Daisy Ridley – Rey
Mark Hamill – Luke Skywalker
Carrie Fisher – General Leia Organa
John Boyega – Finn
Adam Driver – Kylo Ren
Oscar Isaac – Poe Dameron
Andy Serkis – Supreme Leader Snoke
What can I say about this one?
You all know exactly what to expect; great visuals, plenty of lightsaber swinging and running, explosions and hovering ships.. Star Wars: The Last Jedi is probably going to be the most predictable film you’ve seen in months – or years. You know what’s coming before the iconic opening titles have even played:
The protagonist. The main nemesis. The help. The inspiration. The teacher. The fluffy thing they call Chewbacca. The battle – including who wins and who loses. All Star Wars films are mapped out the same, taking all of these elements and sending the viewer down Familiar Avenue every episode. It’s just too obvious and I knew 100% what was going to happen before it did.
And it did.
The character I knew would die died.
The character I knew would face life-threatening danger but survive – did.
The character I assumed would make a dramatic appearance, cause a huge impact and then disappear again – did.
I’m not surprised Star Wars: The Last Jedi was distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures because, ironically, the movie itself is as forseeable as an old-fashioned Disney fairytale. You get the good guy, the bad guy, and the history between them. You then get a showdown between good and evil, with the good guy winning. A-B-C that’s how the story runs because that’s how it always runs. You can beef up this movie to make it sound fantastic but when it really comes down to it, Star Wars: The Last Jedi lacks highly the element of surprise. It is just like all the others. Sad but true.
I can bet lifelong fans of Star Wars were sat there, excitable, thinking, “oooh look, it’s that spaceship again from the original.. ahh, wow, they’re in outer space again..” – and good for them.
On a scale of entertainment Star Wars: The Last Jedi might have had a huge budget channelled into its visuals and A-list cast, but it is highly predictable and runs from start to finish like a pantomime. Complete with a cloaked enemy who swoops on to the set, weapon-swinging heroine and comic relief, this really is nothing I haven’t seen before.