Thoughts on Luke Skywalker's Role

by Mike Lunsford

originally posted on www.rockdeeprogueradio.com on December 17th, 2017. 

The release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi has come and passed. If you're looking for no spoilers...oh my god...first off, get over yourself. If you're a long time reader, you know how I feel about spoilers. If this is your first "Mike Lunsford geeky article," first, welcome! Secondly, stop being a punk about spoilers. I know, I know we're all busy. We all want an enjoyable movie/TV watching experience but seriously, the facts are unimportant. Execution of said facts are what makes the story. Get over yourself. Now, in the same vain, I will not be one of those people who screams spoilers in an early showing of a movie to be a dick or a troll, but...not talking about it because someone who hasn't seen it yet MIGHT hear? Come on, man. Grow up. If you're geeky enough to want to read this Star Wars centric article and haven't seen The Last Jedi, well don't read this if you're a crybaby about spoilers. There. It's long, it's rude, but there's my spoiler alert. 

Luke: You're not selling 31 bags, are you? Seriously, I'm deleting people off my Spacebook for that.

First, I'll give you my non-spoiler review. I friggin' hate doing these for all the reasons above but, if you haven't already closed this article and you're still reading, you're thick-skinned and I can dig that. This movie is damn good. Are there flaws? yes. Are there plot holes? of course. There are, in fact, entire beats in this movie that are completely unnecessary. In the end though, this movie has some serious balls. Director Rian Johnson was not fazed by the possibility that some fans might be upset with his vision of some of the classic Star Wars characters (which is vastly different than J.J. Abram's homage to A New Hope with The Force Awakens). The Last Jedi takes what you've envisioned for decades, the legacy of Luke Skywalker, and knocks it on it's face. For some, this is sacrilege! For those who are tired of cookie-cutter movies that do the same thing over and over (like pretty much every Marvel movie after Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier), this is a wonderful thing. In fact, critics have loved this movie. I loved this movie and I'm a fanboy for Star Wars. It was not what I expected. There were things I was hoping to see and I got to see them. Above all else, Star Wars: The Last Jedi is well written, it's a different approach to Star Wars storytelling that was sorely needed, and it opens up the series for a fantastic finale in Episode IX. 

I give Star Wars: The Last Jedi 3.5 out of 5 lightsabers. You gotta see it if you're a Star Wars fan. Go in with an open mind, look forward to a new story that you haven't seen, yet there will be some familiar friends and tropes for you to wax nostalgic about. Are there issues? Yeah, of course. But It's positives out weigh their negatives.

Now, for the rest of the review. Don't read past Yoda and Luke if you don't want spoilers. 

Luke: What's that smell?
Yoda: The swamp, it is. Not me, definitely.

Look how brave you are! Reading past the spoilers notice! Let's get into the nitty gritty now. My thoughts on this movie focus almost entirely on Luke Skywalker...and here's why: I grew up idolizing Luke Skywalker. Every stick that was about 3 feet long became a lightsaber in my backyard. I jumped off my deck imagining it was a desert skiff in Return of the Jedi. When we last saw Luke (except the 20 seconds at the end of Force Awakens) he had helped saved the galaxy, redeemed his father from the Dark Side and flew off the exploding Death Star II to celebrate the Rebel victory with his friends and bunch of cannibal teddy bears. He was also tasked with rebuilding the Jedi Order per Yoda's deathbed request.

Rebuilding the Jedi would turn out to be a tall task. As he started on his journey to do so, he took on his nephew Ben Solo as a trainee. Now, if you've seen the movie, you know what happened. Luke saw the darkness within Ben that was being stoked by Snoke and went to confront him. His confrontation came in the form of an ignited lightsaber which might not have been the best approach, but hindsight is 20/20. Ben immediately draws his saber and defends himself, thinking Luke is there to kill him. Who's at fault in this scenario? Probably both of them. Luke fell victim to the same thing that befell his father: taking his Force visions too literally. Luke essentially willed Ben Solo's turn to the Dark Side into existence when he very realistically could have talked him out of it. Just like Anakin's vision of Padme's death in childbirth, Anakin's obsession with controlling EVERYTHING caused it. Luke has a lot of Vader in him...and so does Ben Solo as he murdered all of Luke's Jedi trainees (as far as we know).  

Luke: What was it like being a Jedi, Father?
Vader: It was dope. I fought robots, killed giant monsters, cut off an old man's head. It was lit...and so was I. Like, lit on FIRE. This is why I gotta wear this heavy ass suit.
Luke: Oh. Obi Wan didn't mention that part.
Vader: Yeah, he's kind of a jerk.
Luke: I KNOW, RIGHT??? He tried to tell me that "Vader betrayed and murdered my father" was a certain point of view.
Vader: Point of view? HE CUT OFF MY LEGS AND LEFT ME THERE TO DIE AFTER I CAUGHT ON FIRE! What a jerk!

