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Breathe. The Star Wars franchise is in good hands with writer-director Rian Jonson, who delivers an enthralling, often funny and at times achingly beautiful galactic adventure in The Last Jedi.
With a something-for-everyone appeal, it's not so much a space opera as a sci-fi variety show.
But Jonson avoids the pitfalls of compromise with his nimble direction, guiding the film smoothly between solemn exposition, self-aware humour and thrilling action sequences.
Following on from The Force Awakens in 2015, directed by JJ Abrams, the events in the movie essentially occur during an extended intergalactic chase sequence.
Carrie Fisher, who died after shooting had finished, plays a defiant Princess Leia, commanding the last remnants of the rebel fleet as they run from the giant arrowhead destroyers of the evil First Order.
The trio of newcomers from The Force Awakens returns, but have their own adventures.
Hot-headed X-wing ace Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) stays close to home, clashing with his female superiors over tactics.
Stormtrooper defector Finn (John Boyega), finds himself in a meet cute situation with a maintenance worker (Kelly Marie Tran), before taking her on a behind the scenes mission.
Meanwhile, Rey (the ever-compelling Daisy Ridley), picks up literally where the last film left off, making contact with Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), who's living in self-imposed exile on a remote island.
Such a broad scope might have stretched some directors too thin, especially over a marathon 152 minutes.
But Jonson, collaborating with regular cinematographer Steve Yedlin, who's worked on all of his films from Brick to Looper, delivers a movie full of movement, elegance and colour.
His lightsaber fights are particularly good — choreographed with lip-smacking gladiatorial drama.
But he can also turn a small detail, like the way the hood of a robe frames the face of Mark Hamill, into a moment to savour.
The recurring use of deep crimson is a dazzling motif. It appears initially in the shiny armour of First Order guards, then in a battle scene as war machines carve up the white surface of a salt-covered planet, revealing the blood red soil beneath.
Thematically, red evokes revolution and generational tensions, both front and centre in the film.
The question of what constitutes legitimate authority is a focus of various threads, and it's a particularly traumatic theme in Rey's story as she begins to question Luke's loyalty to the cause.
But it's Adam Driver as Kylo Ren, the First Order's brooding heir apparent, who best channels the film's deepest traumas.
Physically scarred and battered, he's also a psychologically wrecked torchbearer for the franchise tradition of deeply conflicted characters torn between kin, duty and ambition.
The boldness with which The Last Jedi embraces its younger characters' dysfunction is what makes it such a welcome addition to the Star Wars series.
Its reverence for franchise lore is unmistakable, but this never overshadows a deeper curiosity and genuine enthusiasm for its human drama.
The Star Wars fictional world arguably hits a sweet spot when it's about villains and heroes who are distinguishable only by the way they deal with their inner demons.
In this regard, Rey and Kylo Ren are two characters who continue to embody the best of what the franchise has to offer.
Topics: film-movies, science-fiction-films, fantasy-films, australia
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