The Last Jedi has turned to the darkside...

Rating: 3/10 (15 December 2017)

It hurts to see my beloved childhood franchise sink to a level of mediocrity never seen before. After The Force Awakens, a lackluster movie which nevertheless brought back the nostalgia of the original trilogy and introduced new characters with great potential, The Last Jedi was supposed to be the cornerstone of the new Disney-led franchise, building on its predecessor's story and setting up a grand finale for Episode IX. Sadly, it is not.
Aside from the visual effects, soundtrack (thanks again to John Williams) and strong performances from Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Adam Driver, the movie fails at every other level. The main plot (the Resistance attempting to escape from the First Order) is uncompelling and filled with sub-plots (Finn and Rose, Benicio del Toro's cameo), which could (and should) have stayed in the editing room. Rey's training to become a Jedi, a central part of the movie, felt rushed and slow-paced at the same time. The third act of the movie, although slightly more exciting, failed to capture the magic of the battle of Hoth and led to a disappointing duel between Luke and Kylo Ren, which seemed straight out of a Matrix movie. The Last Jedi not only fails on answering many questions raised by The Force Awakens (e.g. how did Luke's lightsaber end up in Maz Kanata's hands? what is the origin of Snoke?), but kills off its big, bad villain halfway through the movie in a cheap and gratuitous fashion.
The screenplay was poor with cringe-worthy, forced humor in contrast to the lighthearted, witty one-liners from the old trilogy. The editing and sound effects were on point though, and the scenes on Anch-To were beautifully shot.
It is unfortunate that the new trilogy has been created to appeal to the mainstream audience, losing the elements, such as deep character development and complex themes (light vs. dark, democracy vs. dictatorship), that turned Star Wars into a science-fiction masterpiece. By over relying on its old characters, the new movies seem more like generic replicas of the original trilogy instead of expanding the Star Wars universe and creating new storylines with compelling, memorable characters.