What if Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson somehow managed to spoil the entire movie last February? Believe it or not, that may be exactly what he did. At the time, it seemed as though Johnson had just enjoyed a nice interview with Collider about the three films that influenced The Last Jedi. We didn’t even see any of the deeper meaning in his comments… until recent rumors about The Last Jedi‘s plot. Suddenly, those movies make a lot more sense in the context of Star Wars. Today’s holiday edition of Nerdist News is going to explain why that may have given away some critical developments.
Warning: there are potentially major spoilers ahead for The Last Jedi. This may be a theory, but it holds together pretty well. And if it’s true, then you may regret learning about the plot so far ahead of the movie. This is your final chance to turn back! You’re welcome.
Join host and the keeper of the Jedi Holocron, Jessica Chobot, as she walks us through the films that Johnson cited as his primary influences. The first was Hideo Gosha’s samurai classic, Three Outlaw Samurai. This is key, because Luke Skywalker is rumored to have an epic showdown with the Knights of Ren as he demonstrates the full extent of his Jedi Master powers. In Three Outlaw Samurai, the lone hero dispatched his enemies with brutally efficient swordplay. We can just imagine Luke doing the same thing in lightsaber battles that would be a marked departure from the theatrical fights in the previous films.
Next up is Henry King’s Twelve O’ Clock High, a 1949 World War II epic that used actual aerial combat from the war in the film. That movie followed an Allied bomber squadron as they took up a suicide mission to take out targets in Germany and occupied France. George Lucas has already cited this movie as an influence on the X-Wings and the way that they flew in the original trilogy. For The Last Jedi, we can easily see Poe and the rest of Black Squadron on a suicide mission to take out the Mega-Star Destroyer of the First Order…and failing.
Finally, we come to Alfred Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief. It’s a masterfully made film, but what could this possibly offer the Star Wars saga? A lot. And everything that we’ve already learned about the casino planet, Canto Bight, makes the selection of this film even more telling. In that movie, Cary Grant played John Robie, a former jewel thief who reformed and attempted to stop another thief. The problem was that nobody really believed that John had changed. We think that Finn may have a similar problem in The Last Jedi. Sure, he helped take out Starkiller Base, but Finn may still have to prove himself to his new friends.
We may even be able to infer that Finn will also find a bit of romance in this storyline, just like John did. Perhaps that’s why Finn has been paired on this adventure with Kelly Marie Tran’s Rose Tico.
What do you think about the three films that influenced Johnson on The Last Jedi? Draw your lightsabers and let’s discuss in the comment section below!
Images: Lucasfilm
