Star Wars: 10 Ways The Last Jedi Gets Better On Second Watch
2. Understanding Luke Skywalker
Mark Hamill was publicly critical of the way The Last Jedi handled Luke Skywalker’s return, even if he has since expressed regret at what he said. In the original trilogy, the young man from Tatooine developed from a timid teenager into a monster of a man. His story arc ended with him bringing down Dark Vader so, given the First Order are being led by Vader 2.0 in Kylo Ren, fans were expecting a lot.
Yet when the film came out, many accused Luke of cowardice and uncharacteristic decisions. In their eyes, the Skywalker of old would never have let his friends die for him (hello, did Rian Johnson not watch the Empire Strikes Back?) and they were also finding it hard to believe that Luke, the man who chose not to kill his father, would consider killing his nephew instead.
Watching the movie a second time, though, it clears things up. A lot. Luke is hurting – he suffered a moment of weakness not too dissimilar to when he contemplated (and he DID contemplate) killing Vader. And with regards to saving his friends, he does just that in the film’s finale, oozing style and class at the same time. Even if some fans, though, would still rather he had actually been on Crait rather than transmitting a hologram image of himself.