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

7. Puppetry Takes Precedence Over CGI

Star Wars The Last Jedi Caretakers
Lucasfilm

To The Force Awakens' credit, the movie actually did a pretty good job of scaling back the CGI present in the prequels and grounding an aesthetic closer to the original trilogy, but The Last Jedi is so old-school in its filmmaking techniques that it fits in the same world as the older films perfectly.

Likewise, as a result of moving away from CGI creatures in favour of actual puppetry and in-camera animatronics, the world of The Last Jedi feels more tangible than ever. Hell, even when digital effects are used, it's always in a way that mimics the dated, stilted puppetry of the first three movies, with the First Order's AT-AT's stop-motion-esque movement being the biggest example of Johnson's throwback approach.

Plus, how great was it to see the real Yoda again for the first time in years? Puppets might be more limiting than the power of CGI, but when it comes to Star Wars, they'll always reign supreme.

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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.