1-Star reviews? Give me a break.

Rating: 7/10 (20 December 2017)

I feel compelled to explain why I think SW: The Last Jedi deserves far better than the staggering number of 1-star reviews and why I think it's genuinely a pretty good movie (though not without caveats).
Let me go ahead and give my concessions right away, because there is some merit to all the hate on this film.
There are some pretty annoying deus ex machinas sprinkled throughout the film (seemingly unfeasible rescues for the sake of the plot). There is absolutely some poorly written dialogue, and if you're older than 13 you will probably cringe at a couple of lines. I don't think the fan service was at all excessive, but the clear merchandising (what purpose did those cute puffin creatures serve?) was too obvious. I did not find the emotional depth to be at the level we the audience probably expected, and finally, I found some of the characters to be not nearly as likable as they were intended.
So what made this movie good? Everything else.
The storyline, for starters, was new, inventive, and for the most part compelling. I completely disagree with people saying it was difficult to follow, because it simply wasn't; that's something Disney has gotten very good at. There are unpredictable twists throughout the movie and most of them are exciting and bring a fresh feel to the franchise, to the point to where The Last Jedi FEELS different from a classic SW movie. I think this is okay. People saying Luke Skywalker would never behave the way he did; how would you know? More than 30 years have passed since we've last seen him, and the writers had plenty of creative freedom with writing him which I think they used well. I'm not a big fan of Finn personally, but I still liked most of the new cast, and I enjoyed how they incorporated Leia, Chewy, 3PO and R2 (and a surprise visitor in the 3rd act) into the story.
Additionally, the visual FX were incredible, but did you expect anything less? The battles were tense and thrilling, the space scenes are lovely to watch (esp. a particular hyperspace jump), and I loved the many, MANY new creatures introduced, with the exception of the useless puffins. My sense of wonder was piqued, and we even get to see a few new worlds. The musical score was beautiful, albeit less memorable than the older John Williams music. The acting was fine; not excellent, but not terrible.
Back to the feel of the movie. Compare the 1980s Mad Max movies to 2015's Fury Road. Or, maybe, the 1960-70s Planet of the Apes movies to the 2010 ones. Do they have the same "feel"? Of course not. Movies change over time, as do their audiences. I don't watch new SW films to feel the way I do when watching the Original Trilogy, I watch for the stories, the characters, the creatures and the awe, and there was more than enough of that to keep me coming back. I think Rian Johnson and the Disney staff that worked on this film had an impossible task: Create a movie that will please all Star Wars fans. I guarantee if this movie was near perfect, plenty of the angry 1-star reviews would still proliferate, because that's what fans with their own vision of the franchise do.
So trust me when I say that this movie is worth seeing. Is it perfect? No. We could have done without a lot of the poor dialogue and obnoxious merchandising. I'm sad that this will probably continue into the next film(s). But that being said, SW: TLJ was epic, riveting, beautiful, and fresh, and it's not going to go the way you think.