Category Archives: The Last Jedi

Finn & Rose Tico In ‘The Last Jedi’

Posted on by

Via Ew.com:

We’ve already seen John Boyega’s conscience-stricken Stormtrooper try to escape from a life of wrongdoing. In The Last Jedi, Finn finds himself ready to abandon the good guys, too.

You can’t blame him. He has been critically wounded by a lightsaber attack that still burns and has never quite healed. He watched Han Solo, another reluctant hero, die horribly at the hands of his own son.

Finn did his part. Starkiller base has been destroyed. Now he wants out.

“It got really real for him,” Boyega tells EW. “And he just wants to get away and not be involved. His intention in the first place was to go to the Outer Rim. He was always brought back [in The Force Awakens,], but this is his chance to get away and perhaps find Rey and go off together. He’s trying to do that at first.”

But it’s not going to be that easy for him.

Click below to read the full article.

Can Rey Save Luke Skywalker From His Own Darkness?

Posted on by

Via Ew.com:

Perhaps the only thing more unsettling than meeting your enemy is coming face-to-face with your hero.

That’s where the Star Wars saga left us at the end of The Force Awakens, with Daisy Ridley’s Rey standing atop a craggy, windswept island, holding out Luke Skywalker’s long-lost family lightsaber to the man she knew only as a legend. But in The Last Jedi, she actually has much further to go to find the warrior who inspired all those old stories.

This isn’t the Luke she’s heard about. It’s not the one we know either.

This is a broken man. One who would have preferred to stay lost. And he feels the same way about that lightsaber.

“The fact that Luke says, ‘I only know one truth. It’s time for the Jedi to end…’ I mean, that’s a pretty amazing statement for someone who was the symbol of hope and optimism in the original films,” Mark Hamill tells EW as part of our new cover story on the Dec. 15 film.

“When I first read it, my jaw dropped,” the actor says. “What would make someone that alienated from his original convictions? That’s not something that you can just make up in an afternoon, and I really struggled with this thing.”

Luke definitely does not give Rey the warm welcome he received when he went in search of Alec Guinness’ Ben Kenobi in 1977’s original Star Wars. She is warned. She is given an explanation. Nevertheless …

“She’s so hopeful to everything,” Ridley says. “And obviously there’s a hint of, ‘What the hell?’”

Click below to read the full article.

 

The Last Jedi Is The Cover Of EW’s Fall Movie Preview

Posted on by

Via Ew.com:

In this week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly, we bring you intel from the Star Wars galaxy with an exclusive look at The Last Jedi and the return of the man and the legend known as Luke Skywalker.

Those two things are not one and the same.

When Daisy Ridley’s Rey heard stories of Mark Hamill’s farmboy-turned-Jedi, she expected to discover the warrior we remember from the original trilogy. Instead, she finds a man overpowered by regret, eager to close the book on his past while living out the rest of his days on an isolated island.

Isolated … but not unpopulated. We’ll get a new look at some of the creatures who inhabit this Force-sensitive temple alongside Skywalker. (And we don’t just mean the penguin-like Porgs.) As Yoda would say, “No … there is another.”

EW’s cover also delves into another bit of the movie’s hero-worship: John Boyega’s Finn, now a “big deal” in the Resistance, who embarks on a glamorous mission to the casino city Canto Bight alongside Star Wars newcomer Kelly Marie Tran, who plays Rose Tico, a self-described “nobody” who works as a Resistance mechanic.

Online at EW.com, we’ll roll out coverage of The Last Jedi in eight installments, beginning today with Luke and Rey, then Finn and Rose, and a look at some of the new creatures and villains.

Tomorrow: Details about the late Carrie Fisher’s final appearance as Leia Organa, with a story from Poe Dameron co-star Oscar Isaac that will make you miss her even more than you do now, if that’s possible.

Our goal is to avoid spoilers, but give fans a sense of where The Last Jedi is steering the Star Wars saga – all with insight from our guide, writer-director Rian Johnson (Looper, Brick.)

 

Adam Driver Says, ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ Creates ‘New Rules’ For The Franchise

Posted on by

Via Slashfilm.com:

Adam Driver is probably the No. 1 hype man for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the eighth film in the core Star Wars franchise.

He has raved about the script, about director Rian Johnson, and now he has one more glowing thing to say. And it has interesting implications about the plot for The Last Jedi.

In an interview with The Huffington Post, Driver elaborated on his late 2016 comments when he gushed about Johnson, calling him “a brilliant filmmaker” who “understands the importance of ambiguity and nuance.” He said:

“[W]hat Rian had written was remarkable. He created new rules for the “Star Wars” universe and balanced the familiar and unfamiliar very adeptly while respecting that his audience can handle ambiguity. Which you can see in his previous films. Characters and story are his priority.”

Driver’s statement about “new rules” for the universe is interesting. It follows Johnson’s assurances that The Last Jedi isn’t going to be a rehash of The Empire Strikes Back, which to this day stands as the pinnacle of blockbuster trilogy filmmaking. This was one of the criticisms leveled against Star Wars: The Force Awakens, J.J. Abrams’ re-introduction into the Star Wars universe for modern audiences — and for many, a lazy carbon copy of George Lucas’ original Star Wars movie, A New Hope.

Johnson seems to be actively working to, as he said, make a film that is not “derivative.“He’s already established himself as a director with a unique voice — people cite Looper as grounds that he’ll bring some edge to the Star Wars franchise, but Brick is still my favorite movie of his. He reshaped the hardboiled noir genre and put it in a high school setting, ingeniously balancing the unnatural and natural tone of such a hyperrealistic story. It sounds akin to what Driver is claiming about The Last Jedi — walking the line between different tones and expectations.

The trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi established a dark and somber mood that already sets it apart from the more buoyant The Force Awakens. However, with plot details for The Last Jedi tightly guarded by Disney, we can’t know much more. But if The Last Jedi can walk the tightrope between the “familiar and unfamiliar adeptly” with a healthy dose of “ambiguity” as Driver says, then Johnson may live up to his and Driver’s promises.

The Last Jedi And Captain Phasma

Posted on by

Via Metro.co.uk (and our friend, Mark, from Jedinews.com):
The Force Awakens introduced a wide variety of fascinating new characters into the Star Wars canon, characters both heroic and villainous.

Of those new arrivals, few were as visually striking as the First Order’s Captain Phasma.

Decked out in chrome armour (made from the same material as the hull plating on the Emperor’s personal yacht dontcha know), the captain looked set to be the Boba Fett of the movie.

A cool looking, mysterious character who would no doubt gain a strong and loyal following in fandom.

Ironic then that Phasma did receive that following, but for many of the wrong reasons.
Yes, she was undoubtedly cool and commanding, played stoically by the statuesque Gwendoline Christie, best known as Brienne of Tarth in HBO’s Game Of Thrones.
However, Phasma received a fraction of the screen time many fans anticipated, leading many to feel short-changed.

Some blamed that on the Phasma character being gender-swapped while others realised it was purely down to editorial choices and the running time.
Either way, Phasma promised much and delivered – through no fault of hers – comparatively little.

Click below to read the full article.

John Boyega Shares A Look At Finn’s New Blaster

Posted on by

Via Screenrant.com:
John Boyega has shared a look at Finn’s new blaster in the upcoming Star Wars: The Last Jedi. While most of the narrative weight of Star Wars: The Force Awakens landed on the shoulders of Daisy Ridley’s Rey as she discovered her Force sensitivity and natural ability with a lightsaber, Boyega’s Finn also proved his worth as a stormtrooper who turned on the evil First Order to join the Rey and the rest of the Resistance. Fans have long wondered what sort of role Finn would occupy in the upcoming The Last Jed (Boyega himself has hinted that his character will be a “big deal” thanks to his battle with Kylo Ren) and, more importantly perhaps, how his character would evolve.

After inheriting Poe Dameron’s awesome jacket in The Force Awakens, it looks like Finn will get a cool sidearm in The Last Jedi. A video of the new blaster was posted on Boyega’s official Instagram, and shows what is presumably Boyega himself pulling the trigger on the prototype weapon. Boyega, who claims to be an avid Star Wars toy collector since before his casting as Finn, captioned the video with a thanks to writer and director Rian Johnson for Finn’s blaster. 

Click below to see the full article.

Vanity Fair Asks Kathleen Kennedy and Rian Johnson About The Meaning Of Their Movie’s Title

Posted on by

Via Vanityfair.com:

Since Lucasfilm announced in January that the eighth episode of the Star Wars saga would be titled The Last Jedi, fans around the globe have tried to suss out the title’s meaning. But good luck getting Kathleen Kennedy, Lucasfilm’s president, or Rian Johnson, the movie’s writer and director, to reveal it. We tried. Here’s what they told us.

Read Vanity Fair’s Summer issue cover story, with exclusive portraits by Annie Leibovitz, here.

ATTEMPT #1: KATHLEEN KENNEDY

Vanity Fair: So, do we know what the words The Last Jedi allude to?

Kathleen Kennedy: Why in the world do you think I would tell you that?

I’ll tell you why. Back in 1998, I interviewed George Lucas for V.F. ahead of The Phantom Menace, and I asked, “Who or what is the phantom menace?” And he nonchalantly said, “Oh, it’s Darth Sidious.”

Did he really?

Just like that.

I’m not going to do that.

So, does the word “Jedi” work in the singular or the plural?

That’s actually what’s interesting about the title, and very intentionally ambiguous.

As you’re being right now.

Yes.

Click below to read the full article.

Adam Driver Takes Playing Kylo Ren Seriously

Posted on by

Via Vanityfair.com:

Adam Driver brings a certain gravitas to the Star Wars saga. He’s an accomplished actor (Lena Dunham’s Girls, Jim Jarmusch’s Paterson, Martin Scorsese’s Silence), but, like Alec Guinness before him, he doesn’t condescend to his role in the blockbuster franchise. If anything, he approaches Kylo Ren in the same way he does his art-house roles.

Read Vanity Fair’s Summer issue cover story, with exclusive portraits by Annie Leibovitz, here.

“There’s big personal things that I find about every character, not just in Star Wars, that you have to make as personal as possible,” he told me. “It’s the big joke about being an actor, that you make everything you’re doing seem like it’s life or death”—including his internal process of becoming Kylo, about which he is circumspect. “The things about that character that I find painful, that I really relate to, I kind of prefer to keep to myself,” he said.

Driver’s in-the-zone solemnity is something his castmates can’t help but take note of. “He’s very moody and intense,” Mark Hamill said. “I remember saying to Adam, ‘I don’t know how you work, or your technique. But, at some point, you were my nephew. I probably bounced you on my knee. I probably babysat for you. There’s that side, and now we’re both estranged from the Skywalker family. All I’m suggesting is, if you’d like, maybe we could go to lunch, we could get together and hang out.’”

Click below to read the full article.

What’s in Star Wars: The Last Jedi—and What’s Not

Posted on by

Via Vanityfair.com:

Our cover story and accompanying portfolio about Star Wars: The Last Jedi offer lots of brand-new information about the eighth episode of the Star Wars saga—but there are still more details that didn’t make the cut. Below, a list of five things director Rian Johnson told us to expect in The Last Jedi when it opens on December 15, and five things that won’t be included.

Click below to read the full story (article may contain some spoilers).