On December 15, the 8th movie of the Star Wars saga “The Last Jedi” was released in the U.S., satisfying a nation of anxious Star Wars fans, hungry for the second installment. With many of the original characters beginning to fade out of the story, a new generation of the Star Wars universe has emerged. Disney now owns the Star Wars franchise, which may or may not have added any changes in the story. In addition, the Princess Leia star Carrie Fisher died in 2016, leaving many wondering how this film will handle her character’s fate.

  “I hoped for it to be a good movie,” said Mr. Jaime Cavazos, social studies teacher. “I tried not to speculate as to what will happen; I just wanted to enjoy the experience.”

  Cavazos has been a fan of Star Wars for his entire childhood and adulthood and is one of the many who saw the movie on its opening day.

  “My parents took me to see it when Episode IV came out.  From that day, on I was hooked,” he said.

  “Empire Strikes Back is still my favorite.  At the point the characters were developed.  It had a darker tone.  It was just an all around good movie.”

  The Last Jedi, though, brings at least one important asset for Star Wars fans: more Luke Skywalker time on the silver screen. Carrie Fisher’s death, though, raises many questions about the future of the trilogy.

   “I would assume they are going to kill off her character. Disney has already said they will not use CGI to recreate her as they did in Rogue One,” Cavazos said.

  Harrison Ford’s character, Han Solo was killed off in the last movie by his son, Kylo Ren. In the preview, there’s a scene where Leia is in a ship in space and Kylo Ren’s ship show her location being targeted.

   This movie is supposed to be not only the longest movie, yet but also the darkest one. The Last Jedi has a run time of 2 hours and 32 minutes. Mark Hamill compared this movie to the Godfather run time in an interview.

  “I will not speculate who will turn to the darkside, but I will assume that the “good guys” will be tested in this movie,” said Cavazos.  

  The franchise began in 1977 with the release of the film Star Wars: A New Hope. It was followed by The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983). Then from 1999 to 2005, the prequels were released: The Phantom Menace (1999), Attack of the Clones (2002), and Revenge of the Sith (2005). A sequel trilogy began in 2015 with the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

The setting and plot of “The Last Jedi” is that Rey develops her newly discovered abilities with the guidance of Luke Skywalker. Skywalker is both surprised by and nervous about the strength of her powers. Meanwhile, the Resistance prepares to fight the First Order.

  Some Star Wars fans aren’t so sure of the return to the franchise and think that the good stuff should be just left alone.

 “The original trilogy will always be better than any Star Wars movies in my opinion,” said junior Maddie Mitchell. “I love everything about it. The action, the adventure, just everything.”

  But even with the changes, there are still those who are just enjoying more Luke, Chewie, and C3-PO time on the big screen four decades after the infancy of the first film.

 “I do enjoy these new movies,” Cavazos said.  “I am not the fan who complains about the formula being the same as the originals.  I am just happy I am getting fun Star Wars movies again.”