![\"Star](\"https:\/\/nerdism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/sw-the-last-jedi-tall-B-1.jpg\")
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Source: SK<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n \u201cStar Wars: The Force Awakens\u201d <\/em>had a tough task at hand. Fans were burned after the much-maligned prequel series, all \u201cStar Wars\u201d <\/em>had going for itself was name-recognition and the current demographic of movie-goers was skewing to the more youthful; which had little to no idea about the legacy of the series. But director J.J. Abrams and writer and series-staple Lawrence Kasdan knocked it out of the park not just in terms of spell-binding storytelling but also in terms of creating characters that could hold their own against the mammoth-like legacy of the Skywalkers as well as Han Solo. Viewers around the world responded enthusiastically and \u201cThe Force Awakens<\/em>\u201d is now the third-highest grossing movie ever.<\/p>\n All that being said, \u201cThe Last Jedi<\/em>\u201d comes with a lot of baggage. Not only does it have the burden of being the middle chapter in a trilogy but also it has to carry on the story as well as the characters forward in a faithful manner. Its director, Rian Johnson is known as a master storyteller but he has only directed small-scale indie movies. So, does it deliver? Let\u2019s find out!<\/p>\n Source: SK<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThe Force Awakens<\/em>\u201d heavily borrowed from the original trilogy, particularly from \u201cA New Hope<\/em>\u201d and \u201cThe Last Jedi<\/em>\u201d continues the trend with call-backs to \u201cThe Empire Strikes Back<\/em>\u201d \u2013 both for story structure as well as nostalgia – as the latter is inarguably the best \u201cStar Wars<\/em>\u201d movie, ever. However, Johnson \u2013 who also wrote the movie himself – doesn\u2019t make the movie easy to understand. It\u2019s not a run-of-the-mill blockbuster. It pushes the viewer to think and contemplate about the actions of the characters. It disposes of certain characters in such an unexpected manner and sets the final chapter so effortlessly, it seems like a piece of cake but is really not.<\/p>\n There are three separate story-lines running in the movie. Rey is off to the island of Ahch-To to convince Luke Skywalker to join the fight against The First Order; The Resistance is making one last stand against The First Order by abandoning their main base and trying to fend off attacks from a First Order fleet; and Finn \u2013 assisted by a mechanic named Rose \u2013 is trying to disable the tracking device that the First Order fleet is using to chase down The Resistance.<\/p>\n Source: SK<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Of the three, the least effective happens to be the one with Finn and Rose as their plan to recruit a master codebreaker (read hacker) on a casino planet called Canto Bight is all good and fine but its execution is downright sloppy. They instead end up recruiting a guy called DJ, who ends up stealing a ship and taking them to the heart of the First Order fleet. It\u2019s jarring and makes no sense for them to do what they do, to make the decisions they make with DJ appearing as nothing more than a distraction from the main plot-line. Unfortunately, the whole arc given to Finn and Rose appears forced because if one were to simply take it out of the movie, it will not be missed. That\u2019s always bad from a story-telling level.<\/p>\n Where the movie does shine is in the moments spent on Ahch-To with Luke deciding to train Rey in the ways of the Jedi. Of all the characters in the \u201cStar Wars<\/em>\u201d lore, Rey is arguably the most complete as well as complex. Her journey from the wasteland of Jakku, to fighting alongside The Resistance, to finally realizing how she is one with the Force, is an arc that can be understood and appreciated as a whole. She not only wants to convince Luke to join up with The Resistance to fight, but also wants to learn her place in the middle of a war for the galaxy itself. Luke, dejected by the betrayal of Kylo Ren, dismisses her request initially but gets around just enough to help her take a peek within herself.<\/p>\n Source: SK<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Kylo Ren is finally placed as the big bad of the new trilogy in ways that are eerily similar to that of his grandfather Darth Vader. The motivation behind his actions is simple \u2013 create a new world order by annihilating every other. That\u2019s the length and breadth of it. What makes it different is his quest to convince Rey \u2013 who he knows is stronger with the Force than him – to join up, stand alongside him and establish a new Order that is beyond petty races for domination.<\/p>\n The emotional core of the movie lies in the struggle between Rey and Kylo with her resolve to stand with The Resistance colliding with his desire for a greater purpose. It\u2019s good vs evil at its most simple but in a manner that\u2019s now typical to him, Rian Johnson is not content with spelling it out in an easy way. He builds up the confrontation between Rey and Kylo using the one thing that binds them \u2013 the Force itself \u2013 in a manner the exploration of which will invite spoilers but is nevertheless a clever way to showcase how powerful both of them are. Their confrontation towards the end is a delight to watch and the fleeting prospect of a union induces glee.<\/p>\n The performances are much more nuanced than they were in \u201cThe Force Awakens<\/em>\u201d with Daisy Ridley and Mark Hamill as clearly standing out. Adam Driver could\u2019ve lent much more gravitas to an improved role but he falters, striking a single note that is unfortunately reminiscent of Hayden Christensen. Carrie Fisher is terribly missed every time she appears on screen and she gets a grand farewell as General Leia. Benicio del Toro and Gwendoline Christie are terribly wasted in their roles. Kelly Marie Tran and John Boyega do well despite an arc that\u2019s plagued by question of necessity of its existence. The cinematography by Steve Yedlin and the score by the iconic John Williams lift the proceedings to new heights.<\/p>\n Source: SK<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n One just wishes that the movie was crisply edited as it does feel a bit of a stretch in the last two acts.<\/p>\n All said and done, the movie is a right step in the continuing saga of \u201cStar Wars<\/em>\u201d and one hopes that J.J. Abrams – with his last chapter \u2013 will be able to honour characters both new and old the way Rian Johnson does.<\/p>\n Our Rating: 4\/5<\/strong><\/p>\n What did you think of the movie?<\/p>\n Let us know in the comments below!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Source: SK \u201cStar Wars: The Force Awakens\u201d had a tough task at hand. Fans were burned after the much-maligned prequel series, all \u201cStar Wars\u201d had going for itself was name-recognition and the current demographic of movie-goers was skewing to the more youthful; which had little to no idea about the legacy of the series. But […] More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":7156,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nerdism.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7136"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nerdism.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nerdism.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nerdism.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nerdism.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7136"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/nerdism.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7157,"href":"https:\/\/nerdism.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7136\/revisions\/7157"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nerdism.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nerdism.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nerdism.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nerdism.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"The-Last-Jedi\"](\"http:\/\/schmoesknow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/sw-the-last-jedi-tall-B-1.jpg\")
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