'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' mostly finds its force with critics

13/12/2017 6:23

        "Star Wars: The Last Jedi"
        won warm reviews from most critics on Tuesday, a day before the
        latest installment in the sci-fi saga begins hitting movie
        theaters worldwide in what is projected to be the
        biggest-grossing movie of 2017.
        
        The Walt Disney Co. movie received four or five
        stars from most reviewers, along with praise for its energy and
        emotion. "The Last Jedi" scored a 94 percent "fresh" rating on
        aggregator site RottenTomatoes.com.
        
        The film, arriving in movie theaters from Dec. 13, picks up
        from 2015's "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," which took in more
        than $2 billion at the global box office to become the
        third-biggest-grossing movie of all time.
        
        Written and directed by Rian Johnson, "The Last Jedi" kicks
        off with the Resistance fighting Supreme Leader Snoke’s First
        Order, which is trying to take control of the galaxy.
        
        The movie features the final appearance of Carrie Fisher,
        who plays the franchise's Princess Leia. The actress died at age
        60 last December, weeks after completing filming.
        
        Numerous critics including The Hollywood Reporter felt that
        at 2-1/2 hours, the movie's run time was a little too long. But
        the Hollywood Reporter added, "there's a pervasive freshness and
        enthusiasm to Johnson's approach that keeps the film, and with
        it the franchise, alive, and that is no doubt what matters
        most."
        
        The London Times newspaper deemed it the best "Star Wars"
        movie yet, calling it a "film of wit and wonder, of eye-gouging
        visual spectacle, and one that is buttressed by entirely
        unexpected, and frequently devastating, emotional power."
        
        Entertainment Weekly said "The Last Jedi" was a "triumph
        with flaws," while USA Today said it was "a stellar entry" in
        the "Star Wars" franchise.
        
        The Washington Post praised the film's "irreverent humor and
        worshipful love for the original text."
        
        Variety was among a handful of less enthusiastic reviews,
        calling the film "ultimately a disappointment." CNN said "Last
        Jedi" felt "like a significant letdown, one that does far less
        than its predecessor to stoke enthusiasm for the next leg in the
        trilogy."
        
        Before the reviews were out, Boxoffice.com projected that
        "Last Jedi" would haul in $185 million to $215 million in North
        America in its first weekend, which would rank as one of the
        biggest film debuts in history.
        
        Disney said in November that Johnson will oversee a new
        trilogy of "Star Wars" films that will not follow the Skywalker
        saga, which George Lucas kicked off in 1977.