Star Wars: The Last Jedi remains divisive among fans for a variety of reasons, whether it's the handling of Luke Skywalker, Supreme Leader Snoke's shock demise, or the time we spent on Canto Bight. However, those are so often discussed that the movie's comedy gets a surprisingly easy time of it.
While there were some legitimately funny scenes - the Porgs! - the opening exchange between Poe Dameron and General Hux felt very out of place. It was a silly moment that felt like a far cry from what we'd seen in The Force Awakens and pretty much every other movie set in this Galaxy Far, Far Away.
Writer and director Rian Johnson has now defended that sequence and his approach to humour in Star Wars in general.
"For me, everything in the movie is ‘Star Wars,’ and everything in the movie I can trace back to deeply, in a deep way, what ‘Star Wars’ is for me," the filmmaker explains in the video below. "Everyone has a different take. I know there are ‘Star Wars’ fans who somehow think that ‘Star Wars’ was a serious thing, like the Batman movies or something."
"I was so young that when I watched ‘Empire Strikes Back,’ it had this deep, profound impact on me, because it was terrifying, because I was just young enough to not experience it as watching a ‘Star Wars’ movie, but to have it feel like too real."
"Anyone who thinks that slightly goofy humor does not have a place in the Star Wars universe, I don’t know if they’ve seen ‘Return of The Jedi,'" Johnson continued. "There’s literally a scene where Han Solo is like a cartoon..tied up to a pole and a torch goes by him and he [tries to blow it out repeatedly]."
There are many valid points here, but it once again feels like Johnson made Episode VIII for himself, and not the fans. That's not necessarily a bad thing, especially when you look at the attempts at fan service in The Rise of Skywalker, but it's not surprising The Last Jedi remains divisive.
Johnson concluded by saying, "The slightly self-aware element of gleeful humor is something that is part and parcel to ‘Star Wars.' We get very serious as well. That balance is also something that is very ‘Star Wars.'"
Do you agree?