So I could have an epic rant about the unnecessary rage pouring from the more militant fringes of the Star Wars fanbase and engulfing both sides of the love it or hate it Last Jedi social media war. But why waste my energy and karma on those who choose to vent their spleen in such an ugly show of aggression?
Especially as I can just find a quote from a splendid bugger who is far more intelligent, witty and talented than me to burn all those people who are taken this film just that bit too seriously.
So in the words of Alan Moore.
This is not to say we can’t have opinions or debate or say what we like or dislike, but maybe as fans we don’t have to act like spoilt, entitled brats because the saga DIDN’T GO IN THE DIRECTION WE WANTED!!!!
So I want to talk about my opinions of Last Jedi, a film that I loved and would place in my top four of the saga so far and I’ll doing so by addressing some of the more contentious moments in the film. And I’m also going to mindful of possibly the most beautiful line in the film and perhaps the entire Star Wars saga. A line incidentally that is so relevant to what we have seen happening in this world in the last twelve months, a wonderful, optimistic line that should encompass the hopeful nature of Star Wars.
” We’re going to win this war not by fighting what we hate, but saving what we love! “
AND IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING WHAT FOLLOWS ARE SPOILERS.
“That’s not my Luke!”
The flippant manner in which Luke dismissively tosses the lightsabre over his shoulder has upset many fans, who saw this as betraying the stirring cliffhanger that had us all exploding in goosebumps in favour of a cheap laugh. But when I saw this unexpected moment I loved it, I was intrigued and asked the question “What has happened to this guy?”
Luke was always the straight laced one, the innocent optimist, striving to be wise and taking everything about the Jedi very seriously. Throwing the lightsabre, the very symbol of everything he’d dedicated his life to, in such a flippant and funny way was so unlike Luke, and that’s what I loved because it raised so many questions. Who was this new grumpy, eccentric Luke? Had he become unhinged? Crazy? Depressed? Driven to despair by the solitude and failure of his new Jedi Order?
Mark Hammill has been vocal that this is not the Luke he knows, stating the character Luke would never quit and never give up on the Jedi philosophy. He’s right but what may make for an admirable character, doesn’t create great drama within this story. Luke’s story is a man who has been broken, disillusioned and has walked away from everything he believed in. And his feelings on this are entirely justified. The Jedi’s roles as the self appointed masters of the force has proved to be arrogant and destructive and has lead down the path to unleashing two figures who have torn down the Universe.
These doubts and disillusionment in Luke are unlike him, which means when he finally gets involved and makes his stand it means so much more. It’s entirely in keeping with the essence of the Hero’s journey and his sacrifice at the end is all the more moving because he goes out being the hero and the Luke we all need.
See the trailer kinda let you know what you were in for.
“Snook we barely knew you”
“Hehe, wait til you hear my backstory!”
Despite only having brief appearances in The Force Awakens, Snook’s cryptic statement of having been around in the days of the Republic and Empire had fan speculation cooking. Obsessing over that intriguing scar and his withered appearance inspired theories on the identity of Snook, with Palpatine, Mace Windu, a Vader clone and for the real hardcores the salivating possibility that this could be Plagius (a character who inspired a great spinoff novel but received one mention on screen and is less memorable to average viewers than the malfunctioning red droid R4-D5 in New hope).
We seem to be getting close to having some of these questions answered in Last Jedi and then he gets cut in half. He’s dispatched from the story with all these questions never to be answered. Which I’m perfectly fine with, because he’s not meant to be the main villain of this saga. We’ve already had one trilogy with the evil, old sage master of the force attempting to dominate the Galaxy. The death of Snook opens this trilogy up to a whole new direction, we’re going with something different.
Empire Strikes Back is my favourite of the Star Wars for many reasons. One of the them is that in that film we have Darth Vader at his very best, in charge, off the leash, free to indulge in evil and viciousness and even following his own agenda to overthrow the Emperor. And Kylo Ren by killing Snook has succeeded in surpassing his idol by doing what Vader never did and wresting power from his own master.
The villain of this Star Wars trilogy, the overall threat is a powerful force wielder who is unstable, unpredictable and is so potentially terrifying that even his own men seem afraid for a future under him. He’s emotional and angry and now has an Empire at his disposal with the means to make the Galaxy burn and surely this makes for a more intriguing final film than another philosopher pontificating about the nature of power.
“And Rey’s parents are…….(drumroll)”
Rey on the Jeremy Kyle show awaiting the paternity test results…is Jeremy Kyle a thing outside the UK?
