The Last Jedi: nothing new, nothing improved

Rating: 5/10 (28 December 2017)

Once again the powerful but generally incompetent First Order threatens galactic peace. A couple of super-weapons are trotted out (an excellent "Dreadnaught" class starship and a death-star-based battering ram), which either don't manage to fire in time or are somewhat uneventful when they do fire. Legendary Jedi Luke Skywalker is found and sincere attempts are made to recruit him to rejoin the rebellion against the First Order (as personified by Darth Vader wannabee Kylo Ren (nee Ben Solo; Adam Driver)). After many heroic adventures and 'surprise twists', the rebellion lives on for another sequel. Weakly plotted and poorly written, The Last Jedi is an insipid entry into the third generation of the Star Wars franchise. Writer/director Rian Johnson succumbs to the lazy trick of allowing the "Force" to do whatever would be convenient for the plot (surprise!: Force-endowed people are able survive (and fly around in) the cold vacuum of space without any protection), or indiscriminately tossing in new technologies (e.g. Rebel cruisers conveniently have shields that seem to be lacking in the Imperial fleet (or any other ship in the Star Wars universe to date)). The latter example is particularly egregious as it allows for the tedious, O.J.-like slow-chase of Leia's ship while uninteresting secondary characters take a side trip to a casino planet (a ridiculous and unnecessary sub-plot, even by Jar Jar Binks standards).
"The Last Jedi" contains no shortage of plot holes and silly cartoon physics that IMDB reviewers (many especially unkind) have pointed out but to me the most glaring is the pointless death of gruff-but-lovable purple haired Admiral Holdo (Laura Dern). She heroically elects to stay on the doomed cruiser as, she maintains, someone needs to fly the thing to fool their pursuers. Flying a star cruiser seems to mostly involve looking out the window, mostly, and when flying is unexpectedly required, the trailing First Order captain assumes that the ship is under computer control anyway. The scene that follows is spectacular to watch but only goes to prove that the training the First Order Space Navy is as lacking as was that of the old Imperial Storm Troopers.
In addition to the weak story, most of the new generation of characters are simple, predictable 2D cut-outs that I (and others I suspect) care not as to whether they live or die (truth be told, I was quite disappointed to see Rose in the infirmary, having really hoped that she'd given her life for the rebellion).
In summary: similar to a lot of recent CGI-based blockbusters, "The Last Jedi" is a slackly-plotted spectacular: a second-rate movie encased in first-rate visuals. Whether the current crop of Disney Star Wars films will squander the legacy of the now 40-year old original or transfer the magic to a new generation is yet to be seen. I'd bet on the former, but as my generation of fans is an aging breed who (I assume) no longer buy a lot of SW branded stuff, I doubt that the imperial 'House of the Mouse' much cares what I think.