One of My Favorite Star Wars Films

Rating: 9/10 (3 February 2020)

After watching Rise of Skywalker, I decided to go back to The Last Jedi. And yes, it's still great. It's got issues, but as a whole, it's quite impressive what it was able to accomplish. Middle chapters are not easy. But I think this film pulls it off wonderfully. Almost as well as Empire Strikes Back. The acting is brilliant, especially from Mark Hamill. His performance as a tormented and downtrodden Luke Skywalker is fascinating to see. Daisy Ridley is very talented, and I think she killed it as Rey. The rest of the cast is quite good as well. Particular praise goes to Adam Driver. This guy is destined to be the break out young star of this trilogy like Harrison Ford and Natalie Portman before him.
This film takes no easy roads. It takes a lot of risks. Some paid off, some didn't. It changes a lot of how we see the Jedi and the force. The special effects are naturally beautiful. John Williams score is beautiful with lots of new tracks and redos of older classics. This film is unlike any other Star Wars movie, and I applaud it for being different, risk taking, and above all, great.
However, I can't give it a perfect score. Sadly, certain plot lines don't flow well. Like most Star Wars films, we see multiple plots cutting back to each other before eventually all coming together. All of them have purpose, but unfortunately not all of them were given proper care in the writing process.
So yes. I love this movie. What are you gonna do? Sue me? Hey, if you hate this movie, that's fine. I don't really care if you hate it. I love it. I would easily put it in my top three favorite Star Wars films after A New Hope and Return of the Jedi.

Also, side note, I don't get the whole "real Star Wars" fan stuff. That makes no sense to me. If you love Star Wars, aren't you automatically a real fan? What constitutes a fake fan? If we all just unanimously agreed on these films then where's the fun? Maybe I don't want to watch Empire again. Maybe I'm feeling more like Solo today. I've been a fan since I was 10 and I have never judged someone who loved a Star Wars film that I didn't care for. Its great to be passionate about something, but don't let that passion get in the way of others enjoyment. It's all so silly to me. Love what you love and don't let anyone tell you that you can't.
I despise gate keeping of any kind. It keeps people from entering a fandom that they may otherwise love. It's fine if you don't like this movie, but don't be a jerk to people who love it. I won't be one to you. And if anything, a "real" Star Wars fan loves whatever Star Wars that they wanna like. Original, prequel, sequel etc. Nuff said.