Corporate Greed Strikes Back

Rating: 1/10 (17 December 2017)

I was very excited to see the eighth film in the Star Wars saga. After seeing The Force Awakens and Rogue One my faith in the big budget canon Star Wars movies was almost restored and I truly believed that this sequel trilogy could revive a dying franchise. I now realise how foolish I have been.
Before I bring light to the underlying issue at hand I will briefly review the content of the film. The writing is a mess, the editing is that of an amateur, the tone is cartoonish and laughable and, worst of all, the film is astoundingly predictable and at many times just plain boring.
Let us compare this movie to the second movie of the original trilogy. The Empire Strikes Back was a dark and serious addition to the franchise that epitomised what a sequel should accomplish. We were reminded why we grew to love the characters introduced in A New Hope and we saw them in situations of true danger. Here this does not happen. Since the movie has such a light tone, nothing feels real and we never get that true sense of danger. It does not help that the villain, Supreme Leader Snoke, is totally un-frightening and often cringe-worthy. In comparison to the Emperor, who was truly evil and frightening, Snoke is a laughing stock, not to mention the totally bizarre decision to kill him off in this film. I guess everything we saw of him so far was for nothing - I can't say I'm sad to see him go.
As for the rest of the movie, almost every scene was disappointing and far too many of them made me cringe. Many scenes in the movie are simply there to make the younger audience laugh, the humour is shameful and misplaced. The creative decisions for the characters we know and love such as Luke Skywalker and the portrayal of the force are strange and unexplainable. I doubted whether the writers had even seen the other movies of the saga! Not to mention countless plot-holes that make this film seem rushed and unfinished.
I do not sincerely believe that this movie is a 1/10. But I feel that it is my duty as a Star Wars fan to make it clear to Disney that what they have attempted to do with this movie is unacceptable. Disney had two goals with this film: capture the attention of children and then sell toys to those children. This film has the Star Wars name and a multitude of throw away references to the other movies, but at its core this is not a Star Wars movie - it is an advertisement for the millions of Luke Skywalker, Rey and Finn action figures that Disney will ultimately sell, not to mention countless cuddly plush toys that will make them even richer.
The Last Jedi was made by writers that know nothing about Star Wars for an audience that knows nothing about Star Wars. Disney, your greed is the most sinister villain in the entire saga, I hope to never see it rear its hideous head ever again.