Had some Potential but fumbles it in the end.

Rating: 3/10 (13 March 2020)

The Last Jedi is one of the most polarising films ever made. The crowd is split on this one: One side loves the risks it takes and the other thought it didn't really work. After re-watching it, I can DEFINITELY see why it was hated so much, and honestly, I have to agree with them.
But I almost liked this movie...
Now, it's still a bad movie but there were some ideas that were interesting and made me glad I watched it at least.
PROS: Rey and Kylo. These 2 were the most interesting characters in the entire movie. I loved their character arcs, even though I didn't like where they ended that much.
The acting is also pretty solid as well.
I also still love the idea that Rey is a nobody here. It shows that anyone can become a Jedi and if you re-watch the flashback sequence from the Force Awakens, it kind of makes sense.
The effects are good. Mostly... (More on that in CONS). Snoke, however, looked the most realistic and I didn't know that was CGI until I looked online.
The hyper-drive sequence is really cool.
The deleted scenes I came across were really good and it was really baffling how they got cut from the movie (More on that in CONS).
The cinematography has some beautiful colors and great shot composition.
CONS:
The comedy is terrible. I mean, it really is. Not only is it badly timed, but the way it's carried out takes me out of the movie and ruins what could be pretty dramatic moments (Luke tossing the lightsaber, the Poe and Hux prank call, the ENTIRETY of Canto Bight, Hux getting tossed around, etc.)
CANTO BIGHT. This is a really interesting place which could have worked in a different story. But here in the Skywalker saga, it doesn't and Finn and Rose's mission is ruined by them being arrested for a PARKING VIOLATION. And don't get me started on the horse scene.
Rose saving Finn. It comes out of nowhere, ruins any drama that was built up, and the "laser ram" fires and penetrates the base as they kiss, not only becoming REALLY CORNY, REALLY FORCED, and feeling more like an attempt on humor, but also making Rose nearly fail to "save what they love" had Rey not appeared.
Snoke being killed off was a big one since I was kinda intrigued since the Force Awakens. While I do agree that he was a copy of Palpatine, this film could have done more with this character and having him not make the same mistakes as Palpatine made would have been an interesting start. But nope, he gets killed off, killing any intrigue with this character.
The editing, which was responsible for cutting some scenes that would have made The Last Jedi unique. The highlights are: Luke silently mourning Han's death, Phasma's troops hesitating after finding out that she was partially responsible for the destruction of Starkiller Base, leading her shooting them all dead and Finn blasting her away, an elevator sequence with Tom Hardy and more.
The effects while mostly good in some scenes are terrible in others with some CGI looking uncanny and others involving bad green screen. In scenes like the ENTIRETY of the horse chase, the rocks that Rey uses the force on, and the "Leia Poppins scene", and possibly more. The film still has good sets and Special Effects in some scenes, but in others, rather than work together with the CGI, it makes it stick out like a sore thumb.
The cinematography, while amazing during dramatic moments, definitely felt bland during the action sequences. The fight with Luke and Kylo was good and very well-shot but other moments including the opening battle and some moments during the Crait battle didn't feel as kinetic and engaging as Rogue One.
Luke trying to kill a young Kylo Ren in his sleep. Sure, he mentions that Snoke had control over him but then I remembered that Darth Vader was under the Emperor's control and Luke managed to talk him out of it. Here, he IMMEDIATELY decides to kill a young Kylo in his sleep without helping him. Yeah, I know he immediately had second thoughts afterwards, but this felt WAY TOO out of character for him.
And lastly.........it didn't take enough risks. Yep, I said it. Oddly enough, on the second watch, I felt like the film played it too safe during some moments and ruined what could have been interesting moments for our characters. One example is the scene where Kylo tries to turn Rey to the dark side. Now she has just found out that her parents were nobodies who had left her on Jakku and now she has been presented with a choice. Now if she had ACCEPTED, that would have been SHOCKING and truly UNEXPECTED. It probably would have raised the stakes for the other characters and would have actually subverted expectations correctly. But nope. She chooses the light side because................ummm......actually, I don't know why. It doesn't really explain why she stayed on the light side and this isn't as impacting as the film is trying to make it out to be.
In conclusion, this could have been an interesting movie and it was in some parts. But for me, the cons definitely outweigh the pros. 3/10.