Star Wars: The Last Jedi - 7 Big Problems It's Created For Episode IX
Letting the past die is not without consequences.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is one of the most talked-about movies of 2017, and not all of the chatter has been positive. Depending on which side of the fence you sit on, Rian Johnson's sequel is either a subversive masterpiece or sacrilege of the highest order.
Luke Skywalker's swansong turned out to be a far cry from the movie most people were expecting. It dramatically veered from the course J.J. Abrams seemingly plotted with The Force Awakens two years earlier and was by no means the lazy retread of The Empire Strikes Back that some were predicting.
In many ways, the fan backlash Johnson and his creative team have felt the brunt of is unfair. This was the fresh approach Star Wars has needed since the original trilogy wrapped up, but letting the past die is bound to have some consequences for the saga as a whole, and it's Episode IX that could suffer as a result.
The Last Jedi painted some aspects of Star Wars into a corner, and it's difficult to fathom how Abrams will resolve the biggest issues the series now faces when he delivers the sequel trilogy's concluding chapter in 2019.
7. Few Loose Ends To Tie Up
When The Empire Strikes Back brought the original trilogy's middle chapter to a close, Episode VI's objectives became Kyber-crystal clear: reveal how Han Solo escapes from the clutches of Jabba the Hutt, have Luke Skywalker confront his father for the final time, and bring the conflict between the rebellion and the Empire to a head.
The burning questions concerning how these plot threads would be tied up generated intense speculation and anticipation around Return of the Jedi, but Episode VIII left few mysteries for the fans to mull over.
Many of the biggest questions The Force Awakens posed were rendered moot. Sure, there's a rebellion to rebuild and a new generation of Jedi to raise, but Rey and Kylo Ren's rivalry is one of the few loose ends to tie up, and even then both characters have chosen their allegiances with little room for defection. As a result, Episode IX is surrounded by ambiguity, rather than promise. That two-year wait for the next chapter doesn't feel quite as unbearable as it should from a storytelling perspective.
Most of the original trilogy characters are dead, there are no burning questions to address concerning the fates of Poe, Finn, Rose and General Hux (none that we can't wait two years for, anyway), and the movie's final scene was more concerned with powerful imagery than delivering a cliffhanger.
In many respects, The Last Jedi feels more like a trilogy capper than the middle chapter of a three-part story. It stands alone as a fantastic movie, but it could have done a better job generating hype for the next chapter.