The Last Jedi Review- Spoiler Free

Star Wars Episode 8 is finally here and although anyone who is reading this has probably already seen the movie but here are my thoughts anyway. The Last Jedi is directed by Rian Johnson and stars every character you’d expect to see in the second installment of this trilogy and a few new faces including Laura Dern, Benicio Del Toro, and Kelly Marie Tran. Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher return as Luke and Leia Skywalker respectively, and are joined by many other characters from past movies, and John Williams returns to conduct and compose the score.

This movie follows the events of the last film almost directly, and I won’t be going into spoilers in case there are readers who have not seen the movie, but this is a different one. If anybody complained about The Force Awakens being too similar to past Star Wars movies, The Last Jedi should be a fresh new installment as it is very different in many aspects. There are sequences and plot elements and characters that we’ve never seen before and seeing them fleshed out was very refreshing and interesting, building upon and deepening the Star Wars lore while also providing entertaining new material. The plot is at times very unpredictable and as a result I won’t be discussing anymore of those elements, if you enjoy a fun action adventure then the plot of this movie will satisfy.

The technical elements were incredible, with amazing visual effects, sound design, and direction. The editing was sometimes odd, with some pacing issues in the first act where we would jump from scene to scene at strange times in the story, but once the side plots started weaving together in a more cohesive way, the story began to flow much better. The dialogue is sometimes cheesy and quippy but that is not anything new to the Star Wars franchise. The characters themselves are well portrayed, with some amazing performances, especially from Adam Driver as Kylo Ren and Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker.

This movie is by no means perfect, with pacing issues, sometimes out of place scenery or dialogue, and some small plot holes here and there, and while I can completely understand a hardcore fan having a distaste for the new directions that this story took, I embraced these changes very optimistically and I enjoyed this movie very much. If you are a hardcore fan, a purist who’s read all the novels and hates the prequels and does not like the direction that Disney has taken the franchise, then you won’t enjoy this movie, if you didn’t like Rogue One or The Force Awakens then you won’t enjoy this movie, but if you’re just a fan who loves Star Wars and is excited to see new and different characters, places, and things in the Star Wars universe, then this movie will not disappoint.