Great Eye Candy, Terrible story

Rating: 2/10 (21 December 2017)

Pros:

Space-battles, light-saber duels: Lots of nice eye-candy
Mark Hamill. It is almost as if he had waited for decades for playing in this movie. Which makes me feel a bit sorry for him.

Cons:

More plot holes than you could shake a space cruiser at, held together by ridiculous coincidences.
One-dimensional characters who talk about but show no emotions and who, when discarded, leave the audience indifferent - other than established characters who are discarded for no discernible purpose.
Characters whose behaviour seems to serve no rational goal.
Entire plot lines that severed absolutely no purpose but to have the characters pontificate.
Serious breaks with the sagas' premises to allow for developments that again leaves the audience puzzled.
Scenes as absurd as a flying English nanny they made me wonder what Disney thinks about its audience.

All in all, Disney seems to go the same path with the Star Wars franchise as Sony went with Ghost Busters: Forget the hitherto loyal fan-base, clean the slate - and then play silly games with it.
A New Hope was the first movie I ever went to twice. I count observing my kids as they watched episodes IV to VI in wonder to my fond memories. After the prequels and The Force Awakens, Rogue One seemed to be a turn to the better. But now, I think Disney is on spot with its message of The Last Jedi: Leave the past behind you.