TRAVIS BYRAM'S MOVIE REVIEWS

With a number of people I exchanged this scary thought: I wasn't as hyped for The Last Jedi as I was two years ago for The Force Awakens . And then they did something even scarier: they agreed with me. For Episode VII , there were many factors in its favor: there hadn't been a live-action Star Wars film in a decade, there hadn't been a good Star Wars movie since 1983 (alright, that one is my opinion), Disney had bought Lucasfilm and Daisy Ridley was an unknown for the lead. Two years ago I listed the film as my third favorite movie of the year, a bronze medal in Olympic terms. Now I wouldn't be so sure. I've watched it again since 2015, where I was in a theater full of like-minded fans hoping to be rekindled by the galaxy far, far away. It is indisputably a soft remake of A New Hope , but I suppose I was one of the sheep who liked being herded into someplace familiar. With Last Jedi ...I didn't know what to expect. I knew the characters going in now, I knew Luke...

I watched A New Hope when I was 14, on my tiny VHS-exclusive TV in my room. I didn't understand a majority of it, and it was a crime to watch that 1977 special effects beauty on my miniature television, so this past summer I've tried to atone for my movie buff sins (YOUHAVENTSEENALLTHESTARWARSMOVIESWHATSWRONGWITHYOUYOURENOTAREALMOVIEFAN) etc. I watched the entire original trilogy, but the summer ran out with the person I was watching them with (no way I, who needed a guide through the galaxy on my first run was watching them alone) and I didn't get to see the prequels. I'm sure some fans out there envy me, some will probably advise me to stay away from them. But I've now still only seen 4 out of 7 Star Wars  movies. The saga never interested me as a kid, when Revenge of the Sith came out when I was in fifth grade I remember being overwhelmed and bored by the nerds I hung out with because they wouldn't shut up about it. So why was I so pumped to stand in line for...