The Last Jedi (2017)

So does a follow-up fare better than the more independent Rogue One? By miles.

First of all: Where there is charm, there is a way. Daisy Ridley is a real gem and delivers a character that the audience can care about. Oscar Isaac and the underrated Mark Hamill flank her very nicely, and particularly Hamill's Jedi calm is instrumental to Ridley's opportunity to be as emotional as she is without it becoming tedious. Finn is more of an unwelcome distraction, both as a character and most of his storyline. The former seems erratic and the latter more like a B-side of the hit single. Other than that, Domhnall Gleeson is the scene-stealer for the most. His genius and tactical, cynical and cold brain a welcome contrast to a saga where everyone reaches out with their feelings incessantly.

And herein lies the problem. Whereas the protagonist and the mentor are both in place, where is the supposed villain? Sure, Snoke is decent (though no Palpatine), but nowhere near a worthy villain in an epic saga. Much worse is Kylo Ren. Though Adam Driver isn't a bad actor, and his scenes with Ridley are at times riveting, he is nowhere near portraying an evil master and megalomaniac. You pity the poor General Hux, often thwarted by the sheer stupidity and lack of perspective shown by the young Jedi. And without a decent villain, the tension suffers greatly. I will give it to director Johnson that he does understand this and tries hard to work around it. The Empire is vastly superior in numbers and firepower throughout, adding to the suspense and hopelessness where a great and evil presence would have done much of the same.

John Williams is pushing 85, so to flicker with his masterpiece is probably perfect work for him. He's not afraid to come up with a few new themes though, but the real treat is when they sneak in excerpts of the old themes at pivotal moments. It adds such an extra layer for the real fans, and we can smirk and feel just a bit smarter and well-informed for a short second. 

As for the storyline, it's pretty much the same as all the films in the franchise. Disney hasn't tried originality in decades apart from when they let Pixar run without interference. There is a larger scope, and a lot of fairly straightforward smaller stories necessary for the larger scope to be realized. There are formulaic (but great) action scenes, a bit more regular and longer than necessary, and the lines are still as Harrison Ford described them many years ago. But the film has a nice flow, great suspense at times and the humour is infinitely better than in Rogue One, making this instalment keep its charm. And what more than charm, Jedis and pew-pew can a Star Wars-fan really demand?

7/10

Rogue One (2016)

Disney would appear to mean business as both Mads Mikkelsen and Forest Whitaker appear within seconds, showing off some big names. Kudos also to Ben Mendelsohn for doing his finest Ian McKellen impersonation.

As there are no familiar characters from the last movie, it starts disjointed and a frankly a bit messy. Cross-cutting between many characters in different positions is best left to characters where you have already established an interest amongst the viewers. Such as the finale in Lucas' last instalment.

There are many highpoints though. The CGI to re-introduce Admiral Tarkin is sublime and Guy Henry's voice is pitch-perfect. And old characters in cameos are always fun, though you know that is determined by the evil marketing-department at Disney. That goes for all the many, many nods to he earlier installments, large and small. And still Storm-troopers are utterly useless whenever shooting at anyone known to the audience.

A low-point would be the peculiar choice of Michael Giacchino as the new composer. He has made very few epic scores and this blends poorly with the old excerpts from Willams' former work. Surely there were better options available for the amount of money they had available?

Generally, the characters are not as interesting and charming as last time around, meaning interest is fading. Nor is their development particularly good, even for a George Lucas-franchise. As for robots, I love Alan Tudyk, but his robot is just a reason to miss Anthony Daniels more. Chirrut Îmwe is a particularly dull Jedi with dialogue so horrible, not even the fortune-cookie companies would be able to shove it in their products without shame. And he repeats his lame catchfrase like a bad episode of Teletubbies.

There is of course plotting and bravery a plenty with the formulated action every 12 minutes, but we've seen it before now. Many times. Particularly the problematic shield and the hail Mary's.

Lucas' franchise originally had some of the same flaws, but there was always plenty of charm and (only in the oldest trilogy) a spark between the characters. This has neither. The ending is fantastic, though. A part from the last 10 seconds which is so mind-numbingly stupid and unnecessary you almost need to weep.


As the franchise moves on, it seems wise of all A-name actors to insert a death-clause in their contract.

4/10