That man was our last hope

Rating: 3/10 (15 December 2017)

I've never been disappointed like this in a Star Wars movie before. Even the prequels... sure, too much of that dialogue was poorly written, too much of the acting was poor, and then there was Jar Jar... but the story was still rich. The Last Jedi is somewhat the opposite of the prequels in that way. The Force Awakens was mostly great in a lot of ways, even tho it had some big flaws I was willing to overlook (like the oversized Death Star ripoff able to suck on a sun and spit out a single blast that impossibly spreads out to magically destroy multiple planetary targets, and some other stuff). But, this one now... Good Grief! Where do I start?
I want to split points out into positives and negatives, but too many of those points sorta fall into both categories; like the comedy. I laughed. It was funny. But, maybe a little too funny. I don't want to judge it too harshly for that. Then there's the too-obvious girl power angle thrust into the whole thing. I don't want to sound anti-girl by any means, because I'm not, but it's getting ridiculous. For Star Wars. And it's distracting. Traditionally, Star Wars was historically a boy's movie, generally speaking, and that was always a little sad for me because I always found it hard to relate to anybody who didn't love Star Wars (relationships have gone south over this), so I am somewhat glad the series has boosted the female appeal, especially since I have two daughters. But they're trying too hard. That purple haired lady couldn't die off nearly fast enough for me; way too much of her and her confusing useless distraction. I love the character of Rey (she's awesome). I like Rose. But, the character of Phasma, for example, is totally useless to the story. Just Disney trying to do what it does best: making more money by any means possible. And that last phrase could basically sum up what I think they're doing with Star Wars. Just enough fan service to keep the loyal old base (like me) coming back for more, and then a whole lot of other junk to get everybody else's money that George Lucas didn't capture previously.
Going into the show knowing Carrie Fisher (God bless her beautiful soul) is no longer with us, I kept looking for her end to come in the story. And it was equal to watching that first Southpark Christmas episode, waiting for Kenny to die, watching him approach several deadly situations that turned out to be nothing, and he lives past the end of the show. There were so many opportunities to work Leia's death into this movie, but she just keeps going on and still lives, character wise. What the heck are they gonna do now?
We still don't know who the heck Snoke is, or was. And that's kind of a vitally important question needing to be answered. I guess I can live with Rey's origins turning out worthless (assuming Ben spoke truly) but it's a pretty big let down, and it doesn't feel natural. I don't believe that was originally intended.
Then there's Luke. The last hope (for this trilogy). What he became was pretty weak for our greatest hero, and it just ain't right. And what the heck happened at the end? He really couldn't have been physically present for the big showdown? And now he's dead. He was the best part of the movie, even if they did cheapen his character... he was still the best thing this movie had going for it.
And now I have to ask myself: will I go and see the next one? or cut short my losses and just try to forget this movie ever happened. Chances are, I will have to see for myself how this ends, like it or not.
I just hope the professional critics are pleased with all the money they clearly got paid for their rave reviews to hype it up for Disney. And I hope even more that Disney will pay attention to all the real reviews by the real fans that matter and do their best to fix this tremendous mess up for the next one.