Guest Blog: The Last Jedi: Act 1, Scene 2

I can't figure out whether I liked Star Wars: The Last Jedi or not. I have now seen it more times than Tom Brady has won the Super Bowl, and I'm still not any closer to figuring out whether it belongs on my "Top 10" list or "Worst Of" list. The best I can say it I liked it just as much as I didn't like it. Which is to say, a lot. Though over repeated viewings, one thing has become clear to me. These Disney Star Wars films are not the final trilogy in George Lucas's grand plan for a trilogy of trilogies. Episode VIII is not Act 3, scene 2 of the series, as it were. The Last Jedi is Act 1, scene 2 of a brand new series. Let the Past Die; Kill It if You Have To One major problem I've had with this sequel trilogy is that it seem to nullify the achievements of the original trilogy. Luke and the Rebels defeat the Sith and the Empire, bring balance to the Force, and everyone lives happily ever after. Well…for a few years. And then history repeated itself, and now we're in the exact same mess as before with nothing achieved and nothing changed. The Force Awakens is a remake of A New Hope with some bits of Empire Strikes Back thrown in, and The Last Jedi is a remake of Empire Strikes Back with bits of Return of the Jedi mixed in. Come on, you know it was. just admit it:

• The main thrust of the plot focuses on the Rebellion out running the bad guys while our protagonist trains with a cranky Jedi Master on a flora-rich planet.

• We take a short excursion in an opulent city that has sinister undercurrents.

• There is a land battle using AT-ATs on a snow planet…sorry, salt planet.

• Against the wishes of his/her compatriots, our hero sneaks behind enemy lines to try to turn the villain towards the light.

• The list goes on…

Many of us forgave The Force Awakens for being a remake because it was still setting up a new world, but now we can be fairly sure that the whole sequel trilogy will be a remake with a few updates here and there for our modern sensibilities. At first I thought this was just weak storytelling by studio executives milking that sweet, sweet nostalgia cash cow. But I'm now beginning to think this was a deliberate plan that sets the foundation for franchise that is nowhere close to complete. At the end of The Last Jedi, Kylo Ren tells Rey, "It's time to let old things die…The Empire, your parents, the Resistance, the Sith, the Jedi... let the past die. Kill it, if you have to." I literally said to the screen, "Yeah. Do that, please!" And I don't doubt that in time they will, but not by the end of this trilogy. This Will Not Be the Last of the Star Wars Back in the late 70s, George Lucas told The Atlantic that he came up with the name Star Wars as a generic title—not attached to any particular 'star' or 'war'— as a way to entice scifi nerds into the theater. Star Wars, as a pastiche of film serials like Buck Rogers, exists in the same genre as other pulp pastiches like Stranger Things, Weird Science and Pulp Fiction. Its title is generic because it is representative of a genre, and it allows the storyteller to venture off on tangents and tell anthology stories. And that's exactly what Disney plans to do. The Force Awakens came out in 2015. Episode IX comes out in 2019. Do you really think Disney spent all that money on purchasing LucasFilm to end the franchise after five years? Disney has produced 12 Marvel films so far with 7 more on the way. And those are only the ones we know of! They certainly aren't going to let Star Wars peter out after only half a decade. At the end of The Last Jedi, Luke Skywalker tells Kylo Ren, "The rebellion is reborn today, the war is just begun, and I will not be the last Jedi." Well, we can be sure the franchise is reborn with this movie. The wars have just begun. And this will not be the (second to) last Star Wars. This is a guest post by Mark-Anthony Lewis. You can read more of what he has to say about stuff and nonsense at irregardlessmagazine.com.