Very Shaky Start Still Leads to a Satisfying Second Half From Amateur Writer Rian Johnson

Rating: 6/10 (20 December 2017)

What made Rogue One: A Star Wars Story so compelling is that is was a superbly written, ORIGINAL story. It masterfully filled the small gap before "A New Hope," and that was largely what made most fans love the film.
The Last Jedi is, yet, another rehash of borrowed elements from Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. I guess Rian Johnson didn't have the writing chops to come up with an original story. His story also shows a lack of consistency with characterization, depth, unnecessary plot elements, and a lack of even basic scientific knowledge.
Still, what ultimately keeps this film from failing miserably, rests in its ability to be largely unpredictable and a second-half that really steps things up nicely.
The story takes place right after the events of the last film. Leia is fleeing the First Order fleet after taking decimating losses, and a last ditch counterattack depletes their numbers even more.
In one scene, Leia is blown out of the bridge of her ship, seen floating in space apparently dead. After minutes of exposure to the vacuum of space, she is able to get herself back to the ship. Now, we have to assume that some elements of the Force is the only thing that kept her alive. Of course, we're given no explanation as to how she survived, given that a person can only survive for up to a minute, and even if rescued, would suffer severe damage and trauma..
We're given a very weak premise that the remaining ships of the Resistance, are able to stay "just ahead" of the pursuing fleet of the First Order. Rian Johnson shows his primitive writing skills again. Anyone with even the most basic tactical knowledge would have easily solved this "problem." The First Order could have easily jumped in and surrounded the Resistance, and thus, destroy them quite easily and simply. Johnson sacrifices basic knowledge for the sake of keeping his weak plot in place. And so, it fails across the board.
Meanwhile, Rey is on an island with a bitter Luke Skywalker, who refuses to even use the Force anymore because he is wracked with guilt over what happened with Kylo Ren. He's moody, sullen, and even hostile toward her. Again, this demonstrates that Rian Johnson knows next-to-nothing about the character of Luke. While it's not outside the realm of possibility that Luke would be wracked with guilt, it's highly unlikely that a man devoted to the mastery of the Force, would still retain much of the wisdom acquired from his long years of training and focus. Instead of finding a middle ground, where Luke demonstrates his mastery, but underneath, is still touched with guilt, would have serviced the character even better. Rian Johnson had no clue about how to go about this, and even Mark Hamill himself protested the direction and handling of his character.
The entire premise of Finn and Rose running off to find someone who can breach the First Order ship is ridiculous, boring, and uninteresting.
Still, the second half of the film (maybe the last third) with Rey falling for Snoke's trick and manipulation, the battle between the remaining forces and the First Order, and the final confrontation between Luke and Kylo Ren are done very well. These elements literally save this movie from being a failure.
It's sad that we didn't get Lawrence Kasdan or someone who actually knows how to write, to handle the script. Rian Johnson should not be allowed to write or direct the last chapter. He just doesn't know what he's doing.
Overall, the movie is still fun, entertaining, and ultimately isn't as bad as The Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones, but it's already the weakest entry of this last trilogy.
Take note that anyone who gives this film only one star is likely a kid or someone who is completely clueless about how to rate anything. I've been watching films for over 40 years, and I can only think of a handful of films that I've ever given one star. This basically means that there was NOTHING that you liked; NOTHING that worked at all for you. Beware of these so-called "reviewers." They are as capable of reviewing films as chickens are at ballroom dancing.