Starring: Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Domhnall Gleeson, Andy Serkis, Oscar Isaac, Benicio Del Toro
Director: Rian Johnson
Release date: 14th December 2017
The review contains some story-line spoilers
Set an indeterminate amount of time after ‘The Force Awakens’, we now find the First Order in pole position. They are launching a huge attack on the Resistance, trying their best to wipe it out once and for all. General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) is doing everything she can to protect everyone but things are beginning to look pretty dire. Commander Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) mounts an attack on the First Order’s ‘Dreadnaught’. The action moves to the island which is now home to Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), where we find Rey (Daisy Ridley) and she is there to convince Luke to come with her to help the Resistance. He pretty much tells her to leave him alone but she is a very determined young woman. She feels as though there’s something inside her that is fighting to get out but she has no idea what it could be. Can she somehow convince Luke that he must help them? The First Order launches another massive onslaught on the Rebels and there are some major casualties. The battle between the Dark Side and Light Side is stepped up yet another level and Snoke is determined to quash the Rebellion forever. Can Leia and her team defeat the First Order or will this be an unwinnable War?
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is the 8th movie in the Star Wars Franchise and continues the story of the battle between ‘The Dark Side’ and ‘The Light Side’. The first movie, released back in 1977 was Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope and introduced us to characters that would become cult icons to future audiences and also the stuff of Legend. It made stars of its cast who were all pretty much unknown when they were cast in the roles originally. In 2012, Disney bought Lucasfilm for around $4billion and began the new series of Star Wars movies with ‘The Force Awakens’, which was released back in 2015.
Always something to look forward to, the release of this new episode in the Star Wars franchise has been long awaited by many. There’s lots of new characters to be introduced to plus some now very familiar faces. My personal favourite new addition is the Porgs. An extremely cute and wide eyed sea bird species that lives on the island that Luke Skywalker now calls home. They almost steal the movie from the human characters. I would absolutely love one as a pet. I defy anyone not to fall in love with them.
The new story is pretty straight forward and very easy to understand. I honestly don’t think that fans of the franchise will be disappointed with this new instalment. There’s pretty much everything you could want from a Star Wars movie… the emotional struggle between good vs. evil, characters connected by unknown Forces, more aliens than you can shake a stick at, amazing battle scenes, a brilliant baddie or two, some great cameos and a really great story to glue it all together.
If you’re a lifelong fan or you’ve only seen one or two of the other movies, then definitely give ‘Star Wars – The Last Jedi’ a watch. You will definitely not be disappointed with it. If you get the chance to watch in IMAX, then all the better!
Overall: 9/10
