The Last Jedi (for now)
Over forty years of its own film history is crammed into this latest offering of Star Wars and, put simply, The Last Jedi delivers the goods. Generally, the further out a story goes, the more difficult it can be to balance bringing in new fans to the fold and keep the original ones engaged. In The Last Jedi, the stakes are set up early: the First Order has the universe almost entirely within its grasp. Snoke is in control, the rebels are on the run and Kylo Ren is humiliated, but remains determined to claim the place his Grandfather Darth once did. A bit of fun gamesmanship allows the Rebels to both point out the Last Order’s weaknesses (arrogance and unwieldy largeness, mostly), against all its obvious advantages (firepower, hardware, manpower, etc.), and continue the fight. Oscar Isaac shines as the wise-cracking gunslinger/fighter pilot, Poe. After the initial fight, the film takes a nice turn, reminiscent of my favorite film in the franchise, The Empire...