There is a pattern in movie trilogies I’ve observed since they began to hit the mainstream movie industry thanks to the original Star Wars trilogy. That is, when it comes to telling one big story in three acts, the second act often stands out as the best.
Why is that exactly? Because we already had the first film to establish the settings, the characters, and their origins, the second film is where we have all the backstory established and get right into the meat of the conflict they’re dealing with.
There is another element that makes second acts, the best, and that is because it’s almost always tragic part. It is the part where the bad guys get the upper hand this time and leave our heroes at their lowest point. The reason that is the best part of the story is that it is the most relatable to the audience.
Life doesn’t play out like a movie, we’re too often left behind in disappointment with no quick fix, no deus ex machina to get us out of a bad situation, and therefore we get the most catharsis out of sympathetic characters going through difficult times like we do.
The most memorable stories engraved in our brains are tragedies regardless of age such as Greek plays like Oedipus Rex and Trojan Women to Shakespeare Tragedies in Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet. These are the stories where things don’t work out in the end for our heroes, some because of unfortunate circumstances out of our control and others because of their own human flaws such as hubris or naivety.
That’s also why the third part of a trilogy is often the weakest as well. It sometimes feels tacked on after a two-act tragedy where our heroes get their redemption and save the day, giving the audience closure and making them feel good about the story.
Two of the biggest examples of this in film history is Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and The Dark Knight. Both are sequels to films that established the franchise and allowed the good guys to win whereas the sequel forced the good characters to confront bigger issues both outside and within.
Both films don't necessarily end in total tragedy but it's clear that the bad guys win, although there is a glimmer of hope for redemption near the end. And it is in the following movie where the good guys get their redemption. While Return of The Jedi and The Dark Knight Rises nicely wrapped up their respective trilogies, they felt like underwhelming solutions to the deeply complex problems of their predecessors.
In the Disney-era Star Wars franchise, The Last Jedi has advantages that The Force Awakens didn’t, whereas the first had to reestablish the Star Wars world with a new timeline and a new generation of characters before getting along with the new story. The Last Jedi takes place immediately after The Force Awakens and the highly anticipated cliffhanger of what Luke does with his long-lost lightsaber is well...unexpected.
From being the hero of the classic trilogy, Luke has now taken the role that Obi-Wan Kenobi Yoda took as reclusive Jedi masters, but is far less optimistic about the ways of The Force than they were. As the hero of this new trilogy, Rey is not only struggling to become a Jedi and learn the ways of the force, but also struggling with her own identity.
Her lack of knowledge in her origins and only having a few intimate relationships with characters from the past two movies makes her someone who doesn't even know which side of the war she should fight in in the first place.
There is also a feeling of catharsis I got out of this movie in identifying with current events. Even though this film was made during a time where the current state of our society felt like a "pipe dream", I still felt a lot of similarities and emotional catharsis.
Identifying with the struggle to resist an all-powerful Empire with little to no hope. And, as the film often says, "the spark that will light the fire" of the resistance. The Last Jedi film isn’t quite as emotional and tragic as Rogue One but it does come close and has a bigger scope and feel towards the original films.
The awe factor that has been in every good Star Wars movie is here too with good characters to root for and villains who are interesting enough to want us to know more about. What is also emotional about the movie is that it's the last complete role of Carrie Fisher as General Leia Organa, and the arc her character goes through has meaning that goes beyond the context of the film, but as if Fisher's spirit is speaking to all of us. Fisher's daughter Billie Lourd is even in the movie as a supporting character.
What’s also great about the movie is that it doesn’t try to copy The Empire Strikes Back, the most iconic and beloved of the whole franchise. And as much as I would love to see it happen, I doubt that there will ever be a Star Wars movie better than Empire because it’s a film quite simply too hard to duplicate or top.
From here on in there will be debates, lists and rankings about where this movie should be placed compared to other films in the series before and after it and if the decisions with characters made we’re right and if it’s as good as it possibly could be.
I quite frankly just want to embrace this movie and watch it again for the fun and adventure it is. It’s not perfect, none of the other movies are, but it’s just right and the type of inspiring content and lore that we fanboys need.
And now for the Han Solo movie!
