It’s time to put Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Rian Johnson behind us
By Buckie Wells
Now that Star Wars: The Last Jedi is available for digital download, everyone can debate it quietly at home while the rest of us who want to can move on.
“From a certain point of view” is one of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s best lines. In fact, it’s one of the best lines in all of Star Wars. They are words to live by. And based on the fractures found in the fandom after The Last Jedi, the sentiment behind these words is the only way to move on.
Leading up the film’s premiere, many fans felt excited to see the sequel to the record-breaking The Force Awakens. We wanted to see our favorite characters again. Plus, several questions needed to be answered. The Last Jedi, however, answered next to nothing. In fact, it played like a two-hour placeholder. Based on the reception from fans, Rian Johnson’s vision didn’t align with what people expected, let alone fit with the foundation laid by The Force Awakens.
This isn’t personal anymore. Despite my firm feelings on character development and my expectations of romance in a franchise that depicted people frolicking through the grass, actual kissing, baby-making, and one of the most overt gut-wrenching love ballads of all time, I enjoyed The Last Jedi on a superficial level.
Unfortunately, when you put aside your loyalty to Star Wars and become a little more critical, The Last Jedi doesn’t hold up. Worse, the director himself only exacerbates the problem.
At the film festival, SXSW, Johnson appeared to talk about Star Wars some more. Obviously, he said a lot (because he can’t help himself). But here’s a worthy excerpt from The Hollywood Reporter:
"When asked about how he gave direction on The Last Jedi to veteran actors like Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill, who had spent several years in their roles, Johnson acknowledged that it required a lot of back-and-forth. “It’s a conversation — and in this case it’s a very intense conversation,” he laughed. “I couldn’t say, ‘Screw you, this is my story,’ You have to get into the conversation.”"
This implies that there was a lot of resistance at the beginning — as if the actors who launched the franchise 40 years ago and have taken care of the characters for several decades could sense what might happen when you rip away the comfort and reliability of Star Wars. Mark Hamill spoke candidly about this on several occasions, so no surprise.
THR also notes that Johnson’s mentality came from a more selfish place. As it pertained to the characterization of Luke Skywalker, it seems he did what he wanted. Instead of remaining true to the story, Johnson went his own way:
"Naturally, talk of Luke’s portrayal in the The Last Jedi arose and Hamill revealed that he regretted sharing his criticisms in a series of interviews. “I wish I hadn’t expressed my insecurities publicly,” he acknowledged. During filming, Johnson had told Hamill that “they can’t always give the audience what they expect and what they want” but that they “can give them something they don’t expect and what we want.” Hamill replied, “He’s always right.”"
Admittedly, when you put “intense conversation” into the context of 14 deleted scenes, it’s amazing to see how we arrived at The Last Jedi, for better or worse. As predicted, many of the scenes made the film all more questionable, like Luke Skywalker being a jerk during Rey’s third trial and Poe Dameron being rather flippant toward Finn for no reason when he wakes up. From time management issues and the lack of true development and progression, The Last Jedi is hardly the most important film in the franchise. Therefore, it really doesn’t warrant this much attention.
Obviously, the only true thing that matters nowadays is that The Last Jedi made money. It didn’t make The Force Awakens money. It also didn’t perform as strongly as Black Panther. But it performed as expected for Star Wars, thus the inability to resist content expansion.
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Moving forward, there’s no point in debating how we each like our Star Wars films. Or what we interpret from various scenes. Everything exists “from a certain point of view.” At the very least, we can certainly stop talking about The Last Jedi and focus more on Solo: A Star Wars Story. I never thought I’d be most excited for Han Solo than anything else. But I do need a break from Rian Johnson. A “Brian,” if you will. (Get it?)
We can revisit this after Episode IX hits theaters next year.