Hype From Both Sides

Rating: 8/10 (21 December 2017)

In a strange way, this movie reminds me of the original Ghostbusters. I went to see that with two friends: one who went expecting an action movie but got a comedy, and the other who went expecting a comedy and got an action movie.Both were disappointed.
Now, we have "diehard Star Wars fans" complaining that the last movie was just a remake of the original, and this one was too far removed from the past. And it seems that they were disappointed by both.
Me, I'm a third type of moviegoer. I go to the movies expecting to be entertained. I'm rarely disappointed. Just don't get me started on Nightfall. Or The Phantom Menace.
Now, I'm an old-school Star Wars fan. I stood in line multiple times (6 hours my first time) to see it when it was just Star Wars, before it became "Episode IV: A New Hope." I read a half dozen or so of the novels, but never got into the comics, cartoons, or any of the rest of the Extended Universe. Star Wars for me has always been about the movies - the throwback to the serials, cliffhangers and B-movies of the 40's and 50's, but updated to the styles and technology available in the late 1970's and beyond. I prefer the original trilogy as they were first shown over the enhanced version (not only did Han shoot first, Greedo never even got a shot off, dammit!). I prefer to ignore the prequel trilogy ("I hate sand" - such great writing), but have them on Blu-ray out of a sense of duty. I consider Rogue One canon, and a worthy lead-in to the rest of the series.
And through that lens, The Last Jedi is a fine film - not the best of the series, but certainly not the worst either. I've ready Mark Hamill's comments on the writing for Luke, and I can see his point, but I can also see Rian Johnson's. Hamill's Luke was stalwart, and faithful to the path in the Force that had been set before him; he would not let the events at the school unfold as they did, or react to that setback by cutting himself off from the Force. Johnson's Luke was shaken to his core, and turned aside from the path; he retreated physically, mentally and spiritually, doubting everything he had said and done to that point, not just because he failed, but he failed with his own flesh and blood.
Different takes on a situation, different arcs in the story of a character. I'd love to see the movies of Hamill's Luke, but we got Johnson's. And that's a good story, too.
There were many elements in The Last Jedi that either left me wanting more, or just didn't land well with me. I wanted to see more of the training with Rey. I thought Poe went a little too far on the strongheaded hotdog scale, which made his sudden recognition of the "greater good" at the end a little jarring. When Luke appeared in the Resistance stronghold as the younger Luke from the school flashbacks, it signaled to me that it wasn't really him, which spoiled what could have been a nice little surprise.
I did like the presence of humor, especially in some of the throwaway lines from Luke. Finn's growth as a character and participant in the resistance was also nice to see. The battle over/on Crait was very well choreographed.
The biggest lingering question for me has almost nothing to do with the movie itself, but more with what happened outside the movie. The Force Awakens focused largely on Han out of the original three main characters, and this one was clearly Luke's. It seemed to be setting up Episode IX to be centered on Leia, with her as the driving force (no pun intended) in rebuilding the rebellion and stopping the First Order for good. But with Carrie Fisher's passing, that's now impossible. So I'm very interested to see how they deal with that, and carry the story forward to its conclusion.
Anyhoo, that's my two cents. If you're someone who goes to movies with a lot of preconceptions and expectations, The Last Jedi may disappoint you. If you're heavily investing in the Extended Universe, it might even piss you off. But if you like the sci-fi/fantasy genre and are going to the movies to be entertained, you probably will be just fine.