Review Detail

Let's get this out of the way: I really, REALLY hated the Sequel Trilogy. The Force Awakens started off promising, even if it was a safe retread of A New Hope. But then The Last Jedi decided to punch fans in the face, following by the 'just kidding, look here, something fandomy!!!' approach of The Rise Of Skywalker. It's safe to say I avoid rewatching these movies unless there's a good reason.

Well Revan gave me a pretty darn good reason. His fan edit of The Last Jedi (with some Rise Of Skywalker sprinkled in) does a pretty solid job of rescuing the smoldering wreckage that is Star Wars: Episode VIII from the trash heap. While it's impossible to completely redeem this movie, Revan's edit brings it much more in line with what fans hoped for from this Star Wars movie.

Much of the eye rolling 'humor', pointless side quests (cough cough... CANTO BIGHT... COUGH) and characters, and meandering narrative have been excised. Making for a tighter, more sensible plot that's closer to what The Force Awakens set up. The characters are improved too, but none more than Kylo Ren and Luke Skywalker.

Kylo's state of mind is very much focused on wanting to live up to Vader while making his own mark. He's less whiney and desperate to impress Snoke. And his effort to turn Rey is even more believable. Luke Skywalker is still emotionally distraught from his failure with Ben/Kylo, but it's a much more believable sense of sorrow. He's not as bitter and just plain mean as before, making Luke more empathetic to the audience.

In short: Revan's edit of The Last Jedi can't turn a total disaster into pure gold, but it does an impressive job of reshaping it into a film that's MILES BETTER and actually watchable. Casual Star Wars fans will likely enjoy this more than the theatrical cut, while hardcore fans will breathe a bit of relief that someone could actually fix many of Rian Johnson's countless missteps.