Dissappointing, not terrible

Rating: 8/10 (12 January 2018)

(I know that I will most likely be hated just because I didnt hate this movie and am not giving it 1 out of 10 stars. But that wont stop me from sharing what I thought. Screw off and grow up if you dont like it. Apologies for the lack of apostrophes and quotation)
What I thought of it as a movie: 7.5/10
How this lived up to my expectations as an episode in the Star Wars saga: 3/10
Intro:
After I saw Force Awakens the first time I only had two things that really didnt like about it: 1. The main villian (Kylo Ren) seemed very weak, after all the marketing, anticipation, and his first 10 minutes on screen making him out to be a total badass. 2. They made a film thats plot was (albeit deliberately) the exact same basic structure as the movies in the Original Trilogy. Something which George Lucas, who hasnt always been the best thing for Star Wars movies, was against, saying that each Star Wars movie should be different and original. However, they didnt need Lucas permission and moved forward with the retro plot. Some people liked how it reflected the old movies, some didnt, but either way the movie was very successful. I did really enjoy the movie, and appreciated a new updated addition to the Star Wars saga. But I was really looking forward to the next movie, because at least the story would be more original.
Directing: 8/10
I was very excited when it was announced that Rian Johnson would be directing Last Jedi, because I am a huge fan of his movie Looper. I was a little bit concerned because he hadnt handled anything quite as big as JJ Abrams had when he did Force Awakens. But Disney has already had LOADS of successes in the MCU with small time directors who only really need to have one solid film under their belts for their potential to be spotted. As a general rule, this is something Disney does very well. Rian Johnson is no exception to that. He handled this massive movie with finesse. Everything looked really good and worked together very well, except for maybe a little too much reliance on CGI, but that was mostly just the weird horse-thing chase scene. The movie looked beautiful. Action scenes and combat were awesome and exciting, even if they didnt feel as fleshy as Abrams previous film. Abrams brought viewers right into the combat of Star Wars, from Kylo Rens lightsaber, to the uses of the force, the blaster shootouts, to the space combat and explosions. Johnsons new Star Wars felt like a small step back from that, but that was significantly because of the story and writing...
Writing: 5/10
Many people say that this movie was far too slowly paced and longer than it should be which is partially true. However, take a look at a movie like Quentin Tarentinos Hateful Eight, which also relatively slow and long. The difference is that even while there is not much going on in majority of Hateful Eight, it is still a joy to watch all the way through because the direction and camera angles are epic and they make watching what would be a boring scene unique and fun, characters are bold and interesting, and they interact with each other in fun and interesting ways even when there is no action, and the rising threat of the final conflict is enough to keep people interested until it does happen. All these things that Tarentinos film have going for it, the Last Jedi does not really have. Only the characters of Rey, Kylo, Luke, sometimes Poe and of course Chewy, have the real ability to carry my interest through would-be boring scenes. Finn is a great character but in this movie, 80% of his whole part of the story is wasted on a pretty boring sub plot. A part which, unlike a lot of people, I dont believe should have been cut out. Finn and Roses mostly-dull sub-plot should have been shortened and/or spiced up, but it served a point completely because it was a failure and it ended up getting a lot of people killed. The biggest recurring theme of Last Jedi is that failures serve as much of purpose and can be learned from just as much as successes. Yoda, in all of his wisdom talks to Luke about this and it was one of the best parts of the film. Speaking of Luke, lots of people are complaining about his role and actions in this film, which I guess I understand a little, but just because his character and role in the are very different. But do NOT get me wrong, I dont agree with these opinions. Lukes evolution before the events of, and during this film made perfect sense, and this movie did a brilliant job at bringing Lukes journey as a Jedi in a full and complete circle and tied it off with a beautiful (two-sun-set) knot. Lukes arch, in Last Jedi, basically his swan song, was probably my favorite part of this movie, and the only thing I thought really couldnt have been done better. And yes, I truly believe Luke would have considered killing Ben Solo if he had premonitions that he was going to be the downfall of the galaxy. And I personally enjoy the paradox that it was these premonitions that caused that series of events to fall into place. My only other complaint with the writing (besides obviously too many space battles, too few lightsabers), is that theres a bunch of jokes and most dont really hit the mark. They feel like they are put there to keep the atmosphere light because of all the kids watching. Chris Nolans Dark Knight trilogy, and the Russo brothers Marvel movies have done a great job at proving you can make movies that both adults and kids can love without forcing a bunch of out of place jokes for children. All-in-all, I think Rian Johnson did a decent job, considering he wrote he wrote it all his own, while Abrams had a sort of team at helped him write Force Awakens. However, while I respect one person taking charge of a project and bringing his or her solitary vision to the big screen, I think that if we get a better product from multiple writers or more consultation, thats what we should have.
Acting: 8/10
The acting in this movie is pretty solid. Some characters seem like they arent acted well but its really hard to tell if it is the actors at fault or the fault of the screenwriting. Mark Hamill, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, and Domhnall Gleeson are all very good. Andy Serkis motion capture for Snoke looks and sounds spectacular. Were still not at the point where you cant tell if a person or character is CG or real, but everything was pretty convincing and life like nonetheless.
Conclusion: 7.5/10
Johnson did a good enough job with this movie that Im very interested in his non-Skywalker trilogy that hes working on now, but I am glad that Episode IX is back in the hands of Abrams. I dont believe that Star Wars movies, or movies in general, have to have non-stop action and violence all the time, but Abrams Force Awakens had a seemingly perfect balance between slow, character building moments, and action, adventure, and war. Despite my two primary complaints with Force Awakens, mentioned above, Abrams movie never bored me once and had loads of interesting prose that asked questions which made people excited to see the next entry. However, Johnsons Last Jedi did less than reciprocate this. It didnt ask new, exciting questions and even sort of belittled the questions Abrams left to be answered in later movies. I truly think that that is the heart of all the hate for this movie. Force Awakens two biggest questions to be answered were: Who is Snoke? Who are Reys parents? Johnsons answer to both was: Nobody. Even if Snoke did have an interesting backstory, it really doesnt matter anymore. While I respect that nobody is a perfectly reasonable answer to both those questions, and I even kinda liked what was done with both those answers, it just feels lazy story writing to answer two questions with the same answer. If it was just one of those questions answered with nobody, it would have been different. My final thought is that, I am sort of glad the movie didnt end with a super cliffhanger would leave us stir crazy until Ep. IX, and it did answer some of the questions from the previous movie, even if those answers didnt contribute anything to the epicness of this trilogy. But this movie, while being complete, which is a fresh break from movies that end abruptly leave audiences completely unsatisfied for a year plus, it leaves zero setup for the next movie. And most disappointingly, it slays the bad guy who was pure evil and shrouded in mystery and leaves the new big-bad as Kylo Ren, who is albeit much improved from the last entry, but is conflicted as to whether he even is a complete bad guy and does NOT have the bad guy chops carry an entire movie, let alone the conclusion of this trilogy. I have more faith in Abrams vision of epicness, and for Star Wars as a whole, than Johnsons at this point. I am very excited but also very anxious for the final film of this trilogy. I pray they realize how lackluster the villian roster is currently and add some new, or old, evil faces, or masks, for the final chapter. Finally, I like this movie a lot but there is a lot of room for improvement and it does very little for the fans who spent time to ponder and eagerly await the answers to the mysteries that were hungrily, highchair-strapped, spoon-fed to them in the previous movie.
(PS: Leias force/space walk was a good idea and something that she should definitely be able to do, but when it happened on screen it looked extraordinarily stupid.)