An Interesting Turn for Star Wars

Rating: 7/10 (19 December 2017)

Star Wars: The Last Jedi has proved to be a very divisive film for understandable reasons, with the choices Rian Johnson has made for the franchise being very bold and intriguing. In the end I quite enjoyed the film.
The scenes with Luke, Rey and Kylo in particular are fantastic, as discussions are made about the nature of the force in ways in which we haven't quite seen before, and the moral ambiguity of the grey area in between the light and dark side of the force is explored beautifully. Mark Hamill's performance is brilliant, with all the nuance of a jaded, broken man who has lost faith in the Jedi.
Understandably a lot of people were unhappy with how the questions about Rey's parents and Snoke were answered, but I feel it actually works well, as it points out that greatness can come from nothing, as Rey doesn't need to be related to a Skywalker or a Kenobi to be as powerful with the force as she is. Meanwhile, Snoke was seemingly just a placeholder for Kylo to ascend to power, which now establishes Kylo as the main villain of the film and leads to the best scene in the film with Kylo and Rey teaming up to defeat the Praetorian Guard after Snoke is murdered. (The Yoda scene wasn't too far behind).
Overall, the uproar from some is perfectly valid due to the choices of what to do with Luke's character and the story in general, but I really like the bold risks that were taken as I wanted to see something new done with the story. The Force Awakens was rightly criticised for being far too similar to A New Hope, so this film feels like a breath of fresh air with its ingenuity, and I give it props for that.
Also there is the need to mention the stunning cinematography which constantly filled me with amazement, particularly with the shots of the star destroyers being split in half after Holdo's jump to light speed.
Overall, I am very satisfied with the film, despite some of the leaps in logic that are made (plus the Canto Bight sequence) and hope that Episode 9 finishes the sequel trilogy off in appropriate fashion.