A Subplot Too Far

Rating: 5/10 (21 December 2017)

After the derivative mess that was Force Awakens, I was hopeful that Last Jedi would fill in the gaps and progress the story in an intriguing way. Although better then the preceding film, I was ultimately disappointed.
The scenery and effects were engaging to the eye as well as the mind without being burdened by excessive cgi. This approach brought back the unique feeling of the original trilogy, which was shot on location instead of inside a computer processor, therefore allowing the viewer to focus on the characters and story instead of the laser blasts. Surprising to me were the good performances of Fisher and Hamill, who provided a realistic balance to their characters -- even depressed and desperate people joke. Even BB-8, intended as comic relief, was likable and endearing.
However, the film is damaged, irrecoverably in my view, by too many characters that are thinly developed and sub-plots that slow the pace to a crawl, distracting the viewer. The ill advised "Casino Royale" side-trip, which adds an unnecessary character (Rose), stole screen time from the core of the story -- Luke, Rey and Ben's rationale for action and backstory. We are left with a result that much less than the sum of it's parts, and unconvinced that the characters would have acted the way that they did. The switch of who was expected to die was handled in a way that similarly unbelievable, and a bit cheap.
I give it a C, and demerits for a Hoth battle scene that exchanged salt for ice.