Can we pretend this never happened?

Rating: 2/10 (1 January 2018)

There are slivers of goodness in Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi, far outweighed by the film's flaws. The film looks great and some of Johnson's stylistic choices do pay off; one particular showdown towards the end of the film looks like it could have been directed by John Ford or Sergio Leone. Mark Hamill, Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver also give standout performances. Hamill expressed some skepticism (for good reason) regarding the direction of his character, but he seems to have committed himself to the project regardless.
The bane of The Last Jedi is the script. For a running time for two and half hours, so much of what happens in the earlier acts is rendered useless by end of the film. What's worse is that so many of the questioned raised from The Force Awakens are squandered. Much is done at the expense of the Original Trilogy, also cheapening those films in the process. Scattered along the way are ill-placed jokes and political overtones. Johnson is the primary writer credited, so he deserves blame here.
Perhaps the only way to rectify the mess created here is to start Episode IX with the familiar shot of Rey handing Luke Skywalker his old lightsaber. From there we should continue on as if The Last Jedi was nothing but a bad dream.