Star Wars: The Last Jedi

It's a good time to be a Star Wars fan. For starters, there's a new movie every year for some time to come, there's more and better merchandising, and even a live action TV series has been announced. Despite this ever-expanding offering, which includes novels and games, it's always a special experience when the Lucasfilm logo appears on the screen, followed by the words, "Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far away...". It's an experience that fans look forward to for months, filled with an expectation that hopefully will be fulfilled again this time.

It can then happen that this expectation is too great to be fulfilled. So little things that you might not even notice otherwise become real spoilers and everything that isn't absolutely perfect might be criticized a bit too much. Especially for real fans - and I would definitely call myself one - it's hard to keep the necessary objectivity. And that's exactly the reason why I would call Star Wars: The Last Jedi a very good, in places even great Star Wars movie, but one that leaves a strangely unsatisfying feeling in some places.

The story is not really deep. The First Order under their supreme leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) is becoming more and more powerful and spreading more and more throughout the galaxy, while the New Republic is being pushed out more and more. Only a small group of rebels, led by Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher), has so far been able to stand firm against Snoke and his forces - always hoping that Rey (Daisy Ridley) will be able to find Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and convince him to join the fight and bring new hope to the galaxy. But time is running out, with the First Order hot on the heels of the few remaining New Republic ships. While Rey tries to lure the last Jedi out of his self-imposed isolation, Finn (John Boyega) and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) set about implementing a dangerous plan to escape Snoke after all and build a new rebel alliance.

More should definitely not be given away, as there are several small, as well as big surprises throughout the film that should not be spoiled for any viewer. So I'd rather get straight to the point: why does the film leave a somewhat disappointing impression in places. J.J. Abrams was criticized by some fans for the fact that his film had too few own ideas to offer and basically retold the story of the original trilogy. While this criticism isn't entirely unfounded, at least in places, it's also why The Force Awakens was so successful: unlike the unloved prequels, Abrams' film spread a warm blanket of nostalgia over fans and gave them exactly what they've been craving for so many years.

Rian Johnson now has the slightly more difficult task of both satisfying those fan needs as well and taking it in a new direction. This film is even more of a passing of the baton to the next generation than its predecessor. Johnson tries his hand at mixing the old with the new and unfortunately doesn't always hit exactly the right note. When he succeeds, it makes for some pretty great moments. Mark Hamill is just great and even Carrie Fisher, who passed away a few months ago, still delivers some truly wonderful scenes. But it's not just the old houses, the newcomers - most notably Daisy Ridley as Rey and Adam Driver as Kylo Ren - play really well.

This helps cover up some dramaturgical weaknesses very well. But in some scenes, neither the great effects nor the good actors help. Especially when it comes to humor, but also in a scene that is very emotional in itself, the tone doesn't quite want to match what Star Wars is about in itself. To go into that further would mean giving too much away - especially in terms of the emotional moment. This much can be said, though: These points of criticism are noticeable and perhaps also tarnish the overall impression a tiny bit. But objectively seen they are not really serious and are also guaranteed not to bother every fan.

It is also quite clear that the positive aspects are clearly in the majority. There are two or three scenes that can confidently be counted among the highlights of the entire series. And also the fact that Johnson perfectly succeeds in two scenes in particular to play with the expectation of the fans, only to then take a completely unexpected direction, easily outweighs the small weaknesses. If the very last, really unnecessary scene had been left out, the actually perfect finale would have additionally pulled out some things. But with this short epilogue sequence, the audience is reminded once again that the film is not quite the masterpiece many had hoped for. Nevertheless, Star Wars: The Last Jedi is a feast for fans.

And that's exactly why the bottom line is: Absolutely worth seeing! One can already be curious about how J.J. Abrams will bring this trilogy to a conclusion in two years! May the force be with him

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp