Director Rian Johnson delivers a tidal wave of energy and emotion in the eighth episode of the saga, as Luke, Leia, Finn and Rey step up to meet their destinyAn old hope. A new realism. An old anxiety. A new feeling that the Force might be used to channel erotic telepathy, and long-distance evil seduction. The excitingly and gigantically proportioned eighth film in the great Star Wars saga offers all of these, as well as colossal confrontations, towering indecisions and teetering temptations, spectacular immolations, huge military engagements, and very small disappointments. The character-driven face-offs are wonderful and the messianic succession crisis about the last Jedi of the title is gripping. But there is a convoluted and slightly unsatisfying parallel plot strand about the Resistance´s strategic military moves as the evil First Order closes in, and an underwritten, under-imagined and eccentrically dressed new character - Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo, played by Laura Dern.More successful is a new figure from other ranks: Kelly Marie Tran is terrifically good as Rose Tico, the Resistance soldier who steps up to meet her destiny as a key player in the battle against tyranny. Like The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi offers variations on the mighty orchestral themes of the original trilogy, switching occasionally to muted tones and minor keys, before cranking the volume back up. This auto-reference has become an accepted and exhilarating part of the new Star Wars rhetoric. Continue reading...
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