Some familiar – and some surprising – franchise favourites return for a final fling in JJ Abrams’s whoppingly comprehensive galaxy quest
As one of the greatest sagas in cinema history reaches its climax, it’s concerning that
Star Wars has lately been generating more drama off screen than on. There’s been the personnel changes (original director Colin Trevorrow left after “creative differences”, prompting the return of JJ Abrams). Then there was the fact that this instalment’s predecessor, Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi, took the story to surprising new places and left a lot of questions unanswered.
Some fans were left confused; a nastier contingent railed against its so-called “identity politics”. Even some of the actors have admitted their doubts about The Last Jedi – John Boyega recently described it as “feeling a bit iffy”. Add in the fact that this instalment has to cap off a 42-year trilogy of trilogies, and that Baby Yoda from spin-off series The Mandalorian has outshone any character in the movies in terms of public affection, and this has more work to do than it ought to.