Star Wars: Episode 8 - The Last Jedi (2017) Review

Star Wars: Episode 8 - The Last Jedi (2017) Review 

 I am almost at the end of my Star Wars film reviews and the next film I have watched is Episode 8 The Last Jedi and this is my review for the film. The premise of the film sees Rey attempt to convince Luke Skywalker to teach her the ways of the Jedi, while Kylo Ren & The rest of The First Order attempt to destroy the rest of The Resistance fleet.

Main Character

Daisy Ridley is back as Rey and she is front and centre in this film and I thought she was really good in this film. Her character has clearly developed since The Force Awakens and it is really interesting to see her go from the character she was to a more confident character who is attempting to learn this power that she knows very little about. They add some more mystery to her character that worked for me and it had appropriate parallels to Luke's journey in the original journey.

Supporting Characters

Mark Hamill reprises his role as Luke Skywalker in the film and his performance has caused plenty of debate including Hamill himself but I really liked his performance. He isn't just a copy of Obi-Wan & Yoda in the original journey as you can see he still has his flaws are there and that he isn't as wise as those characters. His view on the Jedi is fascinating to me and it continues the theme that The Jedi maybe aren't as squeaky clean as the original trilogy wanted to make the audience believe. Adam Driver is back as Kylo Ren and once again his really good in this film, he still has some of the conflict that he had in The Force Awakens but it develops even more and his dynamic with Rey is much deeper in this film and I found it particularly interesting. John Boyega as Finn is a great character in this franchise and he has a good personal story in the film even though I didn't care about the part of the story he was involved in. Oscar Issac is given a larger role as Poe Dameron in this film and I like his character, he feels less like a Han Solo rip off and his character goes through a journey in the film and it works for the film that we are watching.

Story

The story of the film again is quite divisive, there is a few different plot lines and some of them are more interesting then others. Seeing Luke and Rey's dynamic was a real highlight in the film and showed the depth of the characters, Kylo Ren and Poe also have good personal journey's aswell. However, there is a story arc with Finn & Rose going to a Casino that is literally just there to make a political statement and feels out of left field and not fitting the film, plus I found it easily the most boring part of the film. 

Script

The script has some powerful drama to it that provides some great emotional moments for the characters involved. However, this film doesn't have the same clever humour to it that the previous film had with it feeling a bit cringeworthy and there to try and make the characters funny but it doesn't quite work.

Style

The style of the film looks great, there are some memorable action scenes in different locations that make them stand out and feel unique to each other. However, the pacing of the film is a bit off to me, it feels like it goes on for 20 minutes too long, there are some powerful moments throughout the film but you forget about them as the film quickly has to have a final confrontation that feels a bit tacked on to the rest of the film.

Overall

Overall this is a good film, it takes some risks in its storytelling, sound land and some don't but I appreciate the risks they took, but overall it is a good sequel but for me nowhere near as fun as The Force Awakens.

Rating - 7/10