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Is it bad that I may have outgrown the Star Wars universe? \u201cThe Last Jedi\u201d hits all the notes. But I found myself frustrated that the tone was comedy and sometimes almost veered into parody.<\/p>\nIs it bad that I may have outgrown the Star Wars universe? \u201cThe Last Jedi\u201d hits all the notes. But I found myself frustrated that the tone was comedy and sometimes almost veered into parody.<\/p>\n
In \u201cStar Wars: The Last Jedi\u201d Rey (Daisy Ridley) joins Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) on an island on some far off and hidden planet in hopes of being taught to be a Jedi. Of course, Luke is having none of it. His dark path has led him to reject the Force, although his present tiny, isolated residence sits at some kind of powerful cross-section, a nexus that perplexes him. For sure, this Skywalker is a divided and tortured soul but recognizes that his power imbues him with great responsibly. It\u2019s the classic theme.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the conflicted Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), fresh off killing his universally beloved father Han Solo, attempts to prove himself to Supreme Leader Snoke (a CGI Andy Serkis). Snoke is a hideous ruler who is thankfully a more concrete creation here and not some gigantic, malevolent, ghostly being as portrayed in the last film. Kylo Ren has reservations about his position in the First Order but over-compensates with manic, ultra-violence and boiling anger. Driver\u2019s intensity demonstrates an extraordinary acting ability to transcend the sometimes leaden dialogue that constantly repeats and sums up each and every scene leaving nothing for the audience to internalize.<\/p>\n
And while Luke and Rey spar and Kylo Ren sulks, Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) has her hands full escaping with the rebels from an overwhelming attack. A well-staged space battle erupts.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the heavy stuff. Everything else is jokes and comedic references with a side of cheese. I found myself shaking my head more than laughing along.<\/p>\n
Hamill, though, is excellent as Luke. He makes us care about his emotional conflict, the characters, and their collective epic struggle. And this is no small task. Buried under a mass of tangled hair, an unwieldy, unkempt beard, and covered in tattered robes, Hamill emotes like he\u2019s never done before. There are lines in his face that tell the story of a character and a franchise that has long endured. Hamill\u2019s marvelous voice still cracks with an uncertain waiver reminding us of the youthful Skywalker. And while he has some jokey moments, the script smartly never allows him to lapse into outright parody.<\/p>\n
Luke and Leia stabilize the narrative. Naturally, Fisher\u2019s tragic passing has made the performance even more poignant, but she made good, sincere choices in the role. And one key moment with a droid will put a lump in any hardened viewer\u2019s throat. It\u2019s all very necessary, because clearly the effect of the Marvel universe and Disney\u2019s influence is at play in shaping the tone.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, fans should love this latest episode, but they will have to resolve whether the comedic elements undercut or insult the storied mythology. To be fair, humor and tongue-in-cheek cheese were always an integral part of the franchise. The technology, the thematic structure, and even the planets and the universes themselves were never meant to be analyzed in great depth.<\/p>\n
Allow me a bit of heresy: Star Wars is not serious science fiction. It is not on the same level as this year\u2019s box office disappointment, but worthy critical darling, \u201cBlade Runner 2049.\u201d However, there was a time when I held in high regard the first two films that were released theatrically. \u201cThe Empire Strikes Back\u201d still remains a high-water mark for story-telling and is easily one of the best films of the 1980s\u2014a classic. But since \u201cReturn of the Jedi\u201d upped the cheese factor, Lucas\u2019 vision was never quite the same, as sadly demonstrated with his prequels. And while I loved \u201cJedi\u201d at age 13, looking back, I recognize that comparing any of the episodes that followed to \u201cEmpire\u201d is misplaced and probably unfair. \u201cA New Hope\u201d followed by \u201cEmpire\u201d was a simply amazing cinematic feat that might be impossible to repeat.<\/p>\n
So, \u201cStar Wars: The Last Jedi\u201d falls short, because it isn\u2019t as good as \u201cForce Awakens\u201d and fails to capture the magic of \u201cEmpire Strikes Back.\u201d And regardless of the jokes and ad nauseam, explicit exposition, there was enough real emotion to make me care. Given the absolute ridiculousness of so much of what happens in this unapologetic space soap opera, making me feel anything at all is an undeniable measure of success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jokey Tone Can\u2019t Laugh Away Real Emotion<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","no-thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4880"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4881,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4880\/revisions\/4881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}