Apparently, this is a controversial statement these days. Overall I enjoyed the movie and found it thoughtful for a Star Wars movie.

(((((SPOILERS AHEAD)))))

This movie reminded me of a story I heard about George Lucas deciding whether to make a “kids” movie or not. I hadn’t thought that Star Wars was a kids movie before I heard that story, but I don’t completely disagree with that designation. I think kids movies were different in 1977 than today and I do think The Phantom Menace really was a modern kids movie.

The Last Jedi was not a kids movie in the same way. I didn’t love the whole thing but found the Luke and Rey storyline compelling. It made the viewer question and think a bit. Does a moment of weakness on Luke’s part make him evil? Can Kylo Ren maintain his grip on the First Order? What are Lukes responsibilities/obligations? What are Rey’s? Do we really need to know who Rey is and understand her whole backstory to follow her story? How big does the Resistance need to be?

There were a lot of competing storylines in The Last Jedi and I found some of them less compelling. Tracking Poe and his actions, then tracking Finn, then back to Rey and Luke and finally seeing how the storylines (eventually) come together.

I read a post the other day that having Poe save Finn instead of Rose would have strengthened the story and I agree.  I will try to find where I read it and link to it here.

Until then, Happy Holidays!

Thanks for reading!