A stellar film that will stand the test of time.

Rating: 10/10 (5 January 2018)

When it opened in 1980, the Empire Strikes Back was not the universal success that we now think of it as. Audiences were mixed, accusing it of being both too different from Star Wars and too similar to it. It was said that the film was too serious, and "machine-made". Many bemoaned that Empire and its creative team had missed the entire point of the original film. The final reveal of Luke's parentage by Darth Vader was not unanimously well received either, as many rightly pointed out that it contradicted the facts laid out in the previous film. While George Lucas wrote and directed the original Star Wars, he neither directed nor wrote the Empire Strikes Back. Much like some of the negative responses to TLJ, many who weren't expecting what ESB brought made a big stink about how they "missed George". But Irvin Kirshner, Leigh Brackett, and Lawrence Kasdan made a far better film than Lucas could have done. In case there was any doubt about that, he drove that truth home with the comparatively juvenile and disappointing Return of the Jedi (which saw Lucas regain creative control).
Some warmed up to Empire soon after its controversial premiere, while others needed to see ROTJ to fully appreciate Empire for what it was. In any case, it's now generally considered the indisputable classic of the Star Wars franchise, while its sequel is largely seen as a disappointment. What a difference time makes.
Now here we are in 2017, and similar things are being said of The Last Jedi. Like Empire, TLJ is a more complex and challenging film than its predecessor. As such, it will take time for some fans to come around. And, like Empire before it, The Last Jedi bucks many of the expectations that the audience had for it. You can witness the seething rage of those dashed fantheories in many of the negative reviews for the film currently on the web. Few discuss the film itself. They tend to complain about things external to the film (politics, racism, Disney's business practices, the fact that the film didn't incorporate the reviewer's fanfiction, how much the reviewer hates Rian Johnson's previous films, etc.). But those initial reactions are primarily an artifact of the time we're in. The movie has only been out for a few weeks now. When the dust settles - when the trolls get bored and go to complain about how Black Panther has too many non-white actors, and the fans come to grips with the curveballs that the film throws - The Last Jedi will be remembered as one of the great Star Wars films.
The Last Jedi, like Empire, pushes the franchise into new territory. Some were angry about Rogue One for this or that reason, but it was mostly uncontroversial popcorn fare. We already knew that story. Similarly, we already knew where things would end up in the prequels. This is the first new territory for a Star Wars film since Return of the Jedi. For once, we don't already know what happens to these characters. As such, many of the answers in the film will not be the ones people were imagining. But this is a film that will be remembered fondly for what it has done, rather than what is hasn't done (which has dominated much of the negative response so far). The things that it didn't do will fade, as always happens with sequels like this one. People no longer complain about the stuff that Empire didn't do (except Joss Whedon, who can't stop whining about the ending). When Empire was all potential, it could have been anything. Now that potential is gone, replaced with something real. Similarly, The Last Jedi must overcome not just the expectations of following up TFA, but of following the entire Star Wars saga. That's a whole lot of potential. It has 40 years of Star Wars nostalgia to reckon with, while also trying to chart new ground (something TFA didn't do much of, as it was mostly a nostalgia trip). That Rian Johnson manages to do that so well is not just impressive, but inspiring.
As a lifelong Star Wars fan who remembers when the prequels hit the theaters, The Last Jedi is a treasure. It tells a new story that is familiar without being rote or tedious, and weaves characters both new and old throughout. The ingredients are recognizable, and the film is true to its universe, but they are rearranged in ways that keep things exciting. Every time TLJ looks like it's about to give us a carbon-copy of a scene from the original trilogy, it does something far more interesting instead. Luke Skywalker may be older and scruffier than you remember, but that's what 40 years will do to you - especially if you spend many of those years as a hermit on an uncharted planet. And he does right by his legend, even if it doesn't happen in the way some expected. Rian Johnson even does the impossible, making Kylo Ren (a.k.a. Ben Solo) into a sympathetic character while simultaneously forcing the audience to take him more seriously than ever before. And for the first time since the original trilogy, the struggle between Light and Dark actually seems like a real struggle, and not just a prolonged lesson in good and evil based on lines arbitrarily drawn in the sand. The failure to make Anakin's fall believable was the cardinal sin George Lucas committed in the prequel trilogy. There is more believable tension and inner conflict in Rey and Kylo in this film than Anakin had in all three prequels combined. And it makes this story far more compelling for it.
This film will not give you everything that you expect. But if you're open to it, it will give you what you need. And in time, this film will stand alongside Empire as a science fiction classic.