The Last Jedi Review: Part III

Our Heroes Go Through A Transformation

FINN -

FN-2187 wakes up in this film, in more ways than one. Finn wakes up from the medically induced coma I’m assuming he was put into at the end of The Force Awakens at the beginning of the film and immediately starts asking for and looking for Rey. Rey has left for Ahch-To and has left Finn behind. Finn’s first idea is to find her and help her.

In The Force Awakens, Finn’s initial goal was to get away from the First Away as fast and as far as he can. He finds Rey and thinks that together they can flee the First Order together. Even though he likes Rey, he is only looking out for himself and eventually decides to separate from Rey and leave on his own. This changes when the First Order attacks Max’s castle and Rey is kidnapped. At that point, Finn realizes he needs to get Rey back from the clutches of the First Order. Finn risks his own life to go into the belly of the beast of Starkiller Base and help rescue Rey. He is able to do this and even stands up to Kylo Ren with a lightsaber, a weapon he has never used before. Finn lands a couple of blows, but is ultimately defeated. This is the mindset he is in when he wakes up at the beginning of The Last Jedi and his first thought is again, I have to find Rey and save her.

As Finn tries to leave the Resistance and find Rey, he meets Rose who thinks he is fleeing and is a coward. After subduing him they, with Poe and Max Kanata’s strange cameo, come up with a plan to disable the shields of Snoke’s massive spaceship that is pursuing them while he waits for the Resistance to run out of gas. If they disable the shields, then Rose can shut down the hyperspace tracker and the Resistance can escape the First Order.

Finn starts to mature and think of others and how he can help them as well. Finn and Poe have been good friends since the opening of The Force Awakens, and Finn starts to develop empathy for all of those around him. Rose and Finn leave on a side mission to Canto Bight to find a code breaker, recommended by Max, to disable the shields. On this side mission, Finn learns that things aren’t what they seem most of the time and that it is important to stick to your beliefs and morals. Finn is by nature a good person, hence his desire to not kill innocents in The Force Awakens, and he needs to do what he can to help all of those around him.

While this side trip to Canto Bight ends up being useless in the overall story events, as Finn and Rose’s mission fails and they are captured and almost executed, Finn grows as a character and is awakened to the bigger universe around him and what perhaps his role could be in the saving of the galaxy.

Poe Dameron -

I think Poe’s story is the least interesting in the film, even though we do spend a lot of time with him throughout and he’s one of my favorites. Poe is the hotshot pilot that blew up Starkiller Base and saved the Resistance from destruction in The Force Awakens. So yeah, he’s a little cocky at the start of the film. He takes on the Dreadnaught class Star Destroyer and helps blow it up, but at the cost of a lot of lives. General Leia isn’t happy with him and demotes him in rank. Poe spends the rest of the film learning that he needs to learn how to be a leader for the Resistance. He too, like Finn, has to learn to see the big picture and act accordingly. Finn and Poe have to learn similar lessons but unfortunately do so in separate places. Please refer to this blog post for my thoughts on that: Two Dudes on an Adventure.

Poe does learn how to be a leader from General Leia herself, and I wanted to see more of Leia mentoring and teaching Poe instead of Poe and Admiral Holdo arguing throughout the film.

Ultimately, I believe Poe got the short end of the gaffi stick in this film, and that’s all I have to say about that right now.

Kylo Ren -

Finn Grows Up, Poe Becomes a Leader, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, and more.