The Luke Skywalker we see in this movie was a gut punch. He was so bitter and broken, but look at his history. He dealt with a galaxy's worth of heartache and loss. Expecting Luke to be this constant, unending source of hope for the galaxy is kind of unfair. He had no mom, no dad, he was raised by his overprotective aunt and uncle and when he DID find out he had a dad, it was after said father chopped his hand off. Then, he redeems his father after getting the crap shocked out of him for an hour by his Dad’s boss until Pops had finally seen enough. How much bonding time did he get with his father? The 5 minutes while his father struggled to breathe. Then, the burden of rebuilding a destroyed religion is on his shoulders. What expertise does he have? Magical religion sword, some cool tricks, and a “good idea” that he got from his weekend-warrior-crash-course on Dagobah. No wonder Ben Solo turned to the Dark Side! And then…friggin' Yoda just shows up and is like “oh Luke, you dummy. You never learned how the Force worked.” BECAUSE YOU NEVER FRIGGIN' TAUGHT HIM YOU GREEN BUTTHOLE! You gave him just enough to become weaponized to kill his own father, YOUR STUDENT, that you personally couldn’t stop. I agree. The Jedi DO need to end. Good gracious...

Pardon my nerd rage there. I did however LOVE Luke's perspective on the Jedi: “They always fail. That’s their destiny.” But I also loved Yoda’s counter point “failure is the best teacher.” I felt like Luke should have been the balance of the Force that Anakin wasn’t, but I could be projecting what I wanted to see in these movies. There was just a great deal of disconnect from what we expect the Jedi to be and what they were in the prequel trilogy. Think about it for a minute: they were much more militarized that a group that is supposed to use the Force "for knowledge and defense, never attack." They essentially were taking children away from their families to train them to be warrior monks, having them fight in wars as teenagers, tell them not to form any attachments and that they have to be Jedis for life. That is messed up. I was hoping that Luke's perspective on the Jedi would be more evolved and realize that the old way just wasn't right. There is still hope. Now that Rey is in possession of the ancient texts, she may come to that conclusion. Time will tell though and my rants about grey Jedi will be saved for another blog post some day. 

Luke: just be glad you didn't lose an arm. That happened to everyone else who had that saber.

I was hoping for a different portrayal of Luke, if I'm being honest with myself. I was hoping that Rey's appearance would reignite his resolve. I knew he was broken, that he was shouldering the burden of failure for not being able to rebuild the Jedi Order or stop Ben Solo from turning to the Dark Side, I just didn't realize he was this far gone. That's the thing about movies that you've been watching since you were a child, especially ones like Star Wars: we all tend to write our own stories in our head. Luke was the white knight. He could do no wrong. He was always going to save the day in my book. But this was a mental book I wrote when I was 10 or so. As an adult, I understood this Luke Skywalker. We all have made mistakes that we regret and beat ourselves up over. He knew he did wrong and didn't know how to atone. It took Yoda to remind him that failure is a great teacher and that he needs to do something instead of just hiding out with porgs on his island.

That being said...my disappointment was evaporated with Luke's final battle scene. The man stood up against an army of AT-ATs and took about 2 minutes of straight laser fire and brushed it off. Literally. It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. He ultimately sacrificed himself to save the remains of the Resistance and in doing so, kept hope alive. He made his former protégé look like a punk in their duel and then winked at him as he disappeared. "See ya around, kid." Dude...what a badass. Not only did he own the First Order and Kylo Ren in that last battle, he did it while astral projecting. HE NEVER EVEN LEFT ACH-TO! That was the Jedi Master I was hoping for. As we returned to Ach-To, there was a very poetic moment as Luke look out over the water and saw the twin suns setting, mirroring the twin suns he saw set at the beginning of A New Hope that symbolized the beginning of his journey. He watched the sunset, drained of all energy from his Force projection battle and disappeared into the Force. Well done, old man. Your legacy as one of the greatest Force users remains intact and you ended your life as you began it: a symbol of hope. 

If I'm comparing The Last Jedi to any movie, it's not Empire Strikes Back; it's Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. In Peter Jackson's epic trilogy, Two Towers is a downer. The time of man looks like it's done. The Sauron/Saruman army of evil orcs is about to wipe out the warriors at Helm's Deep and there is no hope left...until Gandalf and the Riders of Rohan show up and save the day. Samwise gives a rousing speech about having hope and that sometimes that's all you have left. Last Jedi felt the same way. The Resistance Fleet is gone, the First Order has nearly won and Kylo Ren is now the unquestioned leader. But, because of Luke Skywalker's brave final stand, the remaining Resistance fighters escape to regroup and now, because of their efforts, hope is restored in the galaxy. A young stable boy shows signs of Force sensitivity and has the Rebel ring that Rose gave him earlier in the movie. 'Sometimes all you need is a spark' was a common sentiment in this film, and Luke kept that spark alive in Rey. Yeah, a younger Mike would have been disappointed but this movie offers something most other Star Wars flicks don't: nuance. Luke Skywalker was super complex. Most other heroes and villains in this universe are pretty one dimensional. You may not have seen it going this way, you may not even like every path that it took. In the end though, you got something new that kept you on the edge of your seat and leaves you satisfied. Plus, there's one more movie to go in this trilogy. I personally can't wait to see what they do next. 

Stay tuned for part 2 of this series as I discuss the issues with toxic fanboy backlash.