Calm Down Edgelords, it's not that bad

Rating: 7/10 (18 December 2017)

I feel like this movie had some very strong strengths, but also some very weak weaknesses.
Strengths:
-This film deviates from The Force Awakens by being its own story. The Force Awakens was alright as a movie in general. But, it just borrowed too much from A New Hope for me to really care about it as a part of the franchise. Say what you want about The Last Jedi, but it has its own identity.
-The Last Jedi addresses The Force in a way that I feel the franchise actually needed to at some point. This film emphasized The Force as more of a divine entity than we've really seen in the franchise. The journey was fantastic between Rey, Luke, and Kylo Ren. All three characters had to question and redefine their own concept of The Force, Light and Darkness, Right and Wrong, Jedi and Sith, etc.We saw a graying of the lines between these concepts for these characters which signifies the struggle of The Force to achieve balance.
-Poe had a similar character journey where he had to redefine his beliefs. He began with a very bold and somewhat violent philosophy on how to lead. But by the end with the guidance of Leia and Holdo, he discovered a new way to lead. Also considering his plan was the cause of a lot of deaths within the resistance, I'm sure this sets him up to carry a lot of emotional weight in Episode 9.
-Snoke. He honestly was not needed. I have heard people complain about disposing with him so quickly, but he honestly just was an obstacle for Kylo Ren to overcome, and nothing more. I'm glad he's gone so that Kylo can come into his own as the true main villain of this trilogy. Although it would be nice to get some background about who Snoke was in Episode 9. I'm sure there's a way to work it in.
-Rey got a lot more development in this film. She honestly just seemed like the blandest miracle protagonist in the previous film. She came into her own in this film by having to confront her own weaknesses, and redefine her preconceptions on The Force and who Kylo Ren and Luke Skywalker were as people.
-I'm sure there are more strengths to this film, but these are just a few big ones I wanted to touch on. It's worth noting also that the film was visually stunning and full of the unexpected.
Weaknesses
-The humor definitely fell flat at points. It was much more forced than the previous film. The opening sequence between Poe and Hux was too much. The humor didn't fit the situation and it cheapened the initial threat of the First Order. The fact that Poe was able to gain a strategic advantage just by using what amounts to basically a "Yo Mama" joke was just far too silly.
-The scene when Leia pulls herself back onto the ship from space was the worst scene in the entire film. It made no sense. I suppose her ability to survive the pressure vacuum of space could be explained with the force, but it was far too much of a reach. It's made worse by the knowledge that we have actually lost the beloved actress Carrie Fisher. Also now that she survived the movie, how are they going to handle her character in Episode 9? I think it would have been a better idea for them to CGI her in as the character to sacrifice herself by crashing the ship instead of Holdo to give her a triumphant exit from the series.
-The entire Canto Bight sequence was far too silly and irrelevant. The same can be said for Finn and Rose's character arcs. None of it was very important to the film in hindsight. There were far better ways to utilize these characters. This is especially true for Finn who was already well established in the previous film.
-Luke's force projection technique was a bit puzzling. We'd never seen anything like it in the series before which made it feel like a stretch. If they develop it as a concept in greater detail later, then it will make more sense. But for now, it's all just a big mystery.
So yeah those are my basic thoughts on the film. I'd give it a 7.5/10. It had a lot of potential. If they had just cleaned up some of the sloppy/convenient writing points, it would have landed a lot better. But even the way it played out, it brings some interesting New philosophical points about The Force. The keyword there is "New." There are a lot of Star Wars fans who hate new ideas. That's one reason why the bland, risk free Episode 7 was such a hit in comparison.
Lastly, in response to everyone who is losing their minds and giving this film a 1/10, really? I'm not going to pretend that this was great. I have my own issues with it, clearly. 1/10 is for Emoji Movie level bs. Stop being overly dramatic. And mostly importantly, don't demean the tastes of others. I don't know how many times I've seen "I liked the movie." and then in response, "Well it's made for people like you."