There is arguably no franchise with as passionate a fanbase as Star Wars, and there has been no film in recent memory to prove as divisive as Star Wars: The Last Jedi was among the saga's most ardent supporters. Countless fans, all boasting their credentials and wearing their fandom like a rebel patch on their sleeve, exalted Rian Johnson's film as the best film since Empire or denounced it as a sin far greater than even Jar Jar Binks. It is this hyper-polarization that is highlighted in the Honest Trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Check it out below:
What I like about this Honest Trailer is that it pokes fun at the movie itself, while primarily focusing on the biggest story to come out of it: the divided fan reaction. The two dueling fan perspectives is hilarious and really highlights how all the people raging against each other on social media and in comments sections are actually part of the same small portion of the population that is dedicated to the franchise in this way. But naturally, as with anything people are passionate about, opinions are hard to change, and there is little room for nuance or understanding. As the Honest Trailer says, "The only way to talk about Star Wars now is in absolutes."
The Honest Trailer also touches on some of the things that even defenders of the film took issue with, like the Canto Bight events. The commentator talking about the Canto Bight sequence making him miss podracing is hilarious. And I will say the podracing sequence in The Phantom Menace was way more exciting than the fathier escape. The bitter fanboy voice saying that 'Star Wars is not a joke' and 'Rian Johnson ruined my childhood' is on point and shines a mirror on how ridiculous some of the hatred for the film has gotten.
Another of the criticisms of the film has been the hyperspace move by Admiral Holdo that essentially breaks some of the internal logic of the film. But as this trailer points out, there are no laws of space battle. The sound in the battles alone have long since disqualified this franchise from winning any Neil deGrasse Tyson awards for scientific accuracy. This trailer also acknowledges The Last Jedi's complete disregard for the questions raised in The Force Awakens and the disappointing nature of the answers offered. But even in a film as divisive as this one, we can all agree on the mind-boggling awesomeness of that throne room scene.
Brilliantly, the trailer ends with a dig at Solo: A Star Wars Story, a film whose storied production troubles will inevitably lead to a savage Honest Trailer in the future. Star Wars: The Last Jedi is out on Blu-ray today. Solo: A Star Wars Story arrives in theaters on May 25.
