I continue to say it. After The Rise of Skywalker, my appreciation for The Last Jedi (even its flaws) has grown exponentially. There’s no denying the fact that Johnson worked hard on this movie, throwing detail after detail while ultimately conceiving a Star Wars movie, unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. However, in essence, The Last Jedi is simply an ultra-fancy and well-written rehash of The Empire Strikes Back, but instead of J.J Abrams’ tactic which led to The Force Awakens literally copying A New Hope‘s playbook, Johnson reverses what we come to expect, delivering a powerful storyline that’ll leave one flabbergasted at the end.

Don’t believe me? Here’s a side-to-side comparison of each film’s structure from beginning to end and how Johnson manages to tell a story that deserves the praise it received.

The Rebels Take a Beating

In The Last Jedi, Johnson speeds up the process of the rebels getting their you-know-what’s kicked by having this space battle take place at the very beginning of the movie but it resembles the moment the rebels are attacked on Hoth who also are forced to retreat if they are to survive.

But what makes Johnson’s version more moving storywise are the layers he brings to the scenario. We’re talking about Paige’s heroism which leads to an unfortunate death, Leia’s shaky control on Poe and her anger with his cockiness/brashness that ends up leading to the rebels’ ultimate defeat (rather than a win), and beneath all of this, General Hux’s failure and his inadequacy as a leader of the First Order is also displayed. All of this is fleshed out in the span of an epic space battle. Continue reading The Brilliance of Rian Johnson’s ‘The Last Jedi’ →