Good Evening Lovelies, 

I am going to start this review by admitting that I was not a Star Wars fan at the start of the year. I had nothing against it and knew lots of references, but I had never seen them. I know I am sorry aha! It took up until my birthday trip to Disneyland Paris in July to fall head over heels in love with it. I’ve binged them all and so yesterday I was up bright and early to catch the latest in the franchise, Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

As soon as the words scroll up the screen and the best cinematic score plays, audiences are thrown back into the world of Star Wars in an unbelievable way. Meeting the characters right where the last film left off, director Rian Johnson has made an epic sequel that rivals that of The Empire Strikes Back.


With Rey (Daisy Ridley) still stuck on Skellig island with a very unhelpful Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), the rest of the team including Finn (John Boyega), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) and newcomers, Amilyn Holdo (Laura Dern) and Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran), are fighting off the First Order’s desire to destroy all Rebel fleets. Under the control of General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson), Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and the Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis in full performance capture beauty).

From dark moments on board the First Orders ship to a brightly coloured casino moment featuring a cameo from Justin Theroux and the introduction of DJ (Benicio Del Toro), which resembles something out of a James Bond film, Finn, Rey, Luke, Poe, Rose and Leia are not on home territory anymore. Rey needs Luke to show her the way, but he can’t handle the dark forces that lie within her, due to his history with Ren. Finn, however, is being forced to come face to face with the history he left behind, as his new relationship with Rose gives him the strength to return to the First Base camp. Whilst, Poe is fighting everything he can to help the rebels on board his ship as Leia falls ill.

The film instantly stands out from its previous one by far for its incredible use of emotions. This story is on a completely new level and there are lots of new feet to fall back on with it, meaning we never get bored. Johnson’s story places us in the heart of three worlds. Skywalker’s home with the lovable Porg’s. The battle happening on board the ships in the galaxy and the connecting world of the force between Kylo Ren and Rey. The last one being a world that could have caused a lot of problem’s if a miss with audiences. However, it definitely won’t be, as there are many twists and turns throughout each situation that make this film a masterpiece or in the case of Skywalker, a forceful one.


Yet, whilst the return of Luke Skywalker rules the film, it isn’t what makes it. The pulling bond/force/connection between Rey and Kylo Ren/Ben Solo is. Johnson gives audiences what they want, as Rey learns of her ancestry and Ren falls under the doom and depression of his surrogate father, Snoke, leading to a point where they both need each other to survive. A survival that even this film will leave audiences with a want and a need to know more.

Kylo Ren/Ben Solo is personally the best villain the franchise has ever had. He lives with the shadow of the power his grandfather had over him, his mother is the leader of the rebellion and his father was the coolest man to ever drive a spaceship and survive being encased in metal. Driver is a formidable force as Kylo Ren, with both likeable and villainous qualities that make viewers unable to ever fully dislike him. In fact, that hatred goes onto Gleeson’s General Hux, as Snoke falls under the power of his apprentice and Rey during the later moments of the film that lead to an epic fight between Snoke, Kylo Ren and Rey.

Ren’s connection to Rey is what will drive the next feature forward and will bring audiences to seats. Like Darth Vader, there is a need to know what will happen to such an evil figure. Will he return to the light side? Will he play a part in bringing or restoring order to the galaxy? Has he been affected by the death of Luke Skywalker? How can he speak to Rey when she isn’t even there? The mask is off, and Rey is going to make him show his true colours, especially if Johnson has any influence on the future storyline (he should!).


Plus, with Ridley being on top form again as Rey, along with Boyega’s lovable Finn, the dreamy Poe and fantastic newcomer Rose, there is no denying that each character is going to be built upon to epic proportions to give this trilogy its ultimate finale.

Throughout the film, there are moments of pure beauty and heartbreak. When we first see Hamill’s, Skywalker enter the Millennium Falcon for the first time since the original trilogy and be reunited with R2-D2, every Star Wars fan will feel their chest tighten. It is a clever mix of old and new combined to show that the franchise will never dimmer it’s light to anymore.

Another moment of sadness is the knowledge that this is the last time we will see Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia. Probably, in fact, the last time we will see Leia in any Star Wars film. Present throughout, her epic scenes show she never lost the power to command a team and that team will go on to dominate the series for her again, including her daughter Billie Lourd, who will be sure to keep her mother's legacy reigning in the next feature. Johnson’s dedication to the actress at the end of the film will bring a tear to many of the franchise's fans.


Much like The Empire Strikes Back, this film has had its waters tested with The Force Awakens and is now flooding the world with a whole new power that makes it the best one yet. It matches up to The Empire Strikes Back, with clever screenshots, the similar relationships between Kylo Ren and Luke Skywalker who ooze the same relationship as Darth Vader and Luke in The Empire Strikes Back, plus the need to know more at every moment. Twists and turns come and go, characters live and die, but the film is always breathing new life into a franchise that never fails to win us over.

The force is strong with The Last Jedi and that is why it has earned itself…