Yet more cause for hope

Actors Daisy Ridley and Mark Hamill pose for photographers as they arrive for the European Premiere of 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi', at the Royal Albert Hall in central London Photo: Reuters
Actors Daisy Ridley and Mark Hamill pose for photographers as they arrive for the European Premiere of 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi'. Photo: Reuters

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI
Director: Rian Johnson
Cast: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie, Kelly Marie Tran, Laura Dern, Frank Oz, Benicio del Toro
Rating: (M) ★★★★

The trouble with writing about any new Star Wars flick is avoiding the dreaded spoiler, despite the fact that when the reviews come out, most self-respecting fans will have seen and dissected it to a degree that could never be replicated in a few mere paragraphs.

It's probably unique among modern movie franchises in that the not-knowing is a primary source of its appeal, having more in common with a TV series such as Game of Thrones, where who lives and dies carries a pop-cultural import you won't find in your standard holiday tentpole.

Of course, with every new episode comes a flurry of superlatives from critics eager to declare it the best since Empire, so I'll go on record now and say that Star Wars: The Last Jedi is the best since Return of the Jedi, and a big leap forward from The Force Awakens.

Where the last episode worked primarily as a slice of backward-looking nostalgia for audiences brought up on the original trilogy but turned off by the prequels, this instalment is unafraid to delve into new and potentially risky areas, without losing sight of why people love these films in the first place.

Although it gets off to an iffy start and has a few pacing issues, writer/director Rian Johnson (Looper) otherwise handles the whole endeavour with admirable skill, steering the ship through a dazzling array of set pieces and a daunting number of subplots.

-By Jeremy Quinn

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