Two Times ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ Jumped The Shark
WARNING: MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI, OBVIOUSLY
Over the last couple of days, I have written thousands of words about Star Wars: The Last Jedi. I talked about my disappointment with it flirting with doing something new with the Force before snapping back to the status quo. I’ve talked about my befuddlement with the sidelining of Rey from her own narrative. But I haven’t had a chance yet to talk about two moments that pulled me straight out of the movie; moments from which I never fully recovered. So today, let’s talk about Leia…and Yoda.
Remember when Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull came out? Remember how Indy hides from a nuclear blast in a refrigerator and lives? Remember how “Nuke the fridge” entered our pop culture lexicon alongside “Jump the shark” as a way to describe a moment that pulls you so far out of a film or television experience that you never really recover? With The Last Jedi, a new moment joins them: Leia Poppins.
I have no issues with Leia being strong in the Force. Hell, the Expanded Universe lore created a galaxy where she was stronger in the Force than Luke, she was simply untrained. But the world already had one Mary Poppins reference this year, and Guardians of the Galaxy did it better. When Kylo Ren couldn’t bring himself to kill his mother, but then Leia got space anyway, it was one of the strongest moments of the film. For a hot second, I forgot the trailer showed Leia on Crait, I forgot the interviews that said Episode IX was supposed to be Carrie Fisher’s film. All I could think was, “Oh my God, they went back and edited it to give Fisher a devastating death.”
But, no. Like nearly every other moment in The Last Jedi that could’ve been a beat of emotional resonance, the narrative pulls its punches. It does it here with Leia. It does it with Rey and Kylo flirting with the idea of Balance. It does it with Finn sacrificing himself. It even does it with Luke*. The film teases high stakes so many times, but at the end of the day plot-armor and anti-climatic choices win.
*In the first act, Luke derisively asks Rey what did she expect, for him to single-handedly take on an army? Having Luke stand alone against the First Order on Crait could’ve been the nice bookend there that yes, he was going to do just that. But alas, that kind of badassery will be contained to the animated shows.
I’m not even saying Leia had to die in that moment (though God, what a gut punch that would’ve been). Kylo Ren is right there. He literally just made the choice to love his mother more than he hates everything in the galaxy. A choice immediately undone as he watches two peons blow her up. Kylo is a lot of things, but calm is not one of them. Why we didn’t see him Force clap those two First Order fighters together in a bout of rage is beyond me. I would’ve even been okay if Leia and Kylo had worked together to save her. Perhaps Leia could’ve kept herself alive while Kylo Force-pushed her back to relative safety. We saw him stop a blaster bolt mid-air in The Force Awakens. Gently pushing an elderly woman through space would’ve been a cake walk. It could’ve also given Kylo more internal strife and given Leia pause once Luke showed up to kill her son. Instead, we got Flying Leia. A moment I’m sure was meant to feel triumphant, that Leia finally was getting to show off her Force chops, but instead, it felt cheap and unearned.
Speaking of cheap and unearned, we need to talk about Yoda. As one of the most powerful Force ghosts — if not THE most powerful Force ghost — it absolutely makes sense that he could affect the physical world and would continue to assist Luke from beyond the grave. Skywalker never finished his training, and he is the last hope of the Jedi Order, after all. What doesn’t make sense? Showing up now, when it’s too late to be of any real help. Where were you ten years ago, jackass? When your apprentice was clearly being seduced by fear and the Dark Side to the point he was contemplating murdering a sleeping child, his nephew, in cold blood? Or at any point in the last decade when Luke was moping on Ahch-To while the galaxy burned? Introducing Yoda now is exactly what it looks like: a nostalgic throwback. Which would’ve been fine if there was a throwaway line about having to save up the energy to take on corporeal form. Anything to explain why Yoda was only helping now.
I know I’ve been way harsh (Tai) on The Last Jedi, and there are parts of it I enjoyed and even loved. Focusing more on the everyday heroes of the Resistance like Rose and Paige was the highlight of the film for me. But the theme that “Anyone can be a hero” is muddied by a story that is so determined to surprise the audience that it undermines itself. Jerking viewers around with false stakes, fake-out twists, and an anti-climatic ending that leaves the status quo intact (a small band of scrappy rebels aboard the Millennium Falcon must fight an impossibly strong Imperial enemy with only an untrained Jedi at their side sounds really familiar) undoes any goodwill the film engenders with that message.
Here’s hoping Episode IX can fix it.