It's that time of the year again... and no, I am not talking about the holidays. I'm talking about the time of the year when a new "Star Wars" movie comes out. Back in 2015, we were blessed with "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," the seventh installment in the science-fiction/fantasy franchise. Last year, we were gifted with "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," which takes place between "Star Wars Episode III" and "Star Wars Episode IV." This year, people are hurdling over one another to get to theaters to see none other than the eighth installment, "Star Wars: The Last Jedi." Of course, I was one of those faithful hurdlers racing toward my local cinema.
It's no secret that the prequels (episodes I-III) had received generally negative reviews. This was for a number of reasons (go try and sit through them without cringing if you don't believe me). It's because of this negative response to the first trilogy that the sequel (episodes VII-IX) has so much riding on it when it comes to re-establishing the reputation of the Star Wars franchise. Ultimately, there were mixed feelings about "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," but I can honestly stay that, as a dedicated fan of Star Wars, that "Star Wars: The Last Jedi," is by far the best Star Wars movie ever. I will consider it a goddamn miracle if somehow Episode IX is better than the masterpiece I just witnessed last night.
"The Last Jedi" boasted a clever story that does a wonderful job of developing all of the characters that lacked the dynamics we were hoping for in the previous movie. Rey, Finn and Po transcend beyond the static, boring characters we see in the original trilogy and form a trio that is relatable, witty and independent. There's no unnecessary drama or cheesy romance. Everything was included for a reason, in perfect proportion to the rest of the events in the movie.
This was all thanks to a really interesting and unique conflict. The first third of the movie felt a lot like a video game (they'll work it into "Battlefront II" somehow, I'm sure), but the rest of the movie was perfectly satisfying. The movie did a great job of exceeding the expectations of the common audience member. The movie may end as you would suspect, but the events that take place in order for the movie to get to that point is completely unorthodox. Rian Johnson has a talent for building suspense to capitalize on key moments, which had the audience applauding four or five times throughout the movie. This is to say, you can look forward to plot twists that won't disappoint.
Besides the plot and characters, "The Last Jedi" brought us new worlds and alien races. This includes the porgs, a race of space penguins that take up residence on the planet where Luke Skywalker hides in "The Force Awakens." Before the movie, I was thinking that porgs would be like another spell of minions from "Despicable Me," in which the hype was (if it's even possible) less annoying compared to the actual characters themselves, but I was wrong. Admittedly, the porgs are wonderful. But, you'll have to see the movie to find out why. The new worlds this time around are as beautiful as Star Wars has always made them, but in "The Last Jedi," they're given more purpose in light of the war that takes place between the First Order and the Resistance.
All-in-all, I am just so happy to have good ol' Star Wars back. No more elaborate politics and unnecessary characters in order to sell more merchandise. They've done away with the corniness we disliked in the prequels and finally developed this new trilogy into something about which Disney can be proud. All I can really say to sum up how I feel about this movie is this: stop hesitating and go to the theater right now because it's going to be the best movie you've seen all year.Period.