Star Wars: The Last Jedi
By: Preston Schaap

The time has come for the next official installment in the kingpin film series known as Star Wars. Every premiere of a Star Wars film has been a world bending event as far back as 1977, when the first one was released. Since then, the Star Wars fan base has only grown and can be found all around the world. It’s hard to go somewhere and find someone that doesn’t know the classic theme song or the names R2-D2, Luke Skywalker, and Darth Vader. And now, seven episodes later, we have the next great story in this phenomenal film series, Star Wars 8: The Last Jedi.

A lot of people have had mixed feelings about where Star Wars is heading now that the brand is owned by Disney instead of the series original creator, George Lucas. Lucas has been the forefront of everything Star Wars up to episode six, then Disney took the reigns for episodes seven, Rogue One, eight, and soon nine. Many think that it has taken on a childish atmosphere and doesn’t quite feel true to Star Wars. Others think that today’s modern filming and editing capabilities have made the galaxy feel much more alive than it ever has. After seeing it and mulling it over for some time, it has come to my attention that yes, it isn’t quite classic Star Wars, but it’s still an adventure nonetheless.

The characters from episode seven make a return in episode eight as they continue their trilogy. Rey and Finn do a fantastic job as ever in their stories and Mark Hamill’s classic character Luke Skywalker makes a return met with open arms. The plot mostly revolves around the fact that the Rebel Alliance is losing pretty badly to the sinister First Order, and they try everything in their power to stay alive, meanwhile Rey (Daisy Ridley) goes through Jedi training with Luke Skywalker. The movie sits at just under three hours which is an insane runtime, but the film does a good job at pacing itself for the most part. As most movies have, there’s a bit of a drag halfway through with a subplot that feels oddly placed. Overall, it seems to me like a good sequel and continues to be a fantastic movie series.

My only complaint would be that the inclusion of minority characters is starting to drown the series, as well as needless “cute” creatures. This is obviously Disney making the universe more accepting to all walks of life and more politically correct, which I’m okay with, but the way they include other races is starting to feel lazy. Mostly with the newest addition to the cast, Rose, played by Kelly Marie Tran whose character is hardly developed and her romantic relationship with Finn feels very forced. Other than that, I feel like Star Wars: The Last Jedi will be enjoyable to anyone that loves Star Wars and all that it has become.

Final score: 8/10