Star Wars: The Last Jedi Review - 8 Ups And 1 Down

5. The Way It Pushes The Franchise Forward

Let the past die.

It's a central theme of Rian Johnson's movie: the power of the past, the ghosts it holds and the ways they in turn can hold you back, and how you've instead got to look forward. It's true for almost all of these characters, if largely examined through Rey and Kylo Ren, but it's also an example the film itself follows.

The Force Awakens has drawn increasing criticism for how closely it resembles the original Star Wars. How fair that is is a different argument, but it's something The Last Jedi largely avoids. There are moments in the film that echo, sorry, "rhyme" with The Empire Strikes Back, for example Luke's reluctant training of Rey, and enough lightsaber and X-wing action to make this feel like Star Wars.

But it's so much bigger, too. Johnson's made a movie of staggering ambition, considering the studio machine he's placed in, and one that succeeds in differing itself from what's come before. He tests not only his characters, but the boundaries of what he can get away with in the Skywalker saga.

He's not just using the old tropes but reinventing them; deconstructing Star Wars and putting it back together in his own vision. It's brave and bold and won't be for everyone, but it's ultimately a risk that pays off. The franchise was healthy from a box office perspective after The Force Awakens, but after The Last Jedi it's a thrill to think about where the stories will go next, and impossible to predict, while Johnson's own trilogy just got even more exciting.