NPR

Rollicking 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' Introduces Welcome Shades Of (G)Rey

Writer/director Rian Johnson joins the Star Wars franchise to deliver a chapter that's fast, fun and freewheeling, even as it introduces surprising nuance to the classic Dark Side vs. Light Side beef.
Rey (Daisy Ridley) may or may not be the title character of <em>Star Wars: The Last Jedi</em>. We're not telling.

If they are to successfully make the jump to light speed, Star Wars movies require a precisely calibrated fuel mixture: one-third epic space battles, one-third narrow escapes and duly buckled swashes, one-third hooded beardy dudes standing around looking pained while solemnly intoning the cheesiest hokum about Darkness and Light as if it's Hamlet's Yorick speech (which in a way, it is).

Rian Johnson, director and writer of (aka , aka ) knows how vital each of those bedrock elements prove, and he has struck upon precisely the right alchemical formula without making a franchise film that feels formulaic. is fun in a movie, and manages to surprise us by revealing that this fictional universe, in which we've already clocked so many hours, can still surprise us.

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