Better, but honestly....what's the point?

Rating: Null/10 (24 April 2019)

A significant step up from the mail-in that was The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi (for a start) does not feel the urge to jump into lightspeed with back-to-back action sequences that are as predicable as they were visually incomprehensible.
In the Last Jedi, introspective comes before candy. that seems to be the attitude, of the movie, but Rian Johnson's script is not quite up to the task. the problem is, that the film has inhered the duty of answering the questions of what has become of Luke Skywalker, and Johnson doesn't really seem to give a damn.
Instead of Mark Hamil embedding Skywalker, the character embodies the actor; a grumpy crone, who has given up on his career, and more intent to go out with a whimper than a bang ....some hero. For a series that was always contrived as escapism with a few lessons in reality, this failed characterized leans a little too close to reality. Almost two decades into the 21st century, there are lots of boomers like Skywalker with a poor attitude.
Rey seems to be coming into her own as a character. The most interesting scenes in the movie are the telepathic conversations between her and Kai Lo Ten, who by the the end of the movie steals it. Somehow she can sense the good or 'conflict' in him, and attempts to give him the same routine that Luke gave his father in the climax of episode xi. Her charisma is beginning to blossom, which is remarkable considering she has little emotional motivation of her own. As Ren points out at one later, "you have no place in this story". The extension of that line which probably got edited out is; "you are here simply to pander to a contemporary gen y audience."
the rest of the cast, (which is where the action happens) is an unfortunate afterthought. A potential love interest emerges for Finn, and the two of them endure events that amount to a wasted subplot, including a 'horseback' chase scene through a Riviera style casino that is very cartoony. that whole scene feels like an opportunity for the developers of the next lego video game.
The best thing the the movie has going for it, is that it never feels like it's in a hurry to get to the punchline. It makes you want to listen, but you may not be satisfied with what you hear.