The Rian Johnson Experiment

Rating: 7/10 (29 February 2020)

The sequel trilogy's 'Empire Strikes Back' chooses not to follow the Force Awakens model of updating the existing story, instead taking the darker themes and style of risks and do something completely new. Can you hear the fanboys screaming yet?
How does it work out then? Mixed results. Rian Johnson chooses to subvert all expectations and take every moment that could be something predictable and flip it on its head. It's a clever film making strategy but it doesn't quite work for Star Wars - a film series built on those big moments Johnson avoids like the plague.
Rey, Finn and Poe are, as you would expect, great fun to watch. The three are separated the whole time though so the fun is significantly diminished without the chemistry of their interactions.
These also leaves the story fractured in 3 and as is often the case with Star Wars, these plots aren't of equal quality.
Poe is left to joust with Admiral Holdo for command in the slowest least urgent space chase of all time. There's some fun but it's mostly just people stood talking about dramatic things happening around them.
Finn goes on a mission with new girl Rose that involves faffing about in a casino and crying about slavery (boring) and then infiltrating a first order ship and fighting Captain Phasma (exciting!). Boyega delivers a great performance and there's nothing wrong with Rose (no matter what the internet says) but he just doesn't have the same chemistry with her as he did with Daisy Ridley last movie.
Finally, Rey is left to try and reawaken the broken spirit inside Luke Skywalker while dealing with her apparent force bond with Kylo Ren. Here the film shines and Johnson's subversion of what we expect from a Skywalker is perfect. Luke Skywalker might be a legend but he's also human. And it makes it all the more worth it when he arrives to save the Rebels at their last stand, walking out to face down an army of AT-ATs alone.
The film stops asking us to take its villains seriously as Snoke is dispatched with ease, Hux is victim to a classic your mum prank and Kylo Ren embraces his inner drama queen. It works better than the last film but does leave us wondering who to take seriously for Episode IX's grand finale. (Luckily JJ has a Palpatine shaped answer under his sleeve ready to declare it's treason then and do a 920 spin from prone.)
Ultimately the problem with the Last Jedi is that as the filling in a JJ Abrams sandwich it feels weirdly out of place and ignored. It's the odd one out of the saga, and the majority of its impact ultimately ends up meaning nothing.
The Luke Skywalker plot is some of the best Star Wars we could have asked for and that Yoda scene is perfection. Sadly the rest of the film around just doesn't quite fit.