Three to see
DIRECTOR JJ Abrams returns to the Star Wars universe to provide a suitably epic finale to cinema’s greatest sci-fi saga which rockets along in fan-pleasing style and never skimps on spectacle. Having brought the series roaring back to life with 2015’s The Force Awakens, he sat out 2017’s The Last Jedi, but satisfactorily wraps up this third trilogy with an emotional flourish which had people cheering at my preview screening in London’s Leicester Square.
Seemingly killed off in Episode VI, the evil Emperor Palpatine has returned and is hunting Daisy Ridley’s scavenger orphan,
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MRS LOWRY & SON (PG) (12A)
Rey, but we’re warned by the Emperor, “she’s not who you think she is”. Ridley, John Boyega and Oscar Isaac reprise their roles as heroic members of the resistance, and set about the task of saving the universe, with their winning chemistry carrying us along as they try to set the galaxy to rights one last time.
Standing in their way is Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren, the diabolical Supreme Leader, and his chasing them about the cosmos is a deliberate attempt to keep us guessing who the Skywalker of the title is.
The zippy action will keep youngsters entertained and, for fans such as me who have been there since my own childhood, it serves up a banquet of nostalgia, not least the scenes featuring the late Carrie Fisher, whose presence as General Leia is squeezed for every ounce of emotion in a – dignified final appearance.
Robot C3PO provides a lot of the humour, and there are lightsaber duels and space battles.
Cramming in so much plot, action and old favourites such as Billy Dee Williams’ scoundrel Lando Calrissian, means some new characters such as Kelly Marie Tran’s mechanic, Rose Tico, are sidelined.
This isn’t the greatest Star Wars movie ever, and not even the best of this third trilogy, but it’s driven by the desire to reward the fans for their devotion and is a triumph of hope over fear.
THE AERONAUTS (PG)