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Movie review: 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' strikes balance between thrills, heart

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Vincent Garcia, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2017/life/12/13/dameron1.jpg"/><figcaption>Oscar Isaac as the hotshot pilot Poe Dameron. <em>Lucasfilm</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>They may be fighting a losing war but at least our heroic rebels still have their sense of humour intact. </p><p>It’s there from the opening scene, where we find the Resistance’s newly promoted commander Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) requesting for a direct line to the First Order’s General Hux (Domhnal Glesson), whose attempts at intimidation are undercut by some silly, time-buying quips. “I believe he’s tooling you,” one of Hux’s advisers tells him. </p><p>That’s the general register of this highly entertaining addition to the Star Wars mythos. Rian Johnson (“Brick,” “Looper”) has been handed the reins from J.J. Abrams — who was tasked to reboot the storied franchise with “The Force Awakens” — and he wasted little time in putting his own stamp all over the trilogy’s dark middle chapter, where death is an all-too uncomfortable threat to the characters we&#x27;ve come to love. </p><p>Set immediately right after the events in “The Force Awakens,” we find the Resistance evacuating the planet from which we last saw them as per General Leia Organa’s (Carrie Fisher) orders. With their location now exposed, their shrinking army must now find a new hideout to safely regroup, in addition to fending off a huge, pursuing First Order fleet. </p><p>Rey (Daisy Ridley), meanwhile, is with Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) as she tries to convince him to come out of his self-imposed isolation and help restore balance within the universe. </p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Q0CbN8sfihY?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="~//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="~//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>The first big battle between the Resistance and the First Order clearly sells us Johnson’s vision for a more sober yet high stakes romp, as he weaves moments of unmistakable authenticity that sets up pathos for some of the film’s bleakest minutes with gorgeous, edge-of-your-seat action sequences.</p><p>Skilfully, he also hits that elusive sweet spot in terms of appealing to children and adults alike. Though unapologetic in showing the horrors of war, Johnson&#x27;s &quot;The Last Jedi&quot; makes use of mastering cuteness, sprinkling pivotal scenes with cuddly, mewling bird-like Porgs and other adorable critters to further keep things light despite the troubling idea of death, poignantly accepted as necessary in this galaxy far, far away.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2017/life/12/13/porg1.jpg"/><figcaption>Porgs (right) are just one of the cute critters that litter &quot;The Last Jedi.&quot;<em> Lucasfilm</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>The acting performances were also great, as you&#x27;ve come to expect from “The Force Awakens.” Ridley is still proving to be an excellent choice to portray the increasingly frustrated Rey, whose only want is to know her parents and make sense of her powers, while Adam Driver again dons the mask of his ever-compelling Kylo Ren, more conflicted, rash, and angrier in this one. </p><p>Hamill possibly gives his best turn as Luke Skywalker—old and burdened by the legendary name of his— and Fisher, who died last year, will leave fans feeling bittersweet. </p><p>But that’s not to say that “The Last Jedi” is without flaws, however. Snoke (Andy Serkis), the ghoulish supreme leader of the First Order, underwhelms for spoiler-ish reasons, and Kelly Marie Tran’s excellent Rose Tico, a mechanic who goes on a key mission with Finn (John Boyega), is criminally used in a plot point that feels like its own movie detached. </p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2017/life/12/13/rose1.jpg"/><figcaption>Kelly Marie Tan (left) stars in &#x27;The Last Jedi&#x27; with John Boyega (right). <em>Lucasfilm</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>There will also be numerous discussions about the Force itself, and how it is portrayed here in the same vein as the rawness of superpowers rather than being wielded by select artisans, as seen in the past. Whether the last point is a good thing or bad remains to be seen but can be treated as an apt summary of sorts to Johnson’s turn on the director&#x27;s chair: an adept, funny navigator who&#x27;s unafraid of confronting the established norms and the unexplained mysteries of the Star Wars verse. </p><p>Luke Skywalker was right. “The Last Jedi” did not go the way we thought it would and was all the better, more thrilling for it. </p>

<p>They may be fighting a losing war but at least our heroic rebels still have their sense of humour intact.</p>

They may be fighting a losing war but at least our heroic rebels still have their sense of humour intact.

Movie review: 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' strikes balance between thrills, heart

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Movie review: 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' strikes balance between thrills, heart

Vincent Garcia,

ABS-CBN News

Published December 13, 2017 05:07 PM PHT

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Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Rian Johnson

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