Film: Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Cast: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Kelly Marie Tran
Director: Rian Johnson
Duration: 2 hrs 32 mins
Language: English
What is it about: The Resistance is preparing to go into battle with the First Order. Rey, who is harnessing the Force, hopes to get some guidance from Luke Skywalker.
The last Jedi takes up up from where The Force Awakens left off. Led by General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher), a seemingly unwinnable battle is being waged against the First Order. The Resistance is tracking down the spaceships of the rebel army and pilot Poe (Oscar Isaac), Finn (John Boyega) and Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) make new allies and detours for a greater cause. Meanwhile Rey (Daisy Ridley) sets out on her own mission, something we see at the end of The Force Awakens, which is finding Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and convincing him to mentor her. Meanwhile, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and Rey discover that a psychic connection bonds them.
Verdict: It's not an easy task to take a movie franchise like Star Wars ahead with billions of fans waiting with bated breath to see how the director has treated the story. However, director Rian Johnson's first tryst with the franchise does manage to take it a few notches higher in terms of the treatment and the technology. Newer and older characters try and grapple with internal as well as external conflicts. The attempt at humour works in places and we find ourselves chuckling much more than we did in the earlier instalments of the franchise. The last time we saw so much buddy banter was in another sci-fi flick called Star Trek. Sign of things to come?
The highlight of the movie has to be the scenes between Rey and Kylo Ren. Adam Driver, who did not get much chance to display his acting chops in The Force Awakens, channels all the conflict raging in his mind as the dark warrior to deliver a knockout performance. A good word for Kelly Marie Tran as well, who plays Rose with much sincerity. Mark Hamill's Luke is darker, and the actor does a good job of bringing forth his more pessimistic state of mind. The other thing that stays in your mind, are the stunning visuals that explode onto your screen. However, the pace of the movie falters at many places and it seems like a build-up for the next instalment.
The Last Jedi delivers on many counts and the disappointments are few and far between. While some are going as far as to say that this is the best movie to come out of the Star Wars franchise after The Empire Strikes Back, we'd rather refrain from making such tall claims. Without giving too much away, we urge you not to look away from the screen or you will miss the throwback to earlier films of the franchise. This galaxy, far, far away, deserves to be watched on the big screen - don't miss it!
Critics rating: 3.5/5
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 "A still from Star Wars: The Last Jedi")
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