Never before has Star Wars been so hollow

Rating: 5/10 (22 February 2018)

There's no complaint here about the visual effects, and music (John Williams can do no wrong in my opinion), and by and large the cinematography on this film was great.
The Last Jedi is simply a failure because it fails to present a coherent story with coherent themes, and do so without rambling around all over the place. The film contains too many unnecessary plot distractions and creates more plot holes to the point of viewer confusion and exhaustion.... with no guarantee that anything will ultimately be resolved, or at the very least explained.
Rian Johnson took the set-up presented in the prior film and then tossed out the story and premise to see if it would still hold up in an attempt to be "original". The end result means that people left the cinema bewildered. Nothing really makes sense at the end of this film, and the Star Wars saga's story ends in a complete car crash where nobody will care what happens next.
This film simply doesn't deal with any ancient and eternal philosophical themes either - which is one of the key things that makes Star Wars so beloved. Even the ham-fisted Star Wars prequel films attempted this. The Last Jedi is completely cheapened because it has no theme. What we are presented with instead is a none-too-subtle insertion of a contemporary agenda and disjointed sequences. All of which will make this film look horribly dated in years to come.
Yes, it does try and make an arc out of Poe Dameron's development as he rebels and Finn rebels on him in turn. However all it serves to do is muddy the waters further. When things fail, even with the best intentions, what is there to be learned? Nothing... as it turns out.
Disney is now just exploiting the Star Wars brand without understanding or caring as to why the originals were so beloved as they are. That is the real tragedy.