Fun but flawed

Rating: Null/10 (17 December 2017)

The trouble with reviewing the latest episode of a galatic franchise like "Star Wars" is that expectations are so hign. Ever since I saw the first movie almost four decades ago as a 30 year old who had fairly recently become a father, I have approached each new chapter - usually with my son - with immense exitement and not a little trepidation. If there was no "Star wars" canon, this film would be judged a great success with lots of enjoyment and entertainment. Assessed as the eighth segment of a saga, however, the sum of the parts (too many parts) - often exhilerating - is less than the rather incoherent whole.
As with the previous episode, the same person writes and directs, but this time Rian Johnson has taken over the baton (or light sabre) from J J Abrams and, all things considered, has done a fine job, presenting a series of exciting action sequences in a rich palette of colours with some splendid cinematography to add to the dramatic scenery and clever CGI.
The best performances come from Mark Hamill as the eponymous final jedi and Adam Driver as Keylo Ren of the First Order, both of whom offer conflicted and emotional states of mind. Other convincing performances comem from two new heroines: Laura Dern as a Vice Admiral commanding a Resistance space cruiser and diminutive Kelly Marie Tran as a Resistance soldier who brings more ethnic diversity to the cast. However, Daisy Ridley struggles a bit to bring the necessary gravitas to Ren's more central role, while it is sad to see the late Carrie Fisher barely coping as Leia Organa (although she does have one of the best one-liners).
The real problem with "The Last Jedi" is that there are too many characters and too many strands to the plot with too many 'endings' and an excessive running time (at two and a half hours, the longest in the franchise). Also, like the previous film, it is often derivative, so we have another cantina sequence like "A New Hope" and another snow planet like "The Empire Strikes Back" (Episode IX needs a new world). But, for all my quibbles, I savoured the movie and can't wait for the final segment of the third triptych in the franchise.