Photo credit: Disney

From Digital Spy

*Note: contains spoilers*

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is dominating the box office. The critics, including us, loved it, but some audiences – like the guy who started a petition to have it officially removed from canon (by who, the Pope?) – aren't totally convinced.

That might be partly because The Last Jedi, while very much feeling like a Star Wars film, does things a bit differently. While the original trilogy was a classic battle between good and evil, things are just a bit more nuanced than that this time around. Within these changes, Rian Johnson has introduced the first truly feminist instalment to the franchise.

Photo credit: Lucasfilm / Disney

The original Star Wars trilogy featured one awesome female character, but she was reduced to a bikini-wearing slave in Episode VI and she never got to talk substantively to another woman (unless she had an off-screen chat with ill-fated, green dancer Oola).

Leia notwithstanding, the original trilogy's women (er... Mon Mothma? Sy Snootles?) were vastly outnumbered by men. The prequel trilogy had Padme and... nope, just Padme. Oh wait: Shmi! Yay.

The Force Awakens redressed the balance, comfortably passing the Bechdel test – ie, it (a) had more than one woman (b) those women talked to each other (c) about something other than a man. It introduced new female characters Rey (Daisy Ridley), Maz Kanata (Lupita Nyong'o) and Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie), while bringing back Leia as the head of the Resistance. It was a start.

Rogue One had a great female lead in Jyn Erso, but again: no other women of note.

The Last Jedi takes things much further. It's the first time we can comfortably say that a Star Wars movie is actively feminist.

The movie is structured around several set-ups:

• Rey is trying to persuade Luke to re-join the Resistance. Later, she attempts to bring Kylo Ren (aka Ben Solo) back to the light side.

Photo credit: Lucasfilm

• Leia leads the Resistance, attempting to look after its remaining members with as little loss of life as possible.

Story continues

• When Leia is hurt, command falls to Holdo (Laura Dern) who has a plan to save the remaining Resistance members by using their main ship's last dregs of fuel to send smaller escape craft to a planet away from the First Order.

This would have been fine were it not for Poe's counter-plan, which goes completely wrong and ultimately leads to further loss of life and the exposure of their safe planet.

Last Jedi is a movie where the male characters are ruled by emotion: Luke is a guilty, angry recluse who initially won't help Rey or the Resistance and who almost decided to kill his own nephew based on his sense that he might turn evil, thereby setting into motion a chain of events which result in Han's death and the creation of the franchise's most complex and dangerous baddie ever.

Kylo (né Ben) is so full of rage and abandonment issues that he's completely unable to control himself and chooses to kill indiscriminately rather than face his parents.

Photo credit: Lucasfilm

Poe is arrogant, reckless and can't be trusted – it's his call to Finn that reveals Holdo's plan to DJ/the code breaker, who ultimately sells out the whole of the Resistance.

Even Finn, who's largely speaking a good chap, plans to leave the Resistance ship in an escape pod (with good intentions, but still) until Rose catches him and convinces him otherwise.

And Chewie – heroic Wookiee that he is – was totally going to eat a Porg.

Meanwhile Rey discovers her parents literally sold her out – but doesn't let her issues affect her behaviour. She refuses to give up on Luke (until she has to), refuses to give up on Ben (until she has to) and maintains her own sense of honour and morality in the face of serious adversity. She makes Kylo look like the big, petulant child he is.

Hux of course is no better, vying for the attention of cruel father-figure Snoke and trying to out-do his de facto brother Ren, rather than working together to achieve greater success (as we see Leia and Holdo doing).

Photo credit: Lucasfilm

OK, Holdo doesn't tell Poe her plan, which arguably could have solved a few issues, but hell, she doesn't owe it to him to explain herself – Leia left her in charge for a reason. And later Holdo manages to destroy the First Order ship by sacrificing herself for the greater good.

In Poe's early offensive on the Dreadnought, which directly went against Leia's orders and cost huge Resistance casualties, it's Paige (Rose's sister) who drops the bombs, again, sacrificing herself: Poe walks out scot free without so much as an apology.

Though roped into Poe's dubious plan, Rose maintains her integrity throughout, rescuing the enslaved 'fathiers' (sad horse-dogs) and inspiring the next generation of potential Resistance members and Force users. The kid at the end with the magic broom is wearing her Resistance ring.

Even the lovely, "No, you go," moment with Holdo and Leia both wanting to say, "May the Force be with you," when Holdo stays behind on the main Resistance ship – knowing this will mean certain death – is a nod towards female friendship dynamics. That they don't want to interrupt each other, and that the more senior Leia wants to give Holdo that moment of respect is a small but significant moment.

Photo credit: Lucasfilm

Rose even risks her own life to keep Finn from sacrificing himself, explaining that the real Resistance is about saving those you love, not killing those you hate.

If the Universe was run by women, The Last Jedi's clear subtext runs, things would be kinder, more humane, better organised and a lot more peaceful. What a perfect tribute to Carrie Fisher and what a wonderful message in 2017 for young women, at a time when it's becoming clear that the film industry has long been stacked against them.

Now all we need is an actual female director for a Star Wars movie...

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is in cinemas now.

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