Was that really Luke Skywalker I was watching?

Rating: 6/10 (23 December 2017)

Its now been over a week since I viewed The Last Jedi and its still playing in my mind - as much for its misfires as its good points. Kind of shows how much Star Wars has ingrained itself in our psyche I guess.
As many have noted The Last Jedi is long - in fact very long - but never boring. I didn't find myself clock watching at all during its 150+ minutes. Its safe to say there is enough entertaining escapist fare in a galaxy far far away to make The Last Jedi a worthwhile viewing experience.
However, The Last Jedi is far from a perfect film. The biggest issue here is respect, or lack of, with the source material that precedes it. In particular is the completely jarring change in personality of Luke Skywalker. His weariness and hermit like existence is understandable - we saw that happen with Obi Wan and Yoda in the original trilogy so its certainly nothing new - but the complete cynicism and his now mean spirited antics basically undermine the character.
Where The Force Awakens paid respect to the legend of Han Solo, Luke Skywalker becomes a caricature here, often played for laughs. A couple of the jokes work well, but too often it becomes self parody.
Another misstep was the expansion of the ways of the force. The mind-meld between Kylo Ren and Rey across the galaxy is getting very close to jumping the shark territory. It is reminiscent of the oddball voiceovers of the 1984 flop Dune. In fact, the grotesque imagery of Luke milking and drinking from a sea creature channels that film too.
Disappointing as well is the lack of screen time for R2D2 (for the second time since The Force Awakens). Here's hoping he gets to go on an escapade with BB-8 and C3PO in tow sometime in the future. A droid father figure type exchange between the old and the new would be a nice touch.
And now for the good bits. The Poe Dameron character is given much more screen time and has now proven to be the most interesting of the newcomers. The CGI is not overwhelming throughout The Last Jedi, save for the silly Canto Bight escape scenes. We get an awesome puppet Yoda. General Leia has a couple of dignified moments (which are real tearjerkers given the passing of Carrie Fisher). And despite the attention they've been getting, the Porgs are not overdone and have some rather amusing moments.
While its entertaining in its own right, to say The Last Jedi will eventually become legendary for its take on "shattering" the nostalgia and mythos of the original trilogy is probably a bit off the mark. The reality is that Episode 9 is now going to be all the more crucial in repairing some of the damage that has been done.