“Star Wars the Last Jedi” – the Greatest or the Worst of the Series?

When you think of big movie franchises, one of the first to come off the top of your head may be the Star Wars movies. They have come out with nine movies, multiple tv shows and video games, and more. But does everything always succeed even for big franchises like Star Wars? One example of this is the newest Star Wars movie, “The Last Jedi.” “The Last Jedi” first came out in theaters on Dec. 15, 2017, and has received criticism from lots of fans as not being a “true Star Wars movie.”

This can even be seen here at West High. One day during Spanish class in December, the latest installment of the franchise had been brought up in class. One comment really stuck with me from what we talked about. At some point, a kid in my class said “Only true Star Wars fans don’t like The Last Jedi.” Now, as someone who actually liked the new movie, I felt confused on how this sentence could apply to my life. I would definitely say that I’m a true Star Wars fan. Coming from a father who has seen every movie the day it came out since “The Empire Strikes Back”, I pride myself in rewatching the movies and tv shows, reading articles on the web about the franchise, and learning about fan theories on the internet. So yes, I would say that I am a true Star Wars fan.

Now, when I go back to think about what the other student in my classroom said, I question why Star Wars fans would not like the new movie. Compared to the last movie, “The Last Jedi” earned less at the box office compared to “The Force Awakens.” “The Last Jedi” earned 1.321 billion USD and “The Force Awakens” earned 2.066 billion USD, showing that less people went to “The Last Jedi” than “The Force Awakens.” When checking the reviews for the Last Jedi on rotten tomatoes, it is clear that the critics liked the movie more than the viewers. The Last Jedi received a certified fresh score of 91% from critics but only 41% liked it of the fan reviews. When looking at reviews, I saw a few common themes between the people who gave it a low score. Many thought that the humor was out of place and that the story didn’t move along in the direction that they hoped it would. When I first saw the new movie, I thought that it was very interesting. I enjoyed all of the funny parts, such as the porgs, Luke’s on liners, and the scene with the animal that produces blue milk. I thought that the story was very interesting, connecting two of the main force users, Rey and Kylo Ren, and brought in new characters such as Rose and Vice Admiral Holdo.

I will say though, that I liked the previous Star Wars movie, “Star Wars the Force Awakens,” better than the new one. One of the reasons behind the majority of the public and myself liking the previous movie more than the new one is due to it seeming less like a Star Wars movie. With the previous movie, people had said that the movie was too similar to the original trilogy, especially comparing the Force Awakens with a New Hope. With the newest movie, the creators definitely took a big risk, but did it pay off? For some people it did become a hit for it, but obviously for others it did not.

In general, the newest installment of the Star Wars series definitely felt like a change for better or for worse. In my opinion, I like that things are changing up, because it would get boring if things were the same during the whole series. I realize that there was some bad parts of the movie, but then again every film has its flaws. I’m happy that this film was different compared to others in the series because it adds a nice twists.