Thanks for ruining Star Wars

Rating: 1/10 (4 May 2018)

I created an account just to review this movie; yes, it's that bad. If I could give this movie zero stars, I would. Alas, I'll let the title of my review do the talking.
Initially, before the Force Awakens, I was thrilled to hear about Disney taking over the Star Wars franchise. Lucas had clearly been off of his meds the whole time that he wrote and directed the prequels, so it was promising news. The Force Awakens proved, in my opinion, to be a great start to the next chapter in the Star Wars saga. Nobody could have prepared me for what was about to come next.
If Rian Johnson's goal was to make a hollow film that lacked memorable characters or a decent plotline, then I'd say mission accomplished. This film ignores many of the facts or storylines laid out in past films, including the Force Awakens itself! Luke's map was a glaring example of this. In The Force Awakens, Luke leaves a map of where to be found if he is ever needed. In the Last Jedi, Luke asks "How did you find me?" Ummmmmmmmmm... From that moment on, I knew that this movie was going to be a rough ride.
When we last seen Luke on the farthest moon from Endor, he was beginning to make peace with his place in the galaxy far, far away. Fast forward to the Last Jedi and we are led to believe that Luke has become a grouchy and frankly cowardly hermit. Quite the change - I wonder what happened? As the story unfolds, we learn that Luke trained and failed Ren, who ultimately turns to the dark side. We also learn that Luke was going to murder him in his sleep over a vision that he had... So Jedi-like, isn't It??? For his final sendoff, Luke casts himself as a force projection to face off against Ren and Hux. Surely, with Ren being so powerful with the forcehe would know that he was firing at a force projection... Nope, guess again lol.
In another gaping movielong plothole, Vice Admiral Holdo and many of the rebels are stuck on a slow moving vessel being followed by First Order warships. Instead of racing in front of it using their hyperdrives, the First Order just slowly follow it through space. How did anyone think that this was a decent way to eat up time in the movie??? Lazy scriptwriters at their finest!
One of the least talked about things in this film is Kylo Ren's mask (or lack thereof). This iconic mask was possibly the best part of the new Star Wars films and Johnson decided it needed to go. Can you imagine Darth Vader just being all "This thing is too hot. Screw It," and deciding to do away with the helmet in The Empire Strikes Back? Disney doesn't realize it yet but that move possibly cost them millions, since it was a hot selling item and has now been cast out. Stupid move, both film and marketing wise.
Snoke and his origins are never discussed. I try to justify this by thinking "Well, Jabba wasn't really discussed in great detail." While the latter is true, Jabba also wasn't an emperor or master of the force. Snoke's presence in the films is made all the more pointless when Ren kills him easily with a lightsabre in a move that should have been somewhat foreseen, if we are to believe he was powerful to begin with. Speaking of the force, Leia has never shown any physical abilities related to this but apparently, if you toss her into the freezing vacuum of space, she suddenly turns into a Jedi... -yawn-
As you can see, my biggest gripe with this film is all of the hollow supporting characters - and main ones too! Aside from not being able to name even half of them after sitting through this monstrosity twice, I really don't see what value they add to this film. I'm all for movies casting both men and women equally but at least add substance to their characters. In trying to make this a more gender, diverse-friendly film, Disney ended up playing themselves. For example, the stereotype of Asians not being able to drive is highlighted when Rose crashes into Finn's fighter. Did nobody see the irony there??
Rey's storyline is just as hollow and lacking depth as the rest of the film. After the buildup in The Force Awakens, we are told that her parents are nobodies. If this means that anyone can use the force now and be a Jedi with zero training or devotion, then the Skywalker legacy has lost all purpose in these movies.
I can safely say after seeing this that I won't be wasting my money in the theatre on the next one. My love of Star Wars is reserved for the rest of the films, excluding Phantom Menace of course because I'm a fan of Star Wars and good movies lol