The main emotion I felt after watching this movie was disappointment.

Rating: 2/10 (16 December 2017)

To be clear, I don't usually invest my time on the internet complaining or hating on other peoples creative efforts just be cause I don't agree with their choices.
The last Jedi is an exception.
I'm driven by the rave reviews by professional critics to provide a counter point, and it seems many many other fans are too. To be very clear, this movie isn't just bad because it doesn't fit the Star Wars "formula", it is bad because it doesn't fit the "interesting and engaging cinema" convention.
The pacing and plot are flat out bad. This is not simply a matter of this movie "Dancing to its' own beat". The flow of the story creates a jarring viewing experience and the plot doesn't movie along with any real purpose. The story itself is strange at best, terrible writing at worst.
New characters are introduced with confused motivation and no sense of purpose. (Rose, Holdo, Del Toro) Others that were introduced in the previous iteration are cut down before they contribute anything solid to the story. (Phasma, Snoke). Our new heroes seem to stagnate, especially Finn and Poe.
The one exception is possibly Kylo, who is faced with some of the few moments of interesting emotional tension and is well acted by Driver. Rey, a new character I loved in TFA, is in limbo. She doesn't end up having journeyed anywhere as a character through this story. Sure she is put in some challenging situations and faces conflict, but where does it all leave her now? How has she changed or grown?
Our old heroes, Luke and Leia seem stuck in a bizarre parody of their former struggles and achievements, Mary Poppins-ing through space and milking alien sea cows. Add to this a drawn out casino sub-plot replete with alien horse race getaway and a few "wow that looked cool" moments. I'm willing to admit, given some time this might be passable for an afternoon's distraction, maybe on the level of Attack of the Clones, but it is certainly not great cinema and far from a great Star Wars movie.
The adoration slathered all over this thing by the mainstream press is beyond bizarre. Sure, much loved franchises like Star Wars are prone to be divisive, but the overwhelming sentiment of disappointment is mounting and people will question how these glaring issues have gone almost completely unnoticed by the pros.