A disappointing film that divided the fans

Rating: 7/10 (29 March 2018)

I grew up with "Star Wars", I venerated the original trilogy, I lamented at the sequel trilogy and I was given false hope for the prequel trilogy. "The Force Awakens" led the new series with expectations of greater things, knowing that Mark Hamill would reprise his legendary role in the 8th episode. I came in with high amounts of optimism after reading the reviews for "The Last Jedi", where critics praised it as one of the best of the franchise, being compared as an equal to the original films.
This has been one of the hardest movies to watch as it completely shattered what Star Wars stands for and what Lucas has envisioned the universe to be. Kathleen Kennedy and Ryan Johnson, to put it simply, butchered the future of the franchise with this nonsensical film that's called an episode in the beloved series.
The lack and disregard of what has been done in the previous movies is beyond imagination. If they wanted to start fresh, they should have made a separate film in the extended universe, which ultimately is going to be done in Johnson's hands once more.
I saw the ending of "The Force Awakens", I saw the posters and trailers for "The Last Jedi" and I could not wait to see Mark Hamill portray again the most powerful Jedi and my favorite fictional character, Luke Skywalker. To be clear, he did a fantastic job and in a perfect universe he might have been given an Oscar nod for his performance, but the way Luke is presented to us after 30 years of absence is just substandard. I am so disappointed in how he turned out from the beginning of the movie till end, a thing that Mark Hamill himself would later call out during interviews.
There are many aspects of the script that made me raise my eyebrow more than a few times, like the casino heist subplot, General Leia's outer space triumph, the mystery of Rey's parents, the depiction of Snoke, just to name a few without handing out spoilers.
There are good points about the movie, in the terms of special effects, that is where I actually saw Rian Johnson's touch from his past "Looper" experience, but also assortment of amazing creatures and aliens which where interesting, even the Porgs, which were more or less a marketing gimmick.
"Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi" is one of the worst Christmas gifts I ever received and it's a stain on the franchise. The film's appraisal by the critics is only matched by the anger and criticism of the fans, splitting up the fan base in two.
If you are a fan of Star Wars then I recommend seeing it, as you probably are familiar by now with misfortunes, starting with the prequels.