The Movie That Killed My Love for the Franchise

Rating: 2/10 (26 December 2017)

Let me preface this review by saying that while I am a fan of Star Wars, I am not an apologist for any of the failings of any of the films. I recognize that they all have faults, and I've been careful to examine this one through the same lens as all the others.
That said, this is the worst Star Wars movie ever made, even worse than The Phantom Menace. A bold claim, I know, but I have my reasons.
Firstly, I defer to the axiom "Character is king." A central character in any work of fiction needs to have an arc. They need at least one flaw to be overcome by the end of the work. They need a psychological basis for their actions. They need to grow.
This is where the main character of the new trilogy, Rey, falls desperately short. If you've ever heard the term "Mary Sue" before, you might know what I mean when I say Rey is the poster child for the term. She has no faults. Her choices have no consequences. She does not learn and does not grow in any meaningful way because she's already perfect, as far as the narrative is concerned.
On the other hand, the established character of Luke Skywalker is taken in a direction that seems wildly incompatible with the actions of the character in the previous movies. The problem is severe enough that Mark Hamill has publicly stated that he's unhappy with the way his character was portrayed, even going so far as to say it was "not my Luke Skywalker." The reason for this betrayal of the character and fans of his adventures, in hindsight, is fairly obvious. Since Rey is not permitted to have any flaws, because that's apparently what being a strong female character means (as evidenced by all the other strong female characters in the movie who can do no wrong) the onus had to be placed upon Luke to experience a journey of personal growth, even if the nature of his journey made no sense.
The other new stars in the current trilogy, Finn and Poe, are given forced conflicts of their own which don't make them look good at all, and both of them have to be saved from themselves by - you guessed it - "strong female characters" with no faults who never make mistakes.
Then there's perhaps the most egregious of all the characterization blunders: Kylo Ren. I don't want to put a spoiler tag on this review, so I can't go into specifics, but let's just say everything that made him an interesting, conflicted, unpredictable character has been erased by the time the credits roll. He's been shoved into a box from which no exit should be possible.
Aside from the characterization issues, the plot is downright boring for much of its length, consisting of an extended chase with no tension, a nonsensical and unnecessary subplot that only exists to give Finn something to do, the character assassination of Luke Skywalker, and a few genuinely interesting bits which deliver a false promise of redefining the relationship between Rey and Kylo.
When the film transitions into its final act, the action starts to pick up, but at that point, there's nothing left for the movie to do but show off some eye candy (which is often spectacular) and infuriate the fans a final time or two.
At the end of the day, though, a bad movie can be somewhat overlooked in the course of a franchise if it leads to something good. After all, Attack of the Clones may not have been a very good movie, but it laid many of the pieces needed for Revenge of the Sith to be one of the better entries in the franchise.
The Last Jedi, however, does no such thing. In fact, it slams the door shut on most of the possibilities for future intrigue. Characters and subplots are unceremoniously discarded. Mysteries than fans have been speculating about for two years are cast aside with no payoff. The situation at the end of the film is as uncomplicated and uninteresting as it could possibly be. In many ways, it feels like the narrative is back at square one, and all we can look forward to is seeing familiar conflicts from The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi play themselves out again.
Rian Johnson and Kathleen Kennedy have destroyed my interest in a franchise I've loved since childhood. I pity J.J. Abrams, who must now face the daunting task of picking up the pieces and trying to craft a worthwhile story from the scraps they left him to work with. I pity George Lucas, who must watch, powerless, as the franchise which defined his career is taken in directions he would never approve. But most of all, I pity the fans who, like myself, are confronting the reality that a series we loved is no longer being made for us to enjoy.