I think it’s safe to say that by now we have all made a trip to the movie theater to see Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi. As popular and money-making as it was, there are mixed opinions, most of which are in favor of the direction that Rian Johnson decided to take the saga. However, now we are left with more questions than answers, as this saga is so fond of doing. Now we’re going to take a look at what possible story that Star Wars Episode XI will tell, but remember:
SPOILER ALERT
Okay, now that we’re safe, let’s talk The Last Jedi.
The movie was highly enjoyable and offered some of the best special effects that we have seen in a very long time. I mean, that scene where Vice Admiral Holdo plows through the First Order’s spaceship was stunning! However, the plot was confusing as hell and some parts *cough* Finn and Rose *cough* could’ve been left out completely. I’m pretty sure no one saw where Johnson was planning to take the direction of the villains in this movie. Let’s get into that…
As you know, The Force Awakens set up what we thought was going to be a spectacular showdown between our new heroes and the mysterious villain known as Supreme Leader Snoke. Like Darth Vader, Kylo Ren served as Snoke’s muscle and struck fear into opposers, be it on a much less intimidating scale. Then shortly into The Last Jedi, we finally get to see him in the flesh, or what’s left of it. We see that he’s a frail-looking old man with burn injuries, who can master the force and even use force-lightning. As intimidating as he seems, halfway through the movie we are thrown for a complete loop and Kylo Ren literally cuts Snoke in half. I’m sure none of us were expecting that. Like, at all.
The rest of the movie plays out as a cat and mouse game where the First Order races to destroy what’s left of the Resistance as well as Princess Leia. Kylo assumes command, much to the dismay of General Hux. My issue with this is that after two movies spent with Kylo Ren, he’s not much of a villain. He’s bratty, conniving and not very intimidating anymore. Sure, he is skilled, but nowhere near Luke Skywalker’s strength. Which brings me to my next issue.
Luke Skywalker spent all of the movie hidden away on a secret island where he hoped to live his last days, just to finally appear before Kylo Ren and do battle, but we learn that it’s all a Force-Hologram. I’m sure fans were waiting for Kylo to get the butt-whooping he sorely deserved. Luke’s final deed wasn’t in vain as he bought time for the Resistance to escape, but he ended up dying in the process for some reason. Now, the only fighting chance that the Resistance had at standing up to Kylo and the First Order is gone! What about Rey? She spent a few days with Luke and you expect her to be a Master Jedi? I don’t think so. She stole the ancient Jedi texts? Okay, but no one becomes a Jedi Master by reading. Kylo had his training. He may not be that great, but now he’s far better than the opposition and that’s not saying much!
What about Captain Phasma, you ask? You mean the badass captain of the Stormtroopers with the beautiful chrome armor? Oh, she was bested by Finn, a runaway ordinary stormtrooper. Oh, and BB-8 helped. Yes, the astromech droid. So we can all kiss that sweet armor goodbye.
Now that The Last Jedi is behind us, pun intended, who will serve as the big bad of this trilogy?
In Episode VII: The Force Awakens, Rey has a vision where she sees not only Kylo Ren, but the rest of the Knights of Ren. Who are they? The Knights of Ren are a group of Dark Side users who were under the command of Supreme Leader Snoke. In Rey’s vision, we see that there are at least 7 Knights, including Kylo Ren. Will they be coming for vengeance for their fallen leader? Or will they be as underwhelming as everyone else? Only time will tell and judging by how this saga has been going so far, we won’t see it coming.
Where do you see this story heading? Hopefully somewhere good!
