This is what genre filmmaking should be. Rian Johnson's latest is brilliant for its emphasis on character, like all good sci-fi manages to be, and it soars as a new sort of mythology. He is one of the most talented filmmakers working today, one of our brightest writers, certainly, and I hope he continues to rise. This is the kind of guy studios should entrust with risky, even expensive material, because he knows how to compel without a budget just as effectively. And, again, it's a love story, one that never loses sight of its central character's very human ordeal, spanning decades with panache.