Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
The Last Jedi is a beautiful letdown
The Last Jedi is a complete letdown and beautiful one at that. Written from the perspective of a man who walked into Kathleen Kennedy’s office and said, “You know, the script seemed to take off about halfway through when I dropped enough acid to kill an actual Wookie.” And, she said, “Ok, great!” We were expected to get answers to questions like: What is Rey’s mysterious lineage? How did Snoke manage to corrupt Ben Solo and create The First Order?
Who cares, he said. “Well, where were the Knights of Ren we’ve waited to see? Where was the ultimate lightsaber showdown that has become the staple of all Star Wars films? It was deeper than that.
All the characters, like Disney’s version of the franchise, are struggling to move forward. Caught up in the cosmic ordeal of light and dark, of bloodlines and perpetual war. Stuck in an endless loop –The Jedi and the Sith have waged the same fight over and over, only the names and the combatants have changed.
Poe has the looks and heart of a natural leader, unrivaled as a pilot, but he wants to play the hero. He shows an absolute lack of discipline and focuses when taking out a dreadnaught, another superweapon with flawed engineering, that he sacrifices an entire bomber fleet against Leia’s wishes.
To his disappointment, he loses rank with his general, but he still hasn’t learned a valuable lesson: he can’t win the war by himself, not in one moment, and not by himself. Instead of reflecting, Poe goes on a rogue and treasonous run, until finally, in the end, watching Luke, he understands that sacrifice and living another day can be the spark for the rebellion.