Episode VIII – The Last Jedi is the latest Star Wars movie to be released. Surprisingly, there seems to be no other Star Wars film that resulted in such a dividing response. However, to me The Last Jedi does not deserve any major criticisms and is one of the best Star Wars movies to date. The movie is extremely well done, due to the split up of three subplots that converge at the end of the film. Don’t worry –  I won’t spoil how each story arc ends!

The first arc is followed by young hotshot leader Poe Dameron in the rebellion. The second arc is a continuation of the final scene in The Force Awakens which was about Rey’s training with Luke Skywalker. Finn and Rose, both new characters, have their own arc. But many moviegoers including myself believed their scenes were the weakest part of the movie. If their scenes were to be removed from the movie, they would not be missed! Speaking of which, Canto Bight in particular was a CGI-fest that was absolutely horrendous to watch. Rian Johnson’s failure with Finn and Rose did not catch up to Rey or Poe, which resulted in their scenes singlehandedly carrying the movie into stardom.

Kylo Ren was another warm addition to The Last Jedi. He evolves from a weak imitation of Darth Vader into a powerful Sith Lord whose powers are unmatched, even by Rey. Behind his power however, lies a conflicted man. Despite his ease in killing his father Han Solo in The Force Awakens, there are several scenes which seem to set up his ultimate rise to the light. The fandom’s hopes of Kylo’s return to the Jedi are soon shattered when he shockingly devotes himself completely to the First Order.

Despite this fallback, the most critical part of The Last Jedi was it’s thematic element of moving on from the past. As Kylo Ren once said, “Let the past die. Kill it if you have to.” Rian Johnson attempted to hint to the fact that future Star Wars movies will be their own movies. They won’t require the past success and hype of the original trilogy to become one of a kind. This analogy was best represented by Luke Skywalker’s training of Rey. Without spoilers, Luke Skywalker showed that he was more than just a myth, and his destruction of the Empire turned him into a legend. Rey – like the new Star Wars films – won’t require a past legend to become great.

In conclusion, The Last Jedi was one of the biggest movie highlights of 2017, and definitely deserves a watch from any movie fan.