A Fresh Addition on the Franchise

Rating: 9/10 (13 January 2018)

I went into "The Last Jedi" expecting one of two things: a "repeat" of "The Empire Strikes Back" or something completely new for "Star Wars." I would have been satisfied with either, but what I got was a surprising mix of the two, and honestly I couldn't be happier.
While I loved "The Force Awakens" and thought it was a stellar film, a lot of the criticism towards it was that it was on "repeat" a lot of the time. I understand, I mean a lot of people don't want extra "Star Wars" films to begin with (especially after the prequels) so to see "A New Hope" resurrected was probably bizarre and unwarranted for many.
I am not an Original Trilogy Purist, so I'm always open to new "Star Wars" movies where new ideas can be flourished and "The Last Jedi" doesn't disappoint. It doesn't lean to heavy on "The Empire Strikes Back" like everyone thought it would, I'd say it borrows a lot more from "Return of the Jedi" with the themes of such things as master vs apprentice but there are scenes that rhyme from "The Empire Strikes Back" in there as well. Those were all great, but what "The Last Jedi" great is that it extends the knowledge of what we know about the "Star Wars" universe even more, we explore more about the history of the Jedi, the limitations (or lack there of) of the force, as well as seeing old characters come back with much broader and nuanced beliefs. I found myself truly fascinated at some points of the film.
It has all of the things that makes "Star Wars" appealing: the lightsaber battles, the battle between good and evil and force usage. It's not lacking in those departments and they make good usage of them as well, keeping them exciting and clever.
There are some wasted opportunities, the side-plot with Finn and Rose could have been much better and they lost a lot of creative opportunities to really make that side plot stand out, as well as make it more cohesive, but the climax and ending to the side plot I found really entertaining; almost making up for it's less great parts.
Many people will claim the film is "too different" to be enjoyable, but for those I'd say, you should have payed attention. One of the very explicitly stated messages in this film, that even gets stated by a beloved character (won't spoil) is that it's time to move on, and create a world with new challenges and ideals. I for one am on board with it.