The force like you've never seen it before

Rating: 10/10 (2 December 2018)

All in all The Last Jedi is another triumph for the franchise, but one can't help but wonder if it could have been written neater to seem less like 3-4 episodes of a TV show and more like an actual movie. For a film that runs so incredibly long it sure as hell doesn't address quite a few plotholes either. We still have no idea who, how or where Snoke came to be or who the alleged "Knights of Ren" are that Kylo took with him in his rebel against Luke. It also has time to create new plotholes like how did Rei suddenly become so adept with a Lightsaber when Luke literally taught her no combat skills or why is Finn still considered a main character? It fails as a sequel in the sense where it races to tell us more before resolving questions inspired from it's predecessor. This isn't to say The Last Jedi is 152 minute failure though, in fact outside of the former problems mentioned I think it did an exceedingly great job bringing new character ideas and story elements into the franchise. Especially the relationship between Kylo and Rei as they walk parallel with each other in discovering their connection/role with the Force. A lot of the subplots went beyond expectations because it's arguably there just so there's epic Sci-Fi battles to be had (A necessity in a Star Wars film, no?) I was really impressed with how much newcomers Dern (Admiral Holdo) and Tran/Ngo (Rose and her sister) quickly became favorites on screen. I stepped out of the theater exhausted but still pretty satisfied with my Star Wars experience. Like The Force Awakens there's a lot of nodding to existing lore in the franchise and a lot of new stuff to sink your teeth into, I just wish it was written and presented more efficiently. There seems to be a lot of the general negativity from fanatics. They're probably just unhappy with where they're taking the story or certain characters, it's unfortunate but loyalists will always hold onto that sense of entitlement.
Very well directed, with a stellar cast that give life to their characters in a spectacular way, a mixture of visual effects and practical effects that give a touch of realism and one of the best endings I've seen in recent years, The Last Jedi Take risks but the end product is a "tour de force" that I would not mind seeing as many times as possible.