THE best way to approach revisiting the latest Star Wars film is to ‘do a Yoda’.

Clear your mind of questions, you should. Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi polarised fans mostly because it did not really gel with the previous movie in the beloved franchise.

Typical of all of his work, J.J. Abrams’ The Force Awakens offered us tantalising mysteries like: Who are Rey’s parents? And what is the true identity of Supreme Leader Snoke? But – when given the keys to a galaxy far. far away by Disney – Johnson decided he did not really care about those plot threads, snubbing them both out with blunt resolve.

The Last Jedi was also the film that presented us with first real scenes with Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) in almost 35 years. And some fans raged that their hero was now a disgruntled hermit as opposed to an all powerful Jedi Knight poised to take down the whole First Order ‘with a laser sword’. Is this a reason to be bitter as some fans – talking about tainted childhoods – would have you believe?

Not at all because The Last Jedi is the most mature and thought-provoking entry in the saga.

The film sees the Resistance led by General Organa (Carrie Fisher in her final role) in a desperate bid for survival in a story that is brave enough to explore ethics in a way that mirrors the real world while also finding room for drama, action and humour. Forget light and dark – shades of grey are finally explored in the Jedi/Sith divide too thanks to the character development between Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver).

And from his backstory with conflicted villain Kylo Ren and hermit like existence to his ultimate redemption, Luke’s plot arc is deeply satisfying too.

The Last Jedi is also beautifully shot, particularly the scenes in Skellig Michael, Ireland, doubling for Luke’s secluded home of Ahch-To. Oscar Isaac has a much more fleshed out role too as a kind of stand-in for Han Solo – a flyboy with a head and a heart to match.

Ok, the less said about the Carrie Fisher’s ‘Mary Poppins scene’ and Ahch-To’s natives the better but look past unfair childhood expectations and after The Force Awakens’ pure love letter to the 70s and 80s originals this is the burst of new ideas Star Wars urgently needed.

RATING: 8/10

DAVID MORGAN