SW:TLJ makes Lucas look like Shakespeare

Rating: 1/10 (24 December 2017)

I saw the first "Star Wars" when I was a college student in the 70's, and I've never forgotten the sense of wonder from watching Lucas' first blockbuster, and knowing that movies would never be the same again. So when my family and I went to a nearly deserted movie theater last night, so soon after the movie opened, I wondered just what was going on. And then I watched the movie.
"The Last Jedi" makes all of Lucas' cringeworthy dialog, plot, and character development from Episodes 1 through 3 look like Shakespeare by comparison. It is painful to see what the Disneyfication of the Star Wars universe has led to. Take any ridiculously horrific plot hole that Lucas every created, multiply it by ten, and you won't come close to the mind-boggling canon-violating stupidity of the space chase / battle, or the absolutely pointless side plot with the visit to the casino planet. And as for the characters themselves? Except for some of the scenes between Ben and Rey, you won't care what happens to ANY of them. Live, die, whatever, as long as it sells Disney merchandise.
Disney has done to Star Wars what CBS / Paramount did to Star Trek: turned a beloved franchise into yet another money grab that is absolutely indistinguishable from the "Transformers" franchise. Lots of flashy special effects, lots of gee-whiz space battles and light saber fights, and barely a single memorable scene or character in the entire movie.
And by the way, the kid in the last scene did not represent the future of the Resistance, or the future of the Jedi. No, he represented Disney's "New Hope" of another generation of kids demanding that Mom and Dad buy them the latest overpriced Star Wars merchandise from Disney. Save yourself some money, and wait for SW:TLJ to come to cable. I don't think it's going to last much longer in the theaters.