What do the critics think about the next chapter in the ‘Star Wars’ saga?
Deep breaths, “Star Wars” fanboys and fangirls. “The Last Jedi” is almost here.
The sci-fi saga’s newest chapter hits the big screen Friday, while it has already brought with it a wave of speculation, toys, promotional tie-ins and mass marketing that few if any franchises can match.
But is it any good?
Reviews for the “The Last Jedi” rolled out Tuesday, and the early returns are overwhelmingly positive. The Rian Johnson-directed film had a 94 percent “fresh” rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes as of Tuesday afternoon. That number could fluctuate with plenty more ratings to come, but the strong start includes some of the industry’s biggest outlets.
“‘The Last Jedi’ honors the saga’s rich legacy while adding some surprising twists — and delivering all the emotion-rich action fans could hope for,” Rotten Tomatoes’ critical consensus says.
Here are some more thoughts about the latest episode in the Skywalker saga:
Luke is back and better than ever
Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker appeared for mere seconds in 2015’s “The Force Awakens,” just long enough to give a tense glare at his old lightsaber being returned to him by Daisy Ridley’s Rey. In the sequel, the hero of the original trilogy is in a self-imposed exile this time around and unwilling to train a new Jedi.
Hamill’s performance is roundly being praised, with IGN’s Joshua Yehl calling this aged Luke “a conflicted, deeply damaged Jedi master.”
“(Hamill) rises to the occasion with his finest performance as Luke, using the timbre of his voice and the pain in his eyes to express Luke’s reluctance to confront his past, let alone help Rey mold her future.”
A somber farewell performance
One aspect of “The Last Jedi” that was destined to draw emotions from the audience was Carrie Fisher’s final turn as Princess-turned-General Leia. The actress died late last year, after she had finished work on the film.
Her death “imparts real melancholy to a series that from its start has been defined — if not always comfortably — by loss,” writes The New York Times’ Monohla Dargis .
“Carrie Fisher here gives a performance of tremendous dignity, wisdom, and love, and is awarded at least three scenes that serve as a fitting goodbye to the fans’ Princess,” GamesRadar’s Jamie Graham says.
Surprise surprise
Many reviewers made sure to mention the new film was surprising and felt like something the franchise hadn’t seen before, seeming to directly push back against one of the big criticisms of the otherwise well-received “The Force Awakens.”
“(Johnson) instantly creates a tense, engaging tone for the film, because from moment to moment, you truly don’t know what’s going to happen next,” iO9’s Germain Lussier said. “Any time things seem to be going one direction, they don’t just zig or zag, they blast off into another dimension entirely. And it happens again and again.”
152 minutes of fun?
The film has the longest runtime of any in the franchise, and while some felt the length allowed for more creativity, others found that there was some bloat, specifically in the storyline focused on John Boyega’s returning Finn and new character Rose, played by Kelly Marie Tran.
“It sags a little in the middle, during that protracted misadventure in space-Morocco, and doesn’t always juggle its multiple storylines with the grace of, yes, ‘The Empire Strikes Back,'” writes The AV Club’s A. Dowd. “But by the rousing final act, Johnson has brought an apocalyptic grandeur to the lightsaber duels and airborne combat.”
The dark side
Not everyone is going to be lining up to see “The Last Jedi” a second time, such as Variety’s Peter Debruge .
“As it turns out, although “The Last Jedi” meets a relatively high standard for franchise filmmaking, Johnson’s effort is ultimately a disappointment,” he wrote.
“That doesn’t mean it’s not entertaining. Rather, despite the success of ‘The Last Jedi’ at supplying jaw-dropping visuals and a hall-of-fame-worthy lightsaber battle, audiences could presumably skip this film and show up for Episode IX without experiencing the slightest confusion as to what happened in the interim. It’s as if Johnson’s assignment was to extend the franchise without changing anything fundamental, which is closer to the way classic television and vintage James Bond movies operate than anything George Lucas ever served up.”
