Star Wars: Pinpointing The Sequel Era's BIGGEST MISTAKE
Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi was the most divisive Star Wars project....ever. From pointless additions of characters like Rose Tico, to the underutilization of Stormtrooper turned good guy Finn, t the unnecessary subplot of traveling to a casino to be fed propaganda on how all government entities are terrible.... is that all though? I feel like there is something fans have been bickering about since the release of this film that I may be missing.
Ah yes! Luke Skywalker.
You see the past decade or so Hollywood has been on this kick of sequelizing famous franchises to bring in a new rag tag team of diverse and politically correct youngsters to push the story forward. They are inevitably connected to the former protagonist in some form or fashion who are then used to guide these newcomers on their journey of not only the story but becoming the faces of said franchise.
Look, I really enjoyed The Force Awakens. Would I have preferred to have seen Han, Luke and Leia together in the Falcon once more? ABSOLUELY! Would I have wanted the story to focus more on them and their place in the Galaxy at this point? Again YES! But, I didn't mind the addition of Rey, Poe and Finn. Each brought an interesting angle to the franchise that while slightly mirrored or matched that of our previous faces of the franchise, could absolutely build and become their own Force, pun intended, in the story.
So heading into The Last Jedi the future of these new characters was bright. Poe the Daring and charming pilot, Finn the embodiment of Rebellion, and Rey the catalyst and mysterious draw.
But what does Luke Skywalker have to do with any of this?
Well, after establishing in The Force Awakens that these New Characters are the main focus, the Last Jedi shifts not just nearly all of these characters, but also the new ones introduced to the side. And its done to focus on Luke Skywalker and a VERY divisive take on his story.
Let's not get into whether Luke would or wouldn't become a hermit after failing his nephew. That much has been debated non-stop for years already and will continue to be for years to come.
Rather lets take a look at how shifting focus to Luke and his divisive story not only hurt The Last Jedi... But the Sequel Trilogy as a whole.
Going into Episode 8 it was believed that Luke would be used in a similar fashion that Yoda was in Empire. An old Jedi Master who is reluctant to train a young headstrong Force capable character.
After some reflection he begins to train this person allowing them to gain a better and stronger understanding of the Force and their place in the story.
And sure, that kinda happened in The Last Jedi.... But did it really?
Not only was Luke used too much, especially after establishing in Episode 7 that the legacy characters would be nothing more than supporting roles, they then made him a character that was hard to watch and relate to as we did in his Trilogy.
Rian Johnson had 2 avenues to take with this movie. Stick to the plan JJ (Abrams) set up by using the legacy characters as supporting roles, So Luke would be more of a Yoda here, OR, make Luke a Jedi who is searching for answers on how he failed rather than needing to create a LARGE back story and arc that was so divisive.
Either one of those would have allowed time and energy to be spent with the other Leads in this series. Finn could have continued his struggles of being a former Stormtrooper while also hinting to his Force abilities.
Poe could have been the one leading the Resistance after Leia was incapacitated showcasing his uneasiness in being a leader, but ultimately showing he is more than capable in a time when he is needed most.
This would have built up our new characters and given us more reason to be attached to them. Instead we get far too much time of Luke moping around hardly training our new Jedi hero and then needing to be taught by Yoda, once again.
Look You can Love this movie all you want. But, the time focused on Luke was a disservice to the core cast. Kylo and Rey's story was a jumbled mess. The constant attempts at deceiving the audience by Rian Johnson was annoying at best.
But what truly hurts this movie and the Sequels was Johnson's unwillingness to develop the characters that mattered most. And because of this, JJ Abrams or whomever would have taken on Episode 9 was facing an impossible task to wrap up their stories in one final film.
This does fall on Kathy Kennedy for not allowing Lucasfilm to flesh out a story before rushing in. But this also falls on Rian Johnson for thinking he could do his own thing... be damned what the next Writer/Director could do.
There are quite a few issues with this movie... but the the worst and most damaging to the franchise was the lack of character development. Focusing too much time on Luke and the misdirects took time away from everything else that truly mattered.
You may disagree... and while you are wrong... that is your rightBut either way let us know in the comments what you think.
