10/10 Audio/Visuals with 2/10 Story

Rating: 6/10 (19 December 2017)

Last Jedi movie was a beautiful Audio/Visual experience especially in 3D. That is pretty much all I can say about the PROs of the movie. I should make it clear that the 6 it received from me is a very generous rating, only given to acknowledge the amazing work people who were responsible from cinematography/effects/visuals and effects did.
TLJ is a very long movie, but not a rich movie at all. For a movie that takes 2h30m, it feels poorly structured with completely pointless and irrelevant events taking huge screen time, while characters/background stories/character developments that could have been interesting are either discarded in the most time efficient manner or left without addressing.
Story feels like a first draft, and for a production this size capitalizing on a IP that big with story materials so rich; this is very disappointing.
I could quickly recap other wrongs of the movie;

unnecessary and unfitting humour getting extended screen time, while meaningful plot points being discarded
First Order doesn't feel like a galactic menace, and its function in the story is being a comic relief

However, the biggest fault of the movie is erasing all the promise Force Awakens put on the table. TFA was not a very good movie, but it established a promising background for the new trilogy to build. And Last Jedi pretty much discarded majority of those potential in short efficient strokes, in a way it doesn't even add to the story.