Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/919364
maltatoday SUNDAY 24 DECEMBER 2017 This Week 43 rather long slice of space pulp melodrama zips along rather nicely for the most part, inter- cutting various missions and following a richly-populated cast of characters with a dynam- ic glee which reminds of how, after all, the Star Wars saga was modelled after old school serials of the Flash Gordon ilk. Each lit- tle adventure the characters go on could very well stand on its own as a little episodic segment, but neither does this mean that the whole thing doesn't feel streamlined enough. Johnson's careful attention to character arcs means we're glued to their destinies through and through, and when the big action pieces do show up, their stakes are pumped up to the max: this is Resistance at its weakest, and we get a feeling that everyone is ex- pendable. More than anything, how- ever, The Last Jedi represents a true changing of the guard. Where The Force Awakens re- assured the audience that this new take on Star Wars would erase the prequels from collec- tive memory, Johnson's film in turns moves to erase plenty of preconceptions we may have had about even the 'Original Trilogy', and some of its key protagonists. While it has drawn out- rage nevertheless – there's no way to please all the fans, all the time – Johnson's innova- tions are borne out of a deep understanding of the charac- ters in question. It's not a case of novelty for novelty's sake. Taking advantage of the real- world time lapse between the original trilogy and this one, we now see Luke as a defeated, crusty veteran of far too many religious wars to be fit to fight yet another one. But his arc feels right and true, and here's hoping that when The Force Awakens helmer J.J. Abrams once again picks up the mantle for Episode IX, he retains some of Johnson's revolutionary spirit, instead of quashing it in reaction to fanboy-rage and a desire for ap- peasement over truth. A divisive entry among fans for fairly clear reasons, Star Wars: The Last Jedi remains a bold and full-blooded chapter in the ongoing 'sequel trilogy', delivering both the thrills we expect of the Franchise That Lucas Built along with a weighty emotional and thematic wallop that will linger in the memory. It is also very much a Star Wars film of its time, inter- weaving a deconstruction of some of its most beloved heroes to match the (supposed) matur- ing of its core audience – a fact certainly not borne out in some of the online vitriol the film's writer-director has been get- ting. However it's also timely in another way. With our heroes not only f lawed and conf licted at ever turn, but also squeezed of just about every inch of hope – an operative word – in nearly every frame, this is one of the gloomiest of Star Wars entries – matching the 'grimdark ' trend of blockbusters while also evoking the spirit of that other mid-tril- ogy entry, The Empire Strikes Back. Given this, it is hardly sur- prising that Rian Johnson was also behind some of the most successful episodes of AMC's acclaimed anti-hero tragedy Breaking Bad. A tonal narrative palette that may be leagues apart from the galaxy far, far away, but it is pre- cisely what gives The Last Jedi its urgent, compelling luster. Tactical team: Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) and Finn (John Boyega) bond during a high-risk espionage mission on the casino-planet of Cantobight Conflicted: Adam Driver is back as Ben Solo/Kylo Ren