“The chief complaint against Star Wars: The Force Awakens was that it reveled too much in its own past, repeating the themes and dynamics of the Star Wars franchise too closely. Taking it as an expertly constructed remix, I enjoyed it through and through, but even I will admit that it’s still just a remix.”
“The Last Jedi winds up being its own thing.”
“It concludes with an overwhelming note of hope.”
“It sets its ambitions high and follows through.”
“And it walks the tricky line of surprising a savvy audience while also following its franchise’s familiar symmetries and tropes.”
“The Last Jedi knows that it is not just trying to make more Star Wars. It’s trying to work with symbols and patterns that Star Wars made forever iconic — conceits that other stories have been building on and reframing and refocusing in every medium for 40 years.”
“It turns out that Disney really can have a series of war movies that you can take a grade-schooler to. It can even have a war movie that tips its hat to its own setting’s preoccupation with cycles of conflict.”
“it continues The Force Awakens’ biggest job, that of passing the weight of the galaxy from the shoulders of the original trilogy’s heroes to those of our young protagonists. Here, even more than before, it’s up to them to determine the future of their world.”
“As Kylo Ren has said (in trailers, so it’s not a spoiler!), “Let the past die. Kill it, if you have to. It’s the only way to become what you’re meant to be.””
“As in most things, he’s a little overdramatic for the occasion — but it’s still a serviceable metaphor for the journey of the story of Star Wars from the final scene of The Force Awakens to the final scene of The Last Jedi.”