Directed By: Rian Johnson
Directing – 9
Rian Johnson did a pretty good job with the direction of this film. It feels very unique it feels a little bit different from a Star Wars film, not in a bad way, but in a way that we don’t really see Star Wars films created: Some of the shots, scenes, edits, action, etc. They feel extremely unique and that was pretty cool. Like we are pretty much aware how a Star Wars film is filmed, how the shots, edits, etc. We kind of having an idea what we’ll see in a Star Wars film, this film is a little different is feels different it takes risks it tries to do something new with Star Wars and that is something I appreciate.
Cinematography – 10
The cinematography is absolutely beautiful. Arguably the best visually stunning/looking film within the saga. The film looks gorgeous, the colors are great and framing just looks unique maybe with some indie film inspiration.
Score – 10
John Williams does what John Williams does. He creates another great score. The music is great.
Story – 8
The story follows the Resistance trying to escape the First Order while they are being track and while that is going on, Rey is attempting to get Luke Skywalker to come back to the Resistance to help them and to fight against the First Order. Luke’s portrayal in this film is arguably what allowed this film to be the most divisive Star Wars film possibly ever. I will say that Luke portrayal in this film is great he has a good arc in this film. He starts off as a man who feels broken, defeated, feels like a failure, filled with regret, guilt, shame, etc. Then he ends his arc and his story with a man standing up to face the First Order and his conflicted driven nephew, Kylo Ren. Luke becomes a true Jedi by ending his story by facing his failures, instead of running away from them. The film has many potential themes of balance, overcoming failure, faith, hope, family, etc. I also like Poe’s arc he is a reckless, arrogant pilot and he has to learn how to become a more responsible Resistance leader, also Finn has a nice arc he is a man who wants to run away from the fighting and he decides to fight for the Resistance. I also think it was really clever storytelling to put Poe and Finns arc interconnected around the final battle. I thought that was great writing by Rian Johnson. Rey and Kylo are also great as well. Kylo is very conflicted and doesn’t always know what is best, he believes that the dark side is his where he should be, but he is given many instances that shows maybe he isn’t meant to be in the dark side. He is very conflicted villain, and I think he was written pretty well. Rey struggles to learn about who she is who her parents are, she tries to look for answers, but finds out differently. Yes, and we know who they actually are in the Rise Of Skywalker, but I feel like for the story it works extremely well. For my negatives, I feel that the Finn and Rise storyline, while it wasn’t bad or not enjoyable, I just felt it could have been a little different. Especially towards the end when Finn is about to make a decision, but is interrupted by Rose and if Finn was able to make this decision it would have added more depth to his character and his arc in the story. Overall, that is my only big gripe with the story, I think that the story overall is pretty good.
Acting – 10
The acting is really great. Everyone portrays their characters extremely well.
Post-Production – 10
The editing good and the special effects are pretty good as well. Maybe a negative, would be there are a couple times where a scene could have been switched and maybe it could have worked, the other way around, maybe.
Entertainment – 9
I think the film is pretty entertaining and pretty enjoyable. I will say at times the first hour can feel a bit iffy. I will say and the Finn and Rose storyline, while I don’t hate it, I would preferred it to be a little different. The film itself gets a lot of unnecessary hate. Is it a perfect film? No, but it is far from a bad film.
Final Rating
9.2/10 – Over-hated Star Wars film.
