"This is not going to go the way you think". Damn true Luke!

Rating: 8/10 (13 December 2017)

THE GOOD
Well that was most certainly a shock! After the phenomenal Force Awakens, The Last Jedi had a lot to live up to, and it most certainly delivered the hype in terms of story, characters and twists. It gave us some excellent development on the existing characters like Finn, Kylo, Leia and Luke, as well as giving a great new character in the form of Rose. The acting is excellent throughout, particularly from the veteran cast members. Looking back, Daisy Ridley as Rey was one of the weaker actors in The Force Awakens, but absolutely bring her A-game in the new film, running the whole range of emotions to incredible effect. As excited as I am for JJ to come back for IX, after this film Rian Johnson deserves to make this new trilogy he's announced.
The big worry about this film was the same as the last, being that it was looking too much like other films in the original trilogy which I'm happy to say it most certainly isn't, it's created it's own tight, self-contained story which could quite easily have been the finale. But being the midpoint it leaves a lot of threads open to be resolved in the next film. Without spoiling anything there are three major twists, one of which is going to either excite fans or majorly annoy them. I for one am excited to see the ramifications of that particular twist in Episode IX. It's really difficult for me not to give spoilers, but one minor thing without saying too much is a familiar face comes back and it's one I was really happy to see when things were going downhill for one of the leads. A lovely little surprise!
There are a lot of action set-pieces in the film and most of them deliver in terms of excitement, special effects and even some humour. When it came to the quieter moments, talking about the lore of the Force, Rey wanting to find out who she is and the connection between her and another character, the staging and effects reflect that fantastically, bringing a scene very reminiscent of the Mirror of Erised from the film Harry Potter.
One of the controversies of the films was Mark Hamill's reaction to where Luke Skywalker, as a character was going, with him disagreeing on a moral level. It's easy to see why he would think that given how the film plays out but given what the character went through with Kylo Ren, I understand the arc Luke goes through and leads to a wonderful climax involving him, harking back to a scene in the very first film.
THE BAD
Porgs....so many porgs...
Only joking, I didn't mind the porgs, but there were some moments of humour that really didn't need to happen, including the odd line between Kylo Ren and Rey.
A couple of characters who were hyped really don't get their time to shine, one from the previous film and one introduced here. They're not bad but definitely deserved more. It's probably the main problem with the film in that there are so many characters we have to care about and some of them get neglected, particularly in the storyline involving the Resistance on the run from the First Order, which runs far too slow for my liking and is made that way in favour of the thread involving Finn and Rose.
There's also a scene with Leia that I'm still not sure what to make of, it's a bit of a weird one.
THE VERDICT
For this generation's Star Wars it is definitely the most shocking film so far, and an absolutely incredible sequel to the Force Awakens. Do I prefer this film to VII? Not quite, but it's incredibly close. A fantastic film, and a wonderful send off to the late, great Carrie Fisher. We'll miss you Princess.