Previously in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the seventh chapter in the
intergalactic saga started by George Lucas 40 years ago, Daisy Ridley’s
scavenger-turned-possible Jedi recruit Rey finally meets the elusive Luke
Skywalker (Mark Hamill) in the cliffhanger (literally) ending. The erstwhile
Jedi big shot is now a grizzled, broken hermit living out his days on the
archipelagian water planet of Ahch-To (the sequence was shot on Earth,
on the Irish isle of Skellig Michael), home of the first Jedi temple.
No doubt, Rey has many pressing questions for Luke when The Last
Jedi, opening this week, picks up from their initial wordless encounter.
We, too, have a bunch of questions about the sequel, which also sees
the return of John Boyega (as reformed stormtrooper Finn), Oscar
Isaac (as X-wing top gun Poe Dameron), and Adam Driver (as Kylo
Ren, Dark Side loyalist and wayward spawn of Carrie Fisher’s Leia and
Harrison Ford’s dearly departed Han Solo), as well as a host of familiar
(Chewbacca! R2-D2! C-3PO! BB-8!) and new faces (see page 43).
For starters, we’re curious as to why Luke Skywalker is holed up on
Ahch-To.
Who’s this Supreme Leader Snoke (motion-capture performed by Andy
Serkis), the ruler of the First Order?
Are we going to choke up when we see Carrie Fisher, who died from
a heart attack last year, make her final appearance as Princess-turned-
General Leia Organa?
Did Prince William and Prince Harry really play stormtroopers? (Then
again, it’s not much of a cameo if they’re all covered up, right?)
And who is the last Jedi in the title referring to?
Hopefully, the film — which at 150 minutes, is the longest in the
series — will shed light on some of these queries. Is the film going to
be dark? In a Vanity Fair interview, writer-director Rian Johnson (Looper)
said, “I didn’t want this to be a dirge, a heavy-osity movie. So one thing
I’ve tried really hard to do is keep the humour in there, to maintain
the feeling, amid all the heavy operatic moments, that you’re on a fun
ride.” And whatever he did, he must’ve done a darn good job ’cos the
custodians of the Star Wars franchise have recently handed him the keys
to chart an all-new trilogy, which will follow when JJ Abrams is finished
with the untitled Episode IX (due in 2019).
But that is another story for another time. Right now, all eyes are on
budding Force-user Rey, as one of the mysteries concerns her identity —
and her lineage. Who is Rey? And is she related to Luke Skywalker? (Or
is it Obi-Wan Kenobi?)
Perhaps Daisy Ridley has the answers. In many ways, the 25-year-old
London-native is a lot like her plucky alter-ego, a newbie plucked from
obscurity to shoulder a monster responsibility. Here, Ridley — whose
post-Force Awakens credits include Murder on the Orient Express, a
guest spot on Barbra Streisand’s Encore album, and Doug Liman’s
upcoming sci-fi thriller Chaos Walking — tells us what it’s like to wield
that lightsabre again.WELCOME BACK TO A
GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY...