Ok this one was actually exciting, and however much of its gravity was earned in its own right as opposed to tapped from the foregoing franchise, it had weight, with both excitement and gravity kicking in from the opening scenes as the rebel forces flee their erstwhile planetary base. I'd forgotten that Rian Johnson directed this instalment, and while who knows how much of a personal stamp he got to put on it, it's tempting to credit him with a fair bit of what makes The Last Jedi effective, including the way its plot and character pieces snap so neatly yet not-overly-deterministically together. Also amidst a cast in which there aren't too many space-fillers, Adam Driver is really terrific, as is Laura Dern.
(lately: The Force Awakens and Rogue One)
(lately: The Force Awakens and Rogue One)
