Review by John M. Delia, Jr.
The force has awaken and the Empire is still on the rise. The universe is in turmoil while the Empire works to destroy what’s left of the Rebel bases. The race is on to continue the fight and return balance to the force or fall to the evil empire.
After the destruction of the ultimate weapon, the Empire has tracked down the New Republic and has them on their heels. Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), in a crazy attempt to give the Rebel’s a chance to escape, risk’s his life by facing the Empire fleet on his own. Like in the previous episode Poe sacrifices himself time after time in attempts to save the resistance and hope to finally defeat the New Order once and for all.
On the other side of the galaxy after the force awakens, Rey (Daisy Ridley), a young women with strong abilities with the force is in search of the Last Jedi, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). She hopes that he will teach her the ways of the Jedi religion and help her become strong enough to defeat Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). What she runs into is a lost Luke, who is distraught after losing his only nephew to the dark side and now fears its power. The force is in danger of losing the Jedi belief forever, if Rey doesn’t learn the ways of the Jedi.
Now that the Rebels are running from the Empire, things have become bleak. Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), commander of the rebel forces, has to find a way to keep everyone alive. Hoping to find help from other supporters or even her brother Luke, remains a small hope. During this time ex-Stormtrooper Finn (John Boyega), wakes from a long sleep finding out that Rey has left to seek Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and the Rebels are under fire from the Empire.
Director and writer Rian Johnson, does a fantastic job presenting the story. He explains the scenario thoroughly and keeps with the traditional presentation of the previous films. Crossing several different storylines throughout the narrative and showing details on each key character’s part to reveal the films plot. He also did a fantastic job displaying the special effects using all types of graphical interfaces, CGI, puppetry, models, etc. His excellent directing brought more to the over-all performance from the entire cast and crew and helped make this motion picture a hit.
‘Star Wars’ is back and on track with the list of sequels, coming in the near future; “Solo: A Star Wars Story†in 2018, and “Star Wars: Episode IX†in 2019. With Disney at the helm you can be sure that these stories will continue on in the future. While the hits keep on coming, the ‘Star Wars’ saga is sure to fill the seats for years to come.
Final Comment: I based my grade on the spectacular delivery of the storyline and the outstanding special effects.
Additional Film Information
Cast: Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Mark Hamill, Adam Driver, Laura Dern, Andy Serkis, Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew, Oscar Isaac, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie, and Benicio Del Toro.
Directed and Written by: Rian Johnson
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, and Sci-Fi.
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi action and violence.
Running Time: 2 hours and 32 minutes
Release Date:Â December 15, 2017
Distributed By: Walt Disney studios Motion Pictures.
Released In: IMAX, Dolby Surround, Dolby Digital, and DTS.