Despite the negativity, The last Jedi offers more than meets the eye

Rating: 8/10 (1 January 2018)

To make this brief and not give spoilers away, I had heard that people were displeased with this film and said it was terrible. Well, Episode 1-3 were a tragedy for me and this was multitudes better than any of those disasters. One of the biggest criticisms involved the acquisition of this series by Disney. Many said it was merely a ploy to generate more money, through memorabilia...toys, games, clothes etc. While I can not completely disagree as they are a business and profit is essential, I by no means think they have ruined the series with this film. The only gripes I have involve someone in space floating back to a ship, and the fact that the movies made way too much of a point to show the multitude of female pilots. Before people take that as a misogynistic comment please allow me to explain. I do not care who is piloting anything, but there were many times that long shots were shown for female characters that did not have a main or even a secondary role in the film, but it felt forced the way in which it was shown. Again, I mean no disrespect in any sort of sexist manner, it merely was the heavy handed nature in which the pilots were filmed which exacerbated the perceived need to close the gender gap. Aside from that, I thought it was a wonderful film. There is evolution and a deeper understand of each of the characters in the series. It may be subtle, but there are points throughout the film that you can understand almost everyone's position, good or evil, as well as being able to relate. Without spoiling specific transitions as well as evolution's in the character's roles, they all seemed to be genuine and not forced. The actors themselves aside from the characters also did a phenomenal job at creating the emotion which is then projected to the audience, which at many points allows you to forget you are watching the movie. I have seen the previous star wars films, so this is not my first film as I know many "veterans of the series" will despise anything created after the original trilogy. I think it is fantastic (though do have disdain for the second set), but feel that this final trilogy resembles the feel from the original trilogy. The way it was filmed, the dialogue, and story reminded me of the empire strikes back. A final parallel is that this reminds me of the transition of the Harry Potter series, where there is still evil at the beginning of the series but it is almost more childlike. Nearing the end it become much more mature, dark, and devastating, and those pieces combine to a enjoyable culmination for me.