Lowbrow humour and out of place social commentary make the franchise falter

Rating: 4/10 (24 December 2017)

This review was motivated by the sharp divide between critics and moviegoers. After viewing The Last Jedi, I also feel that the film suffers from a number of flaws that professional critics have surprisingly dismissed.
The main issues I have with this film are the following:
1. Lowbrow humour
Put bluntly, the humour ruins The Last Jedi. Comedy is not such an easy aspect of film-making, especially when incorporated into an action film. Too many jokes make the story feel superficial, and inconsequential. As is the case in The Last Jedi.
Some filmmakers handle comedy well (Steven Spielberg), some master the art of wit so well that the humour feels smart and seamless (Joss Whedon), some elevate it to the rank of art (Edgar Wrigth) or transform it into a crossbred genre of its own (Matthew Vaughn).
On the other hand, in The Last Jedi, the jokes feel childish (ranging from a mamma joke, to the portrayal of Luke milking a creature with an unsubtle and puerile visual symbolism). They are also too frequent. The entire first act is reduced to a series of lowbrow gags that lowers the stakes. This makes the supposedly serious events that follow much less enthralling.
I don't want to be mean toward Rian Johnson. I understand the risk he took by making something different. But I don't think it helps anyone when critics praise poorly written comedy. At best, we could say that Johnson has a particular style of humour, one that may not suit everyone. Or it could be some studio directive; many have pointed out to the resemblance between Last Jedi and recent Marvel films (Disney owns Marvel Studios). Yet, regardless of the target audience, low quality humour is always worse than a carefully crafted script.
2. The social commentary feels insincere
In a sense, I would have liked to praise the director/writer for evoking economic inequalities - a (tedious) story arc follows Finn and a new character on a casino planet, with obvious references to the exploitation of camel jockeys in the real world. However, when the message comes from a billion dollar franchise that aggressively markets its products to children, this just feels out of place. If not, completely out of touch.
Moreover, it's hard not to assume that the character stressing these economic ideas, Rose, was included in the film to appeal to foreign markets and boost profits, which makes the whole commentary sound even more hypocrite (whether it was the intention or not).
One can make a similar comment about a male director/writer offering views on the place of women in the ranks of the rebellion. It does not ring true in The Last Jedi. (To reassure those who claim the film may have "feminist" undertones: on the contrary, the treatment of gender issues is heavy-handed and unconvincing. There is nothing to "worry" about because nothing meaningful or relevant is brought to the script.)
To some extent, I did enjoy the ambiguity with which Johnson portrayed the relationship within the chain of command (the Poe Dameron/Vice-Admiral Holdo struggle). I don't view it as a gender issue at all, but as an opportunity to study the relations of power in the workplace, like Star Trek did so well (see TNG's brilliant Chain of Commands or Lower Decks episodes, for instance). Ultimately, however, this idea does not lead to such a satisfactory conclusion in The Last Jedi. Like many other aspects of the script, it is not fully fleshed out.
Some casual viewers may ignore the irony of having a billion dollar media empire producing a film that complains about inequality, and it's fine. However, I think many will feel that something does not sound true in the story.
3. The fight against the First Order feels vapid
Perhaps because of the poor comedy and the phony aspects of the script, it's very hard to feel anything about the fight between rebels (or the Republic) and the First Order. You can only stretch the same idea so many times.
Rian Johnson decided to tear apart the Jedi mythology, but as a result the background fight that remains, which we are supposed to care about, feels extremely shallow.
The film would be improved by giving the viewers a sense of what is at stake. There is no need for plain exposition to achieve this. But understanding what the First Order is after, what remains of the Republic, is the bare minimum needed for viewers to give a damn about what is going on. Nothing is offered in that regard.
Consequently, the battles feel shallow, reduced to a spectacle of special effects with characters having little that is genuinely relatable. I've rarely felt less engaged by a Star Wars movie in the past.
It seems that Johnson had an idea in mind that could have been interesting. That the divide between good and evil, the First Order and the rebels, was not as obvious as it seems (as illustrated by the revelations from the codebreaker). But this idea is never fleshed out either; in the end, it is pointless for the conclusion of the film, which returns to a typical battle between the good guys and the bad guys.
4. The treatment of Luke
I won't dwell on this, because fans have discussed the issue a lot (not to mention, Mark Hamill himself). Luke Skywalker is out of character in this film. The background story of him and Kylo Ren is tonally inconsistent with what we know of the character, and the rest of the franchise. This makes it difficult for a viewer to maintain any suspension of disbelief. Especially since there were hundreds of possibilities to write a compelling story about him.
The positives
I'm seriously struggling to find positive elements for this film. It boils down to two things: the score, and the visual effects. But a film cannot be reduced to that.
There is a nice final battle between Luke and Ren, sure. I also liked the development of the relationship between Kylo Ren and Rey. But the latter does not lead to any "big moment" or emotional payoff that would make this development worthwhile.
Verdict
Overall, the negatives outweigh the positives for this film. The Last Jedi is tonally all over the place. The comedy is not well integrated. And major issues undermine the plot. Some interesting ideas are planted here and there, but never developed to satisfaction.
The film is so uneven that it's hard to compare it to other entries in the franchise. In a sense, the Last Jedi feels like a large budget school movie with an unpolished script. J.J. Abrams' The Force Awakens shines in comparison.
Because it throws the mythos out of the window without replacing it with anything substantial to feed on, I can understand why so many Star Wars fans hated The Last Jedi.