When Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer was released in 2014, I was really excited for Disney to continue the franchise. To be honest, I did not think the movie was amazing because I had felt like it was a carbon copy of A New Hope. However, when I went into The Last Jedi, I received something entirely different.

I thought that the plot of the movie was brilliant because it was unpredictable and different from the Star Wars formula by mixing in lots of suspense. It’s so satisfying to watch because it feels like more than your typical Star Wars movie. This is a three-hour movie, but I think this movie was deserving of it because it had a large array of memorable and even humorous moments, making it arguably one of the best Star Wars movies.

In the timeline, the story takes place not too long after The Force Awakens with the First Order trying to destroy the Resistance once again. The Resistance faces the struggle of deciding what the best course of action is for their survival. Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), (the hotshot pilot) tries taking things in his own hands by sending Finn to the casino city of Canto Bight. This city demonstrates a different kind of evil than the militaristic First Order while also showing the disenfranchised people worth fighting a star war for. The people there represent a morally gray worldview that isn’t usually expressed in the light vs dark world of Star Wars.

Meanwhile, Rey, who is played by Daisy Ridley, tries to persuade the Jedi Luke to come and save the Resistance. However, Luke’s heroic days are beyond him because he doesn’t want to confront his past. I enjoyed seeing this other side of Luke who has an internal struggle with his past and makes means to fix it.

The movie journeys through the same question in The Force Awakens such as who Rey’s parents are and how she uses her newfound connection with the Force to explore them. Kylo Ren has a strong connection with Rey in this movie and he is shown having similar issues with parental figures and finding his destiny.

The Last Jedi is an incredibly faithful Star Wars movie that embraces the franchise’s most beloved elements while also giving it a tone and style all its own. The space dogfights and ground battles borrow elements from real-world war movies to make them all the more realistic. It really lived up to the legacy of old trilogies and exceeded my expectation.