Star Wars Episode VIII!!! We have almost no details on this film but we just got the title today. In all honesty, I’m very happy how little has been let out about the movie. I want to be as surprised as possible going into it but at the same time I know for a fact that I don’t have the will power to not watch the latest trailer or not read the latest news piece for a new Star Wars movie.

     So let’s look at what we know so far. There have been a few new cast members added to the saga, including Benicio Del Toro and Laura Dern. If you’ve seen Sicario, we should all be hoping Del Toro is going to play an awesome villain. I think the best bad guys are the ones that come off as human and that you can empathize with from their point of view. I didn’t get that with Kylo Ren in The Force Awakens but I’m hoping he will develop more in the next two films. All that has been said about Laura Dern’s character is that she’s rumored to play a politician involved in the interplay between The Rebellion and The Empire. Aside from that, there’s not much else except a few nuggets of information that director Rian Johnson has given us. The movie will most likely pick up exactly were Episode VII left off and the plot is said to center around Rey and Luke’s relationship.

     Now to the title, The Last Jedi. I definitely like it better than I liked The Force Awakens when I heard it. To be honest, this new title is completely serviceable but I’m not a huge fan nor do I dislike it. It’s kind of cool and as long as the film is awesome I really don’t care. The title might grow on me and after I walk out of the theatre and see how it relates to the plot, I could love it. If you look back at A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi they are all pretty simple and somewhat generic titles but they are iconic now. The whole plot of Episode V is just The Empire trying to “strike back” against the “new hope” of the jedi that was set up in Episode IV. At the same time, if you look at the titles from this perspective, they often tell you at face value what the film focuses on. Maybe Luke is the last of the jedi? Maybe Rey is? Or maybe jedi is plural and it just means the last major movement is being made by the jedi against The Empire. I instantly got the feeling that Luke might die after hearing it. 

     Last thing is the poster is written in red lettering as opposed to the usual yellow. It could mean absolutely nothing but it gives off a dark, more ominous vibe to me. Maybe it’s hinting at the darker tone that this film could have. If you’ve seen Looper, also a Rian Johnson film, you know he can do it. The Force Awakens was good but it was too much like Episode IV, so I’m crossing my fingers this one is totally different and it blows us away. We’ll have to wait and see!