"Star Wars: The Last Jedi" is finally out, and it's definitely worth seeing. We must say that we were pretty surprised with the results. Many fans had issues with "The Force Awakens", saying that Abram's treatment was too formulaic and too reminiscent of the first Star Wars film, "A New Hope". Much of that criticism was justified--it started on a desert planet and ended with another Death Star blowing up. But "The Last Jedi" is unlike any Star Wars film we've seen before. It's certainly the least formulaic of any of the films that we've seen so far.
Another big fear by die-hard fans was the introduction of porgs--cute little alien creatures, that look like the might just hijack this movie in a way similar to what the ewoks did for "Return of the Jedi". That's not the case here. Sure the porgs are cute and goofy, and do really nothing for the story--but they don't hurt anything and the story moves along fine without them getting in the way.
Something different in this film that may rub some fans the wrong was was the presence of quite a bit of humor. There are a few scenes that add some levity with a few humorous situations, mostly the result of awkward reactions. They do make for good humor, but often come at times of great seriousness. This is often a criticism leveled against Marvel films, and we tend to think that Marvel does a better job with humor. Yet the film still holds up well with its strong story telling.
The film answers quite a few questions from "The Force Awakens". What's a bit more exciting to long-time fans, is the revelations about Star Wars history that has been brewing since the original films. Though, not everything is wrapped up so neatly, and we're still left with some mysteries to be explained in the next film.
What is most stunning, perhaps is the array of awesome force powers that we see in the film. We see the standard Jedi powers, including some new uses for powers that we've seen in previous films. We also see some really cool new sides to the force that are unexpected, and really do a lot to develop the story in new ways.
The only real problem that we had with the film was the middle, which tends to drag on a bit without adding much for plot development. But in the end, "The Last Jedi" was a very entertaining film that really delivers for Star Wars fans. It's not more of the same. It's not overly-nostalgic. It brings the franchise to new places, while rewarding long-time fans of the series.
If you still haven't seen "The Last Jedi", get your tickets here, with a discount from Geeks A Gogo.
