Star Wars: Ranking Every Film From Worst To Best
2. The Last Jedi
While other directors who had been given the herculean task of following Lucas' footsteps, such as Abrams, saw Star Wars as the inherently nostalgic serialized pulp-fiction of their youth, Rian Johnson seemed to understand in a different way.
Last Jedi is a film that sees Star Wars as poetry. It isn't just looking to the original trilogy's designs or structure for references, it's looking at Lucas' work as a whole and taking larger lessons from it. The result is an infinitely more powerful and deeply resonant film that enriches the franchise as a whole.
It's an art film, with remarkable direction, meaningful conversations, and Steve Yedlin's sublime cinematography capturing nuanced and powerful performances from newcomers and legacy characters alike. And yet it also delivers some of the most thrilling setpieces in Star Wars history. The opening bombing run is incredible, the entirety of the throne room sequence is insanely captivating, and the finale on Crait is a wondrously poetic end to the film and Luke Skywalker's arc across not just this film, but the saga as a whole.
It also features John Williams' best work since 1980. His score for this is insane, dissecting and repurposing his own work throughout the franchise in innovative and genius ways. Also, Hamill delivers a remarkable performance, his best of the franchise.