The new installment of the Star Wars trilogy, The Last Jedi, earns its place among the original films created by George Lucas; and despite somewhat negative audience scores from Rotten Tomatoes, the movie is worth multiple, albeit expensive, trips to the theater.

Director Rian Johnson had tough shoes to fill following the success of JJ Abrams‘s The Force Awakens, Johnson’s film is the most unique in the series, mixing humor with scenes of intense darkness.

The film begins during the chaotic evacuation of the Resistance base mere minutes after the Force Awakens ends. With Starkiller Base destroyed, the nefarious First Order, led by the still mysterious Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) and General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson) move in to destroy the Resistance.

Following a semi successful attack on the The First Orders dreadnought by Poe (Oscar Isaac) and his squad of disposable resistance heroes, we get to see Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia and the resistance more up close and personal this time around. Fisher, who seems more comfortable in her role, passed away last December leaving this film as her final appearance.

As the First Order chases the Resistance fleet, the film spend much of the first half with the other member of the Skywalker family, Luke Skywalker, portrayed by the legendary Mark Hamill. Whether he’s drinking milk from a mysterious sea creature with pure cringe in his eyes, or when he demonstrates his vastly superior limbo skills while facing off against Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), this version of Skywalker is unique, and an interesting take on the old Jedi.

Luke spend much of the first half gallivanting around his small island with the young learner Rey (Daisy Ridley). As the film progresses Rey is able to learn of both Luke and Kylo Ren’s past, and at one moment she sees herself in a situation very similar to Luke’s while he was training with master Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back.

As Daisy Ridley’s Rey continues to be an interesting addition to the Star Wars franchise, it is her scenes with Kylo Ren, now being referred to as Ben Solo, that make both of their performances. While starting off as a somewhat “edgy” villain, The Last Jedi turns Kylo Ren into a fantastic troubled villain. The two spend much of the film getting to know each other through a force-link with their minds, at first being hostile to each other, the two eventually team up, although this alliance is short lived.

While Rey and Kylo explore the Force, Finn (John Boyega) is sent on a mission by Poe, and while Finn has potential to be a really interesting character his subplot is in all honesty disappointing, yet this is more of less a writing issue. Finn and newcomer Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) set out with the always-adorable droid BB-8 to solve the problem of the First Orders tracking capabilities. However, long story short, at the end of the film, none of the time spent with Finn or Rose actually matters.

In the end both sides end up where they are not based on Finn and Rose saving the day, but by the actions of veteran actor Laura Dern’s character Admiral Holdo. In one of the most spectacular scenes ever created for a Star Wars movie, Holdo rams the First Order capital ship at light speed as the sound goes out and Star Destroyers are ripped to pieces allowing the last of the Resistance to escape to the planet below.

As Luke and Kylo finally meet “face-to-face”, the Resistance struggles to fight off the First Order, eventually we see Rey fully demonstrate her Force abilities as she and our lovable Chewbacca help the Resistance escape aboard the Millennium Falcon. As Luke lightly puts it, the end of the film sees the rebellion reborn, Rey on the path to becoming a Jedi and the war against The First Order far from over.

The Last Jedi is a different film, yet that doesn’t make it a bad movie in the slightest. While some Characters such a Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie) and Supreme Leader Snoke were short lived and somewhat disappointing, the rest of the cast with the exception of Rose shined bright. The film overall was a terrific addition to the Star Wars Saga, and was a beautiful end for our beloved princess Carrie Fisher.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars