Original-ish!

That movie was bananas. Bananas Foster even. I don't mean that in a bad way, it's just that-huh? What movie? I'm sorry, have you read this blog before? Because nerd stuff. Of course by that I mean I want to talk about Star Wars: The Last Jedi. 

If I were to sum up this movie in terms of a
flaming desert, this would have to be the one.

And sometimes I write about
political stuff, so look out internet!

If you haven't seen it yet and have been avoiding spoilers by say, locking yourself in a dark, wifi-less room, possibly in a cabin or Rapture shelter, relax, I'm not going to ruin it for you. In a stunningly original move however, I am going to voice my opinion about it on the internet. Discussing Star Wars? On the internet? Yeah, I'm a trail blazer. Anyway, what I'm saying is that while I'm not going to give away plot details, I'm still going to tell you what I thought of it in broad terms, so if you want to go in fresh, maybe don't read this post. Still there?

Also space penguins.

Super. So I liked The Last Jedi, but I can totally see why it's been kind of divisive among fans and casual movie people alike. The story's a hot mess, it's about an hour longer than it needed to be and it ends like three times. There's a couple of scenes that would have been totally at home in the objectively garbage prequel films and it takes some serious liberties with characters and elements of Star Wars, especially with the Force which-I know it's space magic, but holy shit.

Are you though?

In short, this is the Zelda II of Star Wars movies. If that was a meaningless analogy for you, congratulations, you're either under thirty or you live a rich, sociable life filled with outdoor activities. I'll explain. Zelda II is divisive among fans of the series. It's weird, it's kind of broken and it doesn't feel like any of the other games. Some of us love Zelda II, others think it's the worst Zelda ever. They're incorrect of course. Skyward Sword is objectively the worst. Yes, come at me. But the point is that Zelda II is a product of a time when game developers were more willing to take risks and that's kinda what's going on with The Last Jedi.

Because even in far away
galaxy, parking is bullshit.

The writing and direction feel less reverential and precious towards Star Wars and the movie is stronger for it. Sure, there were some genuine moments of abject cheese. In particular, there's a healthy twenty minutes of the film devoted to our heroes getting delayed while on a super-important mission to save the rebellion from annihilation because of, get this: a parking violation. But whatever, this isn't art, this is a movie about magic wizards fighting space Nazis. It's not supposed to be deep, it's supposed to sell us action figures and plastic lightsabers.

You mean no one on the set
questioned this scene?

I know I rag on the prequels for things like Jar-Jar or that time Obi-wan went to a 1950's diner to consult his talking cockroach pal/poison dart expert and in fairness this movie has some preposterous moments too, but the difference is that it also has likeable characters with human emotions. I can forgive some wacky CGI buffoonery if it means not having to sit through two and a half hours of cardboard standees expounding on the subject of galactic trade law.

The Last Jedi feels original. Janky, but original. The last one, The Force Awakens was good, but if we're being honest it was a beat-for-beat remake of New Hope. And while TLJ (acronym!) does delibrately call back to The Empire Strikes Back by opening with the Rebels hoping on to transport ships and evacuating their base, it quickly goes off in other directions. Not all of them great, but at least they didn't feel like we've been there already.

Well, it feels as original as the fiftieth or sixtieth trip to this
particular well can possibly feel. Which is to say, somewhat.