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Stellar "Jedi"

Note: the following review is as spoiler-free as possible but does include some plot setup, character basics, and story locations.

"Star Wars: The Last Jedi" is a whole lot of movie. Clocking in at two and a half hours, it's the longest film in the venerable franchise, and catching up with beloved characters from the classic trilogy while tracking the returning players from 2015's "The Force Awakens" and presenting a bevy of new faces via an occasionally unwieldy number of intertwining storylines gives "Jedi" a vibe like the midsection of a hefty novel. It's a bit of an immersion exercise, but it's also chock-full of the blazing action, fun intrigue, witty banter, and heartfelt revelations that catapulted the original "Star Wars" to stratospheric success four decades ago. Fans who've been waiting two years for this next chapter are going to love every minute of it, and for those who've been on board since day one it's the emotionally fulfilling bookend they've been anticipating for forty years.

Release week campaigns for "Jedi" have been pushing the importance of remaining spoiler-free before that first eager viewing, and who are we to mess with anyone's fun? But it's not giving too much away to say that "Jedi" picks up almost exactly where the last film left off, and that it packs in the by-now expected elements of a solid "Star Wars" entry: the rebels are on the run from fascistic interstellar heavies, the success of the ragtag rebellion depends on daring undercover missions and one-in-a-million shots, there's lots of pondering about family, identity, and destiny, and everyone's wondering what's become of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill).

If you saw "The Force Awakens" - and of course, you did - you'll know that Luke has been in self-imposed exile on a jaggedly picturesque island that houses the remains of the original Jedi temple. Aspiring apprentice Rey (Daisy Ridley, "Murder on the Orient Express") hopes to update Luke on the latest with the rebellion and bring him back to join their outnumbered forces in the battle against the First Order, led by the sinister Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis, "War for the Planet of the Apes"). But reengaging would mean facing his part in the rise of Snoke's darkly ambitious apprentice, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver, "Logan Lucky").

Leia (Carrie Fisher) has meanwhile managed to keep the ragtag rebel troops a mere step ahead of the First Order's massive fleet of battleships, and hot-headed pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac, "Suburbicon") is itching to do more than just retreat. He's all for it when his buddy Finn (John Boyega, "Detroit") and spunky newcomer Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) come up with a plan that just might get the First Order off their backs for a bit. Does it involve tracking down a shady character for help, disguising themselves as bad guys, and sneaking into enemy territory hoping to pull off an against-all-odds win? This is the Star Wars universe, so you bet it does!

These twin plotlines highlight one of "Jedi's" major strengths: it hews close to franchise tradition but mixes things up enough to subvert expectations. Rather than seeming like a hidebound homage or a timid shortcut, the repeating of familiar elements creates an elegant echo, underscoring the mythological feel that George Lucas intended the series to convey from the very beginning. The moments that seem like callbacks to "A New Hope" or "The Empire Strikes Back" are freshened by the presence of newer characters, but it's more than just a subbing in of new faces for the ones that have become so familiar: a new line enters the mix of old family ties, so Rey's journey extends the Skywalker saga and takes it in a new direction while still playing on the themes of fate, temptation, and balance that have served as fundamental threads throughout the series.

Strong performances are a hallmark here. The returning cast from "The Force Awakens" settle into their roles and work beautifully together, and Mr. Driver and Ms. Ridley are particularly compelling as they explore an intriguing sympatico that springs up between their characters. Mr. Driver offers a skillfully shaded performance in a turn that could have encouraged playing to the rafters; watch for the sulky petulance that flits across his face when he's thwarted and reverts momentarily to a conflicted adolescent, or the deceptive calm with which he explains his commitment to cutting ties with the past. As former stormtrooper Finn, Mr. Boyega plumbs the awkwardness of his role with the rebellion for plenty of laughs, and he's equally deft with the drama and the heartfelt moments.

Ms. Fisher, in her final performance before her death last year, continues to mine the steely sadness that added such depth to her role in "Force." Her work here as Leia is a fitting swan song for the feisty actress whose loss continues to be felt sharply by fans.

But from wry start to operatic finish, this is Mr. Hamill's movie. More mythology comes full circle as we meet a Luke who's as much a hermit as his mentor Ben Kenobi was at the start of "A New Hope," but one whose studied Jedi calm has been rubbed raw by years of bitter self-recrimination. To say much more about Luke's arc in this chapter would entail giving away secrets, but Mr. Hamill presents his most fully-realized performance of the series, skillfully telescoping the wide-eyed farmboy, the eager apprentice, and the desperately wounded son into this current iteration: reluctant master and flawed, fractured hero.

"Star Wars: The Last Jedi" is a visual treat. From the rocky precipices of Luke's island exile to the high-gloss interiors of the First Order's vessels and a side-trip to a high-rolling luxury getaway spot that has to be seen to be believed, "Jedi" makes the most of its wildly imagined locations. Battle scenes are a controlled sprawl that flower into abstractly beautiful firestorms, and a repeated palette of black/white/red recalls a motif of classic fairytales. But what's really important here are the characters, those we've loved for decades and those we are just getting to know. "Jedi" serves our old friends well, and it's a touching, effective passing of the torch to the next generation. This is storytelling joy.