Emperor Palpatine is alive and sending messages across the galaxy. His intention is to reassert his rule by adding his fleet of star destroyers to that of The First Order. Supreme Leader Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) is still seeking Rey (Daisy Ridley) in an effort to convert her to his cause, whilst she receives further Jedi training from Leia (Carrie Fisher).

Firstly, in an effort to stave off spoiler upset, none of the above should be considered as such given that it is in the opening crawl of the film. I will endeavour not to reveal any key plot elements beyond that information.

J.J. Abrams has returned to complete the Disney trilogy in the Skywalker saga and probably the biggest questions surround how will he react to the fan backlash to The Last Jedi? In my opinion, badly. I will make it clear now that I love both The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. I think the former is a rollicking adventure that pays fan service to what has gone before and the latter introduced wholly new concepts and directions for the series to go in. I also had the pleasure of watching both again on the big screen in a triple bill of the trilogy which allowed both stories to be fresh in my mind whilst watching this culmination. What is clear is that having a trilogy of films written separately from each other by different writers and after each of the previous films was released has not helped in creating a clear vision with a through line for the story. Last Jedi apologists will be disappointed to know that Abrams washes away almost everything that was subject to backlash and when watched together it is a little jarring.

The opening set up of Palpatine’s return and the imminent danger to the galaxy feels a little rushed and clunky, but once the McGuffin the heroes have to chase has been established we return to more familiar adventure material. Poe (Oscar Isaac), Finn (John Boyega) and Chewie (Joonas Suotamo) are kept together as they barrel across beautiful locations in the galaxy to find it. And boy does the film look beautiful, images of wind swept oceans, Star Destroyers and outposts in glaciers are just some of the spectacular visuals on display. And whilst nothing matches the throne room battle in The Last Jedi the lightsaber duel depicted in the posters is pretty impressive.

Character wise it is absolutely at its best when it focuses on Rey and Kylo Ren. For me they have always been the best facet of the series and the fears and turmoil within both as they struggle with light and dark are the most interesting parts of this film. There are new characters introduced as well. Richard E. Grant joins General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson) in commanding The First Order, whilst Keri Russell and Naomi Acki both have small roles as cursory love interests for Poe and Finn respectively. Carrie Fisher’s scenes are manages with respect given the use of archive footage and Billy Dee Williams completes another return for a major legacy character. Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran) is relegated to a small part though which could be seen either a Last Jedi revisionism or simply that the film is crammed with so many characters.

A special mention must also be made for fan service. This film is absolutely riddled with it. Some of it worked for me and some of really did not. It will be interesting to hear from you all as to what you find good and bad as time goes on, but for fear of spoilers right now I will leave the subject there.

So I left with mixed feelings. It felt partly regressive and focused on trying to resolve complaints. But it is a beautiful looking accomplished adventure story that has two compelling central characters at its heart. I certainly will be returning to it to see if my quibbles go away with time but initial impressions are that it doesn’t reach the highs of the preceding films in the Disney trilogy.