Star Wars: The Last Jedi: reviews, spoilers, and analysis for one of the franchise’s best films

When Rian Johnson was announced as the director of The Last Jedi, the eighth Star Wars movie, there was much rejoicing. Johnson is known for his imaginative twists on familiar genres, both in the film world and, on occasion, in the television world too — and his prior work seems to have served him well, with The Last Jedi already pulling in an avalanche of positive reviews.

The director, who will turn 44 two days after The Last Jedi opens in theaters worldwide, has only three feature film credits to his name prior to Star Wars. He graduated from the University of Southern California in 1996 and made several short films (including one called Evil Demon Golfball from Hell!!!, based on Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart) before attracting attention with his feature debut, Brick, at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.

A divide between movie audiences and critics happens all the time — especially with blockbusters.

Consider the recent case of Justice League, which brought together a bunch of big-name superheroes, to the delight of 79 percent of those who saw it and bothered to register their opinion on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics, however, only liked the film to the tune of a 40 percent score — a 39-point gap. There’s also 2016’s Suicide Squad, with a 26 percent score from critics and a 61 percent score from audiences, for a 35-point gap.

When Rian Johnson took on the job of directing Star Wars: The Last Jedi, he knew what he was getting into — which is why he brought along his longtime producing partner, Ram Bergman, on his first directorial foray into a galaxy far, far away.

Bergman and Johnson have been working together since Johnson’s first film, Brick, a 2005 low-budget indie noir starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. There’s a huge gap between Brick and The Last Jedi, including the budget and star power involved, and the amount of anticipation leading up to the film’s release. But both still manage to feel distinctly like a Johnson film — which is to say, they both feel like a Johnson-Bergman film.

It is impossible to look at a porg, the fluffy orb of a creature that features prominently in the new Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and not feel anything.

Sure, for anyone with an aversion to tiny teeth or who carries a deep (and correct) distrust of anything avian, they might seem a tad disturbing. But to a lot of people, the cute puffin-beagle-chipmunk-like creature from a galaxy far, far away is heart-meltingly adorable.

Some pretty major Last Jedi spoilers follow. I’m giving you a buffer, but seriously, turn back now, folks.

In 2015, shortly after the release of The Force Awakens, I offered a lengthy explanation of why I believed the series’ newest protagonist, Rey (Daisy Ridley), would be shown to be the forgotten daughter of Leia Organa and Han Solo, the long-lost sister of antagonist Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). I explained it all via mind wipes and Luke Skywalker’s crumbled Jedi dreams and all manner of things.