10 Reasons Why Star Wars: The Last Jedi Is Better Than The Force Awakens

9. The Jokes Are Actually Funny

Star Wars The Last Jedi Trailer Chewbacca Porg

Whether it was the trash compactor sequence in A New Hope, Yoda playing tricks on Luke in Empire or the Ewoks in Return, the Star Wars franchise has always been punctuated with a great deal of humour.

While The Force Awakens attempted to capture this same carefree attitude in a more serious story though, it only had a few genuine jokes that landed, usually reserved for Han or a couple great visual gags with Kylo Ren.

The Last Jedi, on the other hand, is genuinely hilarious. From the opening scene with Poe prank calling Hux to Luke guzzling Bo Müvine's green milk, the jokes in the sequel come thick and fast, while never taking away from the serious sequences.

This sudden injection of humour has been contentious, sure, but Johnson ultimately gets away with it because it serves to humanise the characters.

The franchise doesn't need to be a laugh-a-minute comedy, but seeing otherwise one-note baddies like Hux deal with a concept as alien to him as "humour" inherently brings them down to Earth and presents them as relatable human beings.

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Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.