A Principal’s thoughts on the latest entry in the Star Wars saga. Readers beware…this contains some MAJOR spoilers!
December 15th has (finally!) come, and the latest installment of the Star Wars Saga has been unleashed! To say I have been looking forward to this movie is an understatement, as anyone that has seen the vast array of Star Wars collectables in my office could attest. The Last Jedi even influenced this week’s edition of my school newsletter, The Bulldog Buzz! Sooo, what does this Principal (and self-appointed Jedi Knight) think of Star Wars: The Last Jedi? Let’s find out!
The Light Side: As we learned in The Force Awakens, Luke Skywalker has abandoned the Resistance and his family after his nephew turned to the Dark Side. Many thought that the appearance of Rey would be enough to bring the grizzled Jedi Master around, but that was not the case. It took the collective efforts of Rey and…Yoda (as a Force ghost) to bring Luke back into the fight. Luke’s scenes (especially his “fight” with Kylo Ren) were so much fun, and I’m glad that Rain Johnson brought something beyond mind tricks & “lifting rocks” to the Force. Fans of the EU novels (or Legends, as they’re called now) know exactly what I’m talking about here…there’s so much more to the Force, and I loved seeing something so new & wondrous become part of the canon!
The Dark Side: Although this was the longest running Star Wars movie to date, it still feels rushed. The fact is, the pacing of movies is very different now than it was back in 1977, and I think this is why so many of the OT fans (myself included) grumble. This resulted in what I can only describe as an overabundance of “cameos” without any meaning or importance to the overall plot. Chewie…was there. C3-P0…was there. The AT-M6’s…were there. Snoke & Admiral Holdo are…gone (so much for that dark side mystery). You get the picture! Next time…let the story breathe a little!
The Final Word from the Principal’s Office: Did I get to see Luke do all the things I wanted to? Absolutely not, but that’s the whole point here. As Kylo Ren says, we have to “let the past die” and that’s exactly what this Trilogy has set out to accomplish. It is (as Lucas told Hamill many years ago) the passing on of Excalibur, and we HAVE to go to new places and fall in love with the new characters (which, coincidentally, are two of the main flaws of the PT, but that’s a story for another time). While I hated watching Luke go, I love where Daisy & Adam are taking us. That’s why (although, it’s bittersweet), I can feel at peace as my childhood hero became one with the Force, and why I’m looking forward to seeing where Abrams takes us in Episode IX.
“We are what they grow beyond. That is the true burden of all masters” – Yoda
The Principal's Point of View 