A Walt Disney Picture, Written and Directed by Rian Johnson.
The most divisive film in the franchise’s history, and the film I am most torn about myself.
On one hand, it is a brave and bold deconstruction of the franchise, with the emotional power of the Kylo/Rey/Luke storyline being incredibly interesting (even though I didn’t like all the decisions) and the film is also visually stunning, easily the best cinematography from the franchise so far.
However, on the other hand the storylines for Poe and Finn are so misjudged and take up such a big amount of time away from the most interesting story that it really feels like a film of two parts.
Star Wars is an odd beast and maybe it wasn’t the right franchise for a talent like Rian Johnson to tackle, but at least he can say he really took some risks.
Adam Driver and Daisy Ridley are very good here, both showing the internal conflicts of their characters and having simmering chemistry with each other. However, it is Mark Hamill who dominates the film with one of the best performances the saga has seen as a broken, yet still heroic in the end, Luke Skywalker. His final moments are some of the most epic the franchise has done (the throne room scene with Rey and Kylo is also up there).
A brave, compelling, and occasionally misjudged film.
Rating = 3.5/5
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