A contrived, over-plotting fan film.

Rating: 2/10 (18 December 2017)

Even though I have enjoyed the latter day Disney-owned Star Wars films, I always questioned their legacy - Every nuisance and essence of Star Wars comes from George Lucas, good and bad. Jar Jar Binks came from him but so did the light sabers, R2D2 and the juxtaposition of all the pop culture and myth elements. Only he could have pulled it off. The premise behind all the new films ( 'George Lucas ruined Star Wars; if we cut him out and let gifted people do it, Star Wars will be great again') therefore sounds false to me. That's fan fiction. Fan films.
Which brings me to The Last Jedi. Whereas The Force Awakens (Again, I like it) often feels like a checklist of what the fans want to see (made by fans for the fans), Episode VIII is the other end of the spectrum - an ego trip for a fan that wants Star Wars his way, which goes horribly awry. Remember fans being furious about Lucas making R2D2 flies in the prequels? He is doing the same thing with the Force on this one in much worse and idiotic ways.(if the Jedi from previous films can use the Force the way that's displayed here, lets just say many limbs and lives would have been spared.) Remember all the plot lines and relationships from The Force Awakens that are being set up for the future films? Most of them are being discarded in the most callous, trivial ways. And don't get me started on light speed - if it has the effects like it is seen here, Return of the Jedi would have ended in less than an hour. Heck, the rebels should have won before Episode IV!
The actual plot (no spoilers here) is one contrived plot overlapping another (over another and another)- 'Rey is strong with the Force' is pretty much the one-for-all excuse for her miraculous skills and triumphs. (Count how many hours she is in actual training when you watch the film) For some reasons, the new Star Destroyers can demolish rebel battleships like toothpicks but incapable of attacking small unarmed ships. HUH? A major character showed up casually to console another here in a major cameo. That's nice. Except why did it take so long for him to do so? When he only chooses to come out now after all these years (or decades), those words of wisdom feel more like a laughable 'NOW you tell me' moment than a heartwarming scene.
And the characters here are just as unbelievable (and boring). (Kylo-Ren has out-whined the Skywalker family of whiners in a long shot in this film) The romantic relationships creepy and nonsensical.I won't give examples because a) I don't want to divulge anything, and b) I honestly don't remember much of them in details, even though I only saw the film 2 days ago. That's how forgettable they are. And that's a first on a Star Wars film for me. And I hope this will be the last.