Want to start a fight at a comic convention? Bring up The Last Jedi, and that should do it.
Over four decades, the Star Wars franchise boasts nine movies in The Skywalker Saga, four spinoff films, three live-action series, six cartoon shows, seven animated micro-series, one Holiday Special, and a partridge in a pear tree. Still not enough for you? Disney has plenty more on the way for years to come.
Out of all that Star Wars content, the most polarizing entry is Episode VIII: The Last Jedi. Written and directed by Rian Johnson, the film received a 91 percent ‘Fresh’ rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Fans, however, had a much different take, scoring the film as officially ‘Rotten’ with 42 percent.
Despite the critical praise and the film’s box office success, many longtime Star Wars devotees chastised Last Jedi as the worst entry in the galaxy far, far away. At the time of the film’s release, Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill, had been critical of Johnson’s take on Star Wars, telling Vanity in 2017:
“I at one point had to say to Rian, ‘I pretty much fundamentally disagree with every choice you’ve made for this character.’”
There’s been a broad change in perspective on films that were initially rejected by audiences. What was once the subject of ridicule and debate is now being embraced. While Last Jedi still has mostly detractors, there has been a growing voice among the Star Wars fandom that, in retrospect, see the positives of Johnson’s entry into the mythos.
For his part, the writer-director has always stood by his film. In an interview with Empire, he explained that he is even more proud of Last Jedi now than when it premiered five years ago.
“When I was up at bat, I really swung at the ball. I think it’s impossible for any of us to approach Star Wars without thinking about it as a myth that we were raised with, and how that myth, that story, baked itself into us and affected us. The ultimate intent was not to strip away – the intent was to get to the basic, fundamental power of myth. And ultimately I hope the film is an affirmation of the power of the myth of Star Wars in our lives.”
It’s unlikely that Star Wars fans will ever agree on the best and worst of the series, but it seems that Last Jedi could warrant a second chance five years later.