Absolutely fantastic.

Rating: 10/10 (18 January 2020)

A little background on me: I never cared about Star Wars until this latest trilogy came out. So I guess there's that.
I've seen all of them. Appreciated them for what they are. Find the lore fascinating and unbelievably in-depth. The whole thing is great. A work of genius. But I never really cared.
I have friends who are OBSESSED, particularly with the first films, to the point their bodies are covered with Star Wars tattoos and their cars are decked out in decals and stickers. And they had a lot of opinions about the new films, not very positive ones either. Tolerant, but definitely not their cup of tea ultimately.
So when these movies came out, I was instantly hooked. I may not be a huge Star Wars nut despite that, but they definitely had me paying attention. The Force Awakens was just plain fun. It was good lead-in for new and old fans alike. And being that CGI and all that has vastly improved since Episodes I-III, it was stunningly beautiful. And not in the least bit cheesy.
The Last Jedi, however, was an absolute masterpiece. I know I'm in the minority here and I probably deserve some flak for not being a Star Wars fan to begin with. Rian Johnson gave us a painful, morally ambiguous, blunt film that I feel turned what old fans know and love as the essence of Star Wars on its head. But I like movies like that, that punch you in the face with some real truths. And I appreciate that there was not a whole lot of fan service either, which is refreshing for new fans like me. I'm a huge fan of conflicted characters, good and bad, and that's because they're relatable (Kylo Ren is my personal favorite, which is a dissertation for another day and place). We all have conflict, we all have backstories to deal with, and we all have the power to change for better or for worse. A lot of people like hero stories, where the good guys always win and the bad guys always lose. I do too, but it gets old. It's not exciting. While this movie definitely has its heroes and there isn't a whole lot of deviation from that formula, they are not without some conflict, and that's what makes it great. Granted, it's only the second film, so you can't leave that kind of conflict hanging out in the open forever.
I get why O.G. Star Wars fans don't care for it. I truly do, despite my disagreement. I was actually a little bummed, for them and for myself, that many didn't like it, because I can't see it as anything but a great film (This is actually my first movie review on this website and I've been on here for years, if that says anything about it). And who am I to really say much, because as I said before, I never was a big Star Wars fan (to be clear, I never disliked it, just never paid much attention).
After seeing The Rise of Skywalker (which is a whole other thing), while I liked it, it was so fan-serviced out that I was like "Really?" But you have to tie up loose ends, give the old fans (and some of us new fans) what they want, and wrap it up. I liked RoS, no doubt, but Abrams really gave it to the die-hard fans on that one. TLJ (which I saw seven times in theaters and have watched multiple times at home) is just amazing, beautiful, heart-pounding, brutal film as far as SW movies go. My kind of Star Wars film. And I will always have an undying appreciation to Rian Johnson for giving it to us. I don't want to give too much away, because to anyone who hasn't seen it, I really do think it's worth an honest, invested viewing. I'm in the minority probably, but that's totally fine with me.