We all had our theories as to the origin of Rey. My own was that she was one of many Jedi in training who had their memories suppressed by Luke and hidden across the Galaxy from Kylo Ren and the first order. I was convinced that R2-D2 randomly awakening from his slumber as Rey arrived at the Rebel base for the first time was because he had been programmed by Luke to do so when he sensed one of these Jedi students arrive and only then would he reveal the coordinates to Luke’s refuge.
We poured over what we thought were hints and clues. Studied every bit of that Force Awakens flashback and during the film gripped the seat as we were teased and swerved everytime we thought we were about to find the answer we’d waited two years for. Then it came to the moment and we prepared to gasp as we waited for Kylo to reveal she was a descendant of Luke, Han, Obi-Wan, Palpatine, Boba Fett and we found out her parents were….well nobody. A couple of pisshead layabouts it seemed.
An anti-climax? Well, not really.
If Rey had indeed turned out to be a Skywalker or a Kenobi, then that would pretty much have killed the mystery of Rey and her affinity with the Force cold dead. It was in her genes, Midiclorins and all that crap so that’s why she could wield the force so well. All the questions are answered and leaving us with absolutely nowhere to take the story from there.
But with the revelation that she is not part of some divine Jedi bloodline, the mystery of why Rey is so in tune with the force deepens and is worthy of further speculation. Has Rey always had these Force powers which have only awakened within her in the events of the previous film? Or has she been chosen specifically by the Force which has perhaps awakened in response to Ren’s growing power and allegiance to the dark side and has sought out someone to act as a balance to him.
Rey really only displays any Force related power after her encounter with Luke’s lightsabre. So if this is the moment she became the champion of the force, is it because it sensed that she was destined to cross paths with Ren? Or did it sense her potential and manipulate events to bring her into the conflict and to encounter Luke’s lightsabre? Or did she just happen to be the one that came into the vicinity of the lightsabre just when an agent was needed.
In many ways she is a perfect balance to Kylo as the two are contrasts in many ways. Ren’s power comes from a position of privilege both biologically (a descendent of the most powerful Jedi line) and socially being born into a Royality which gives him the opportunities to hone that power with the best training and tutor available to him. Ultimately this led him to a pursue selfish, power hungry, entitlement.
Rey has no such privilege, no force powers passed down from her parents and a childhood that knew only hardship. Yet despite this she grew up to show compassion for others and display a sense of honour. Are these the qualities that attracted the force to her? Is it because she knows real hardship in life and having to work hard for everything she has gives her the attitude to make the most of the power, to do right with it and also appreciate it?
There is so much to work with here that leads to the idea of a more mystical, mysterious force. It brings us back to Obi-Wan’s explanation in New Hope in the days when it was entity to be wielded and to be guided by. And with Luke’s assertion that the Force is not exclusively controlled by the Jedi it opens up to far more interesting story possibilities than the Force been passed along down the generations as some sort of space clap.
I wasn’t a fan of everything in Last Jedi. The whole mission to the Casino planet was a waste of two great characters in Finn and Rose. Also the intriguing set up to the mystery of how the First Order could track the resistance through Hyperspace had a poor technobabble pay off that was straight out of Star Trek.
Despite it’s faults, overall I liked it better than Force Awakens and feel the two films compliment each other beautifully. Force Awakens was the fun film we needed to make us feel awe and to fall in love with the Star Wars universe again. In Last Jedi, Rian Johnson put that the Universe and both new and old characters alike through hell and took the saga on a detour, making us question the established Star Wars order we’d grown comfortable in and the very nature of staying a hero in turbulent times.
Rian Johnson also put the fans through hell. As he should. Just like Game of Thrones fans went through season after season of kicks in the head before we got something to cheer about in the Battle of Bastards. Just like Walking Dead fans were forced “shock horror” to wait an entire Summer to found out who had died by Negan’s baseball bat (and I will never understand why fans were so fragile and felt “betrayed” by a cliffhanger which could only create excitement for the next season ). Or like when wrestling fans were left stunned and heartbroken when Brock Lesnar broke the Undertaker’s Wrestlemania streak, some storming out of the arena in protest not realising the anger at the loss proved there was still some magic left making them care about the outcome of a staged sporting contest.
In all these instances and just like with the backlash over Last Jedi, fans responded with protests, petitions, crying out to be heard and begged to let the creators know what they wanted and to be listened to. But they shouldn’t be listened to. Because in the big picture of the episodes 7 to 9, Last Jedi may prove to be a giant success. Because it ignores what fans expected and wanted, and quite possibly may turn out to be giving them what they need.
Til next time.
Dazza
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