The Last Jedi is, I have to imagine, no one’s second favorite movie in the Star Wars sequel trilogy. It’s either your favorite for brilliantly subverting the worst Star Wars tropes, or your least favorite for turning Luke Skywalker into a defeated grump who turns his back on the Jedi. As someone who belongs to the former camp (it’s my third favorite Star Wars movie overall), I wanted to “burn it down” every time I looked at writer and director Rian Johnson’s Twitter mentions whenever he tweeted about the movie.
Heck, Johnson still hears from pissed-off Star Wars, five years later, so it’s understandable that he muted the replies to his first The Last Jedi tweet in some time.
“Haven’t touched this stuff in years, but Bryan lines them up and knocks them down so succinctly and with such a pleasant tone, I figured eh, f*ck it. (replies off to spare his timeline),” the Knives Out director tweeted. He was quote-tweeting a thread from writer and filmmaker Bryan Young, who wrote, “I’ve been seeing some interpretations of The Last Jedi in my mentions that are making me scratch my head and wonder if I saw the same movie. So I thought I’d tackle a few of them in a thread.”
The whole thing is worth a read, but here are some highlights:
Luke’s arc in The Last Jedi is steeped in the history of Star Wars and mythology of the world. When he realizes neutrality benefits the oppressors, he comes back, but on his terms, taking up the appearance of Excalibur without betraying his ideals. The pinnacle of being a Jedi. pic.twitter.com/SmIWnqO2DD
— Bryan Young (@swankmotron) June 6, 2022
Another complaint: some people didn’t like Leia’s survival after Ben’s attack on the Raddus. That’s subjective, I guess, but I and many audience members found it moving and beautiful. Leia uses the Force in pretty much EVERY Star Wars movie, so this was no surprise to anyone. pic.twitter.com/UeWWX9oKks
— Bryan Young (@swankmotron) June 6, 2022
Tell me you didn’t pay attention to The Last Jedi without telling me you didn’t pay attention to The Last Jedi:
“Canto Bight didn’t have a point!”
— Bryan Young (@swankmotron) June 6, 2022
I’ll totally do threads like this about other Star Wars movies, too. I love all of them to some extent. I HAVE done threads on all of them. This isn’t new to The Last Jedi.
I think the analysis of Last Jedi gets the most love because it’s actually the deepest, most complex one.
— Bryan Young (@swankmotron) June 6, 2022
Young left out the most important reason why The Last Jedi is good, though: porgs.
(Via Twitter/@swankmotron)