美国国家公共电台 NPR 'The Last Jedi' Is Not More Of The Same In 'Star Wars' Franchise

 

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

"Star Wars: The Last Jedi" opens this weekend in more theaters than any "Star Wars" movie ever has. It is episode eight in a series that promises to go on pretty much forever. And while you might think that would lead the filmmakers to serve up more of the same, critic Bob Mondello says, without spoilers, that "The Last Jedi" feels surprisingly fresh.

BOB MONDELLO, BYLINE¹: Gotta say, I was nervous. Nobody who sat through those lackluster prequels with Jar Jar Binks will ever take the "Star Wars" formula completely for granted. Fans held their breath for this new trilogy, hoping J.J. Abrams could make "The Force Awakens²" fun. And he did and left us hanging with freedom fighter Rey holding out a lightsaber to Luke Skywalker, begging him with her eyes to come back and make things OK, which is more or less where this one starts. So why was I nervous again...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI")

MARK HAMILL: (As Luke Skywalker) Breathe.

MONDELLO: ...Because "Force Awakens" was all about nostalgia³, and you can't keep a series interesting by doing the same thing over and over. So "Last Jedi" was going to have to go someplace different, and I didn't trust where.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI")

HAMILL: (As Luke Skywalker) Just breathe.

MONDELLO: And I should have.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI")

HAMILL: (As Luke Skywalker) Now reach out.

MONDELLO: That voice is Luke's, inviting⁴ Rey to explore a more complex notion of the force and how it works in the universe than she's had in her head. And the filmmakers are asking the audience to do that, too, without giving up any of the fun of droids and lightsabers. "Star Wars" has always been a story about darkness and light, first order and resistance. But "The Last Jedi" is all about grey areas, shadows, bad guys who may not be all bad, friends who sometimes make terrible choices - also of course about planet-blasting dreadnaughts, storm troopers, wookiees and a critter called a porg.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI")

MONDELLO: Porgs look like puffins and will soon be under every Christmas tree on this planet, as opposed to the film's planets, which are richly textured⁵ digital wonderlands - an intergalactic Monte Carlo, say, or a desert world that turns into a giant red and white Etch A Sketch⁶ during battles. Director Rian Johnson, whose previous movies have been tiny by comparison, marshals special effects as if he's been dreaming this "Star Wars" installment⁷ since he was a kid.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI")

MONDELLO: And he probably has. Johnson also marshals sharp performances, especially from the saga's veterans. Mark Hamill's curmudgeonly⁸ Luke Skywalker seems to be channeling his inner-Han Solo at times and keeps the brother-sister act going with Carrie Fisher, whose death last year renders Leia's every utterance⁹ bittersweet. The youngsters spend most of their time whipping up the action, Oscar Isaac and John Boyega ever-impetuous as Poe and Finn...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI")

OSCAR ISAAC: (As Poe Dameron) Finn, you must have a thousand questions.

JOHN BOYEGA: (As Finn) Where's Rey?

MONDELLO: ...Daisy Ridley's Rey fierce and affecting, as is Adam Driver's Kylo Ren...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI")

ADAM DRIVER: (As Kylo Ren) Let the past die.

MONDELLO: ...A Vader wannabe who's growing up and growing stronger.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI")

DRIVER: (As Kylo Ren) That's the only way to become what you were meant to be.

MONDELLO: There are new folks, too, as you'll want to discover for yourself in a story where the John Williams score intensifies¹⁰ not just galaxy-defining battles but things as mundane¹¹ as grabbing dinner. Nothing in "The Last Jedi" is allowed to be mundane, including the places the filmmakers take the story.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI")

MONDELLO: As Luke tells Rey...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI")

HAMILL: (As Luke Skywalker) This is not going to go the way you think.

MONDELLO: True for the audience, too, perhaps the most gratifying of "The Last Jedi's" many joys. I'm Bob Mondello.

(SOUNDBITE OF JOHN WILLIAMS' "STAR WARS THEME")

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 awakens   

v.（使）醒( awaken的第三人称单数 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到

参考例句：

• The scene awakens reminiscences of my youth. 这景象唤起我年轻时的往事。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The child awakens early in the morning. 这个小孩早晨醒得早。 来自辞典例句

3 nostalgia   

n.怀乡病，留恋过去，怀旧

参考例句：

• He might be influenced by nostalgia for his happy youth.也许是对年轻时幸福时光的怀恋影响了他。
• I was filled with nostalgia by hearing my favourite old song.我听到这首喜爱的旧歌，心中充满了怀旧之情。

4 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

5 textured   

adj.手摸时有感觉的, 有织纹的

参考例句：

• The shoe's sole had a slightly textured surface. 鞋底表面稍感粗糙。
• Shallow burial seems to preserve chalky textured porosity. 浅埋藏似能保留具白垩状结构的孔隙。

6 sketch   

n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述

参考例句：

• My sister often goes into the country to sketch. 我姐姐常到乡间去写生。
• I will send you a slight sketch of the house.我将给你寄去房屋的草图。

7 installment   

n.(instalment)分期付款；(连载的)一期

参考例句：

• I shall soon pay the last installment of my debt.不久我将偿付我的最后一期债款。
• He likes to buy things on the installment plan.他喜欢用分期付款法购买货物。

8 curmudgeonly   

adj.小气的，不和悦的

参考例句：

• Under Mr Obama nobody will dare to seem so curmudgeonly. 在奥巴马时代，没有人敢表现得如此小气。 来自互联网

9 utterance   

n.用言语表达，话语，言语

参考例句：

• This utterance of his was greeted with bursts of uproarious laughter.他的讲话引起阵阵哄然大笑。
• My voice cleaves to my throat,and sob chokes my utterance.我的噪子哽咽，泣不成声。

10 intensifies   

n.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的名词复数 )v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A clear atmosphere intensifies the blue of the sky. 纯净的空气使天空变得更蓝。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Blowing on fire intensifies the heat. 吹火使热度加强。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 mundane   

adj.平凡的；尘世的；宇宙的

参考例句：

• I hope I can get an interesting job and not something mundane.我希望我可以得到的是一份有趣的工作，而不是一份平凡无奇的。
• I find it humorous sometimes that even the most mundane occurrences can have an impact on our awareness.我发现生活有时挺诙谐的，即使是最平凡的事情也能影响我们的感知。