The special effects in the movie were spectacular as always and I can say that I left the theater rather happy. The blowing up of the few remaining rebel ships was gripping and so was the final escape by the rebels, even if C-3PO’s calculation of their survival odds was more than a bit pessimistic. The casino/race track was great fun though I’m not sure even Benicio del Toro knows if he played a good or a bad guy. Leia’s unconscious survival in the void of space thanks to her Force related abilities was unexpected and a great visual. The initial battle was exciting if not terribly original. There is little doubt that “The Last Jedi” is a vast improvement over “The Force Awakens.” The film’s 154-minute running time went by in a hurry and I was surprised to see how well most of its action sequences worked. There is, how ever, a significant variation to the Jedi Master of the original series by having Luke discard the Jedi ways as too arrogant, never mind that it was the Jedi ways that led Luke to save the rebellion and crush the Empire a long time ago in a Galaxy far, far away, (or back in 1983, to be more precise). We also have the now old Jedi Master (Luke Skywalker) training newcomer Rey ( Daisy Ridley) as she is being tempted by the dark side of the force via the evil Kylo Ren ( Adam Driver).

And so, as “The Last Jedi” opens, we find a new, decimated rebellion led by General Leia ( Carrie Fisher) on the run from the First Order (this makes me wonder why blowing up a Death Star never seems to bring any long term prosperity to the rebels).

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