Star Wars: The Last Jedi thrills fans and entertains everyone else

Movie Title: Star Wars: The Last Jedi (With Bonus Content)

Grade: A

Rating: PG-13, 152 minutes (That’s a whopping 2 ½ hours!)

In a Nutshell: YES! This is the EPIC movie we were hoping for! I admit it…I almost cried when that famous musical score and crawling script began.

Fans have been waiting with great anticipation for The Last Jedi (Star Wars) I love it when movie-goers dress up in costumes to watch the film in theaters. It makes it so fun for everyone. I knew I was in for a great time when the entire audience I watched the movie with erupted in cheers as soon as all of the trailers ended and the words “Lucas Film Ltd” appeared on the screen. So fun. Yes, if you’re not a nerdy fan like me, you’ll still be entertained.

As the umpteenth movie in the franchise, you’d think they would start running out of cool ideas, but this movie packs a powerful emotional punch and features new characters and creatures that will leave you wanting even more.

Rian Johnson really adds his unique voice and perspective to the franchise. There are plenty of thrills, laughs, and twists to add to this canon. Yeah, I used the word canon….this film franchise is practically scripture. Ha ha The movie itself even refers to the Jedi “religion.” Godspeed Rebels!

Uplifting theme:

Hope.
“Strength is mastery. Weakness is folly.” – Yoda (Frank Oz)
Heroes and leaders
Good vs. evil
Power, control
“The force is energy between all things that creates balance.” – Luke
Hubris vs. humility
Peace and purpose

Things I liked:

Great action sequences. Really great. Satisfying lightsaber fight scenes.
Lots of humor. Yay. I appreciate it when movies don’t take themselves so seriously and can poke fun at themselves to play with the audience.
Mark Hamilton as Luke Skywalker said he was kind of surprised by the direction and unique vision of the director for his character, but he does a fantastic job, probably his best performance ever. Just when you’re wondering how Luke Skywalker could have possibly survived on that rugged island, he shows you! Ha ha
Adam Driver gives a compelling performance, as always. There is an impressively deep level of his performance.
Tons of cool surprises!
Porgs. Totally adorable.
Several respectful nods to past movies and their content.
The scene with the red salt ground was striking. All of the locations are really stunning and imaginative.
I thought it was so sweet and touching at the very end of the movie when the credits were rolling and the screen said “In loving memory of our princess, Carrie Fisher.” I remember seeing her perform on stage when she was a young teenager. She sang a song with her talented mother Debbie Reynolds. My mother was a nightclub singer many years ago. Too bad I have a terrible singing voice. It would have been so much fun to sing with her on stage!
Daisy Ridley was great, of course.
I’ve always liked Domhnall Gleeson. The banter between him and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) towards the beginning of the movie was hilarious.
The wonderful cast includes Andy Serkis, Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o, and Laura Dern.

Things I didn’t like:

It’s sad to know that Carrie Fisher will not get to enjoy all of the movie release parties and fanfare for this new movie.
In the beginning of the movie, it looked like Kylo Ren had stickers on his face or something. Futuristic bandaids? I liked it much better when they showed how his face was (sort of) repaired.

Movie critics seem to have mixed feelings about the side story with Finn (John Boyega) and Rose (Kelly Marie Tran). I thought it was fine.
Two of my sons said that the more they thought about the movie, the more they decided they didn’t like it. Hmmm…
SPOILER: I thought it was interesting that they decided to “save” Princess Leia by having her use special powers of the Force to have her fly Mary Poppins style back into the ship after dying out in space. Given that Carrie Fisher has died in real life, I wondered why they didn’t just end her character as well. I know, I know…she had to have more scenes for the story. Still….
I have a lot of unanswered questions.

Funny lines:

“Read them, you have? Page turners they were not.” – Yoda, talking about the ancient Jedi manuscripts. (I thought that line was awesome.)
“Every word of what you just said was wrong.” – Luke Skywalker

Interesting lines:

“I know one truth – it’s time for the Jedi to end.” – Luke
“The greatest teacher is failure.” – Yoda

Tips for parents:

Children who haven’t seen prior Star Wars films may be confused, but they’ll still be entertained.
All of the Rebel leaders are women, including many shots of young, 20-something females flying planes and bombers. Girls will feel empowered that they can do anything.
A LOT of destruction, shooting, and high (yet bloodless) body count.
Shirtless Adam Driver in a scene.
Some profanity.
Snoke is pretty scary looking. Of course he’s played by the amazing Andy Serkis who also brought us Gollum the Lord Of The Rings 1/4 scale figure.