planet with an orphaned character named Rey who mysteriously is very strong with the force and, so far, inexplicably has a very strong connection to Luke Skywalker.  The New Order has built a planet-sized space station that trumps the Death Star but still has one weak spot much like their old weapon.  The Millennium Falcon is back.  There is a scene in a bar that is much like the Cantina at Mos Eisley.  Rey has an experience with the force much like Luke had on Dagobah with Yoda.  There is so much smart and appropriate humor.  There is action.  There are twists.  There are questions left unanswered making fans already anxious for Episode VIII.  And the special effects were flawless.  The scenes of X-wing Fighters, the Millennium Falcon, the Tie Fighters in aerial battles were breath-taking and so well done.  

My conclusion after seeing The Force Awakens a second time is that this movie not only stands up to its own hype, not only makes you forget about the disappointment of Episodes I-III, but is the perfect continuation of the Star Wars saga after Return of the Jedi.  I've seen it twice and I will definitely own this when it comes out.  But the big question is, when do I buy it?  It will surely come out on its own.  Then there will most likely be a Trilogy available of VII - IX.  And eventually a box set of all nine movies.  I might just wait for all nine.  Who knows, with the success of these new ones, maybe someone will go back through I - VI and "fix" some of the things that were previously "fixed" that many feel were more detrimental than enhancements.  Regardless of when, I know I will own this movie.  And for only the second time in my movie review career, I'm giving a perfect 5.0 rating.  Only Saving Mr. Banks got that rating before.  So, Oscar season is right around the corner, so I'll be focusing on those movies next.  Which one will be on my mind first?  We shall see.