Possibly best Star Wars movie yet.

Rating: 10/10 (17 December 2017)

Obligatory never written a review before, but the negative reviews triggered me, I guess.
OK, look. The original Star Wars is an old, anachronistic take on Joseph Campbell's hero's journey that resonates so well with so many people that it spawned the biggest franchise in movie history. The next two movies complete the story, the hero having survived the ordeal, goals accomplished, everything all nice and tidy. (Then Lucas made the prequels, which I am not here to defend.)
So where does that leave us when The Force Awakens begins? It leaves us back at the beginning, and I think maybe failing to accept this is at the core of the backlash to The Last Jedi. This is a new story, which will necessarily address the old ones, but isn't, and shouldn't, be "the further adventures of Luke Skywalker and his friends".
The original trilogy ends with good having defeated evil. This is not a state of balance, so jumping into TFA feels right, in a way. It's decades later, and the dark side is gaining strength as it always will. Everyone was on board for this, despite the story feeling a bit derivative. JJ Abrams seemed to have successfully set up a new trilogy, about new characters, that would follow their own journeys in the next two movies. Then Rian Johnson delivers an exciting, unexpected, great story to follow up TFA, and it's met with a resounding guffaw from audiences, who apparently want this to play out like a cookie-cutter comic book movie. Ridiculous!
When we found out Luke was the son of a monster, did we all abandon him as tainted? When we realized his will-they-or-won't-they with Leia would never play out, did we complain? When everything set up in The Empire Strikes Back falls apart, leaving us unsure of the everything by the end of the movie, did we take our ball and go home? TLJ accomplishes just as much interesting storytelling, if not more, all under the pressure of having to avoid repeating the beats of the iconic trilogy that came before it.
So what are the core problems people have with this movie, skipping some of the weaker ones? Let's set them up and knock them down:
Luke chucked his lightsaber over his shoulder and generally doesn't seem like much of a space hero: Luke is a crazy old hermit, and a jedi nonetheless. He isn't some stuffy protector of the realm as his kind were depicted in the prequels, but rather a mysterious and strange character like Obi Wan and Yoda in the original trilogy. He's more Buddhist monk than knight of the round table, and being unpredictable and flippant is exactly what he should be doing.
The b plot seemed extraneous: b plots are extraneous! They serve world building and character development or the introduction of new characters. They're the side dishes that compliment the main course, and that's exactly what Johnson does with this story in TLJ. We explore new worlds and meet new characters with their own stories and arcs, all in the space of one movie that has a huge main story to tell! It was well done, and the idea that it could have all been avoided by Laura Dern's character is a valid one, but not necessarily the right one for storytelling.
Snoke died!?!?!?: This movie came out shortly after the Justice League movie delivered one of the most derided villains in recent history. His motives were convoluted, his back story was nonsensical, and when he was defeated virtually no one felt satisfied.
This movie turns these expectations on their head in a thrilling plot twist that no one saw coming, launching the entire story into unforeseen territory. The only people complaining about this are people that didn't want to be surprised or taken on a journey. They wanted a theme park ride as a movie. This is small-minded.
Not only did this result in one of the most visually stunning scenes in the history of the franchise, it left the audience totally unhinged from any sense of security or normality, and we came out of it having gone through an entire series of expectations and permutations trying to reason out the new paradigm. Are these two our heroes now? Will Rey join the dark side? It was both horrifying and titillating in a way I haven't experienced since first seeing TESB. This is masterful storytelling that should be lauded, not derided for not being safe enough.
People use the force in new ways: Good. Leia is the twin of the most powerful jedi we've ever heard of. She should have some tricks up her sleeve, and considering her unfortunate death this was the only time we were going to get to see it. We should feel lucky we did. Which of course leads to what seems to be the feather in the cap of the public's collective furor...
Luke died without even beating anyone up, bro: This is the best thing in this movie. This is the genius choice that carries the day. The fact that it antagonizes the viewer with this unrequited violence is all the better. You were challenged! Now can you overcome it and see what's in front of you?
Luke is old. The force has, in his mind, ruined his life, and he has rejected it. Sure, if this was the early 90s maybe this is a movie about not-that-old-yet Luke beating up baddies. But life is finite. People age and change. In his case he's a sad old hermit, but he has a trick up his sleeve, and no one saw it coming, including us.
When Luke appears with a haircut and fresh clothes this seems out of place. Obi Wan never did this. When he takes on an entire army it's all wrong. Not even he could withstand that kind of attack. Then it is all explained in the form of an incredible moment of action and drama in which this character, that represents everything about a classic hero, turns this idea on its head by not even having been there. Not only does Johnson avoid falling into a trope by having Kylo Ren strike him down, but he also reveals an incredible strength and unknown force power that costs him his life, but lights the spark can once again return the force to balance.
It was brilliant, visually beautiful, and as satisfying and emotionally charged as one could possible hope.
That's why I'm giving this movie 10 stars. Not to game the system, and not as some fanboy, but as a genuine attempt to rate this film.
It's hard to put any movie in the same category as those few in a lifetime that really affect you and stay with you. Movies that change how you think about the form, like the original Star Wars did for us with nothing but a lowly sci-fi flick, are very rare, indeed. This is absolutely the last thing I expected from this trilogy I had been set up to believe would be a fun, derivative romp. What I got was an amazing piece of art that came as close as I can hope to approximating the singular experience that is the original trilogy.
10/10, will be watching again even though Disney is evil, which is another conversation...