One of the better entries in the Star Wars franchise

Rating: 8/10 (16 December 2017)

Some mild spoilers follow. The Last Jedi is a good but flawed movie - the good is strong character progress for Luke, Rey and Kylo Ren, excellent use of Leia, a logical progression of Force abilities (and no mention of midichlorians anywhere, thankfully) and excellent action sequences.
The biggest negative is a sub-plot that frankly drags the film to almost a standstill, all to deliver a far-from-subtle message (animal cruelty is wrong, kids) to the audience. The Porg's could have been incredibly annoying, but thankfully their presence is limited, even if they do scream "MERCHANDISING OPPORTUNITY" very loudly. And despite the build up, Captain Phasma once again is a huge letdown - although she does get a great fight sequence this time around.
There are some nice twists in here that I, personally, did not see coming. The return of a fan favourite and the significance of it was kept quiet and it was worth the effort clearly put in to doing so. I also found the character arc of Luke very satisfying indeed. Some like to see him as perfect, but here we have a hero who is flawed, who makes mistakes and finally learns that even mistakes can ultimately be a positive.
For me, this is one of the better Star Wars films - easily better than the entire prequel trilogy and superior to the fun but overrated Rogue One. Not as good as Empire Strikes Back or A New Hope, it may beat out Return of the Jedi and Force Awakens, although I think repeated viewings are needed to firmly place it in my list. The positives far outweigh the negatives and, overall, it deserves a high score.