If you’re a Star Wars fan, ask yourself which movie is the worst one? If you’ve been keeping up with the franchise, it’s likely you either think it’s one of the films from the prequels or the Disney-produced sequel trilogy. The prequels aren’t everyone’s favorite Star Wars thing, but ever since the sequel trilogy ended with Rise of Skywalker, fans have apparently changed their tune. The Force Awakens had its haters, but overall, the vast majority seemed to enjoy it. A year later, we got Rogue One, a film that was pretty divisive, but received mostly positive reception. Smooth sailing from then on? Not quite.
A year later, Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi was released, and everything went downhill from there. Most critics seemed to have enjoyed it, but very many fans vehemently despised it. All the films that came after it didn’t win fans over again, making the movie feel like some kind of bad omen for the franchise. Call it harsh, but the movie that came after it was Solo: A Star Wars Story, and that bombed more than the first Death Star. That sure did hurt Lucasfilm and Disney a lot, and who would’ve thought? It was, after all, a Star Wars movie about the franchise’s most beloved character. Unfortunately, that didn’t stop it from bombing at the box office and failing to win over many skeptical fans. You can say it’s because Harrison Ford wasn’t involved, but that wasn’t the only issue.
After The Last Jedi was released, legions of Star Wars fans had their faith in the franchise shaken. Now I get it, the film made some very controversial decisions that made us scratch our heads or just flip the heck out. Perhaps that’s why so many fans weren’t too excited about Rise of Skywalker. Sure, it made enough money to break even, but the amount of money it made also reflected how apathetic fans were about it releasing.
Apparently, even J.J. Abrams wasn’t a fan of The Last Jedi, because he chose to ignore major plot threads that it set up. I can understand why he wanted to do damage control; Johnson kind of tore down what he was setting up from The Force Awakens. However, the damage was already done and he honestly should’ve just run with it. The Rise of Skywalker spent too much time focusing on undoing what The Last Jedi set up, then remembered it had to tell a fitting conclusion. Well, it didn’t and I’m hearing some fans blame The Last Jedi for that. Does it really deserve the hate though?
I’ll just start out by saying I have many issues with The Last Jedi. It’s far from a perfect movie, but it’s far from being a bad one as well. If I had to rate it, I would have to give it a seven out of ten or something slightly above that. I don’t think it’s great or decent, but good. It had enough positive elements for me to stick with it and actually like it. However, I just couldn’t forget all the silly things that dragged it down. The silly things bothered me, but to other fans, it was like Johnson committed sacrilege. Some friends of mine have debated me on why these things killed the movie for them, but I disagreed. On top of that, they went so far as to claim The Last Jedi was the worst Star Wars movie. That’s where the debates really began.
I don’t think my friends are along when they claimed it was the worst movie of the franchise. Take some time on the internet and you’ll see there are many people who share the same opinion. While I can agree with many of their points, I can’t say it’s the worst Star Wars movie. Their reasons are a fairly long list of what the characters did and how they behaved. The first would have to be Leia using the force to pull herself towards her ship.
If you heard someone say “Superman Leia” then that’s what they’re referring to. She got sucked into space, but “flied” back to her ship. That’s a popular point of criticism for The Last Jedi haters, but personally, I don’t think it’s as bad as they claim. I just don’t see how it’s completely unbelievable for the daughter of Anakin Skywalker to use the Force. Haters love to target that, but they seem to forget other things about Leia. For example, how exactly was she able to remember her mother when she was about ten seconds old? Maybe it was a Force thing, but then again, how come Luke didn’t remember anything?
One can argue that Leia is indeed stronger with the Force than Luke is. After all, the only reason she wasn’t trained as a Jedi is because Obi-Wan never found her. Imagine if she was discovered before Luke. I believe it’s possible she could’ve become a more powerful Jedi than Luke ever was. When Luke’s hand was severed and he was hanging for his life and called to her, she sensed it. When Han Solo was killed by Kylo Ren, she sensed it. In The Rise of Skywalker, it was revealed that Luke did attempt to train her as a Jedi, but she chose another path. Heck, she even managed to defeat him in a sparring session. It’s obvious that she’s strong with the Force, so yes, Superman Leia is possible.
I mean, come on, how else do you think Rey defeated Kylo Ren in their first duel? How did Obi-Wan, a Padawan, defeat Darth Maul right after he killed Qui-Gon, a Jedi Master? Or how about when Anakin defeated Count Dooku in their final duel? They all tapped into the dark side of the Force and it made them stronger. The Force is capable of many things, so if Leia can use it to float back to her ship, I’d say that’s palpable.
But what about her twin brother, Luke Skywalker? The same man who convinced Darth Vader that there was still good in him and got him to betray Palpatine is the same man who tried to kill his nephew because he had a bad dream. Wait, what?! How is that even possible?! Oh man, did that light a fire in the bellies of many fans. Those same fans even claimed that the Luke we saw in The Last Jedi wasn’t their Skywalker. I get it, him trying to kill Ben Solo is a very bad thing and he inadvertently created a monster. However, Luke was never the righteous boy scout some fans make him out to be.
Would he really ever try to kill his nephew? But he was the only one who saw the good in Darth Vader, right? That’s true, but let’s not forget he also tried to kill him and even cut off his right arm. After rewatching Return of the Jedi, I remember Luke did give into his anger and went ballistic on Darth Vader. He overwhelmed Vader and even cut off his right arm, but he was still willing to deliver the killing blow. However, Palpatine stepped in and egged him on, causing Luke to have second thoughts about killing his father. If Palpatine kept his mouth shut, it’s highly possible that Luke would’ve killed Darth Vader and fully embraced the dark side. Yes, this man who almost killed his nephew really is the same man who almost killed his father.
The Skywalker family is one messed up family, but they know how to come back to the light. Luke stopped himself from making two terrible mistakes, but the second time cost him everything. Sorry, fellas, but I’m afraid Luke really isn’t all perfect.
Those are the two biggest complaints I hear from haters. It’s only fair that I disagree and give reasons as to why I think they’re wrong. Now if I had to agree with the haters on something, it would be the casino stuff. Yeah, that stuff was very inconsequential and just boring. You care about animal right? That’s fine, but don’t stick it in a Star Wars movie just for the sake of addressing a social issue. Make it mean something. The final thing I dislike is how Luke died. What exactly did he die of? Was he using the Force too much? I don’t know, and it was just a lame and unceremonious way for such a beloved character to die. If I’m being honest, these things is what bumped my rating down to a seven.
Well, there it is. I defended The Last Jedi the best I could. I don’t love it, but I don’t think it deserves the hate it gets. Agree or disagree, I sincerely hope Star Wars once again becomes a topic that everyone will love to talk about.
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