Review of Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) by Fabrizio P — 27 Dec 2017

This film shatters all expectations for what's possible in a Star Wars film while wielding callbacks and parallelism in a much more deft hand than it's photocopied predecessor.

In fact, this installment of the series **contrary to those who seek to shut down this film as sabotage** not only uses callbacks to 4, 5, and 6 better, it seems to strive to use *all* the remaining moments that could have been revisited in order to force the next installment to be entirely ***fresh and new*** (in keeping with its theme of "let(ting) the past die).

Suspense and relief/hope are also expertly wielded by this long-yet-fast-paced behemoth, as audience emotions were certainly taken into consideration in order to create the perfect swells of emotions at the perfect moments. And unlike other films in which I prefer to hold back an emotion if it seems a moment was created too heavy-handedly in order to evoke it, The Last Jedi not only earns the reactions it strives for genuinely, it masterfully refrains from jumping the gun and becoming predictable in the build-up, ensuring the audience reactions are genuine and not demanded of them.

I, for one, would like to see Johnson direct- or at least advise- all movies from the series from here on out; a position of power over the universe we all are weary to bestow upon any one man since it was essentially demanded from Lucas, yet I wholeheartedly believe was truly earned by the perfection of this film alone.

The only slower and less "Star-Wars-y" moments for me- those on the casino planet- were still intriguing and well-paced, and thus do not remove a single star from my review.

5/5 stars; I hope to watch it again in theaters, and I don't like paying for tickets!