If it’s Christmas, it must be time to feel the Force

IT’S that time of year when we look forward to seeing the man in the fancy suit.

No, not Santa Claus — Darth Vader!

The original Star Wars trilogy helped set the trend for Hollywood summer blockbusters, and the much-derided trio of later prequels stuck rigidly to the pattern as they, too, were all released in May.

But then George Lucas sold the Star Wars rights to Disney, and the House of Mouse had one of their frequent brainwaves.

Instead of duking it out with all the other big-budget summer fare, why not cash in over Christmas when your only rivals are the pretty dreadful “Xmas movie”, usually starring Will Ferrell?

As a result, The Force Awakens and last year’s Rogue One both broke box-office records after being released in mid-December, and now, the latest instalment of the much-loved “space opera”, The Last Jedi, is set to do the same.

Episode VIII, as the fanboys like to call it, is keenly anticipated.

At the end of The Force Awakens the main character Rey, brilliantly played by Brit newcomer Daisy Ridley, tracked down the original films’ hero Luke Skywalker, who’d been living a hermit’s existence on the hidden plant Ahch-To — actually Skellig Michael, an island seven miles off the coast of Kerry.

This set up the intriguing question — is he the titular Last Jedi?

Or is it in fact Rey herself, who had demonstrated an unsuspected mastery of “the Force” in her conflict with the film’s villain Kylo Ren, the son of Han Solo and Princess Leia who had followed his grandfather Darth Vader to the Dark Side?

Keep up, I’ll be asking questions later.

The film is a fitting tribute to Carrie Fisher, who died two days after Christmas last year, aged just 60 — her mother, Debbie Reynolds, tragically passing away the very next day.

Carrie appeared in The Force Awakens, and as a digitally-rendered younger version of herself at the very end of Rogue One, but is far more central to this latest picture.

There was speculation that the film-makers would have to resort to digital trickery to complete the new film after her death, in much the same way Ridley Scott altered footage for Gladiator when Oliver Reed died during filming, but in the end, that wasn’t necessary.

Director Rian Johnson reveals: “We didn’t end up changing a thing. Luckily, we had a totally beautiful and complete performance of her.

“I got to experience a little bit of that magical sphere that she created. I’m happy I got to poke my head into that, briefly, and know her even a little bit.”

Mark Hamill, who reprises his role as Luke Skywalker, will miss his on-screen sister, saying: “There was now a comfort level that she had with me, that I wasn’t out to get anything or trying to hustle her in any way.

“I was the same person that I was when she knew me before.

“I was sort of the square, stick-in-the-mud brother and she was the wild, madcap Auntie Mame.

“Promoting the movie is bringing it all back for me. I can’t stand it. She’s wonderful in the movie, but it adds a layer of melancholy we don’t deserve.

“I’d love the emotions to come from the story, not from real life.”

It’s predicted that this being Fisher’s last role will propel the film to a record opening as people will want to doff their hats to the woman who lit up the first films as the sharp-tongued Princess.

Not that this was the role she wanted, as she revealed: “I wanted to play Han Solo because that was the best part!

“I was 19. It was really fun to do but I never really wanted to be an actress.

“But I wanted to be in that. I wanted to be in Star Wars because I read the script and it was awesome.

“It’s not like anything before it, it was just this kind of event. And it was a fairytale with creatures in it that we hadn’t seen before.”

Andy Serkis, the pioneer of “performance capture” acting, has always attracted praise for his portrayals of characters as diverse as King Kong and Gollum in the Lord Of The Rings films.

He’s always been able to bring something uniquely human to his characters, even when they’re a 100-feet-tall super ape, and he’s done it again in The Last Jedi.

Serkis plays Supreme Leader Snoke, the leader of the malevolent First Order which has taken up where Darth Vader and his villainous Empire left off.

And he’s recently revealed that Snoke is suffering from a complaint familiar to many of us that’s probably never been mentioned in sci-fi before.

“Snoke is dark,” says Serkis. “He’s riddled with osteoporosis so his body’s twisted, like a corkscrew.

“He’s incredibly damaged, so there’s a bizarre vulnerability about him.

“Beneath that vulnerability, though, is an intense hatred.”

Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Certificate 12A, is in cinemas from December 15.