The last nail in the coffin?

Rating: 1/10 (31 May 2019)

"The Last Jedi" is movie #2 in Di$ney's Star Wars sequel trilogy. It receives an OK pass from the first movie in the trilogy, "The Force Awakens", and doesn't fumble. But what it shockingly does, is kick the ball into the stands with full force -- on purpose. Then drops its pants, defecates, and takes a swim in it.
It is shocking, I know.
But that doesn't automatically make it good.
During the opening credits I got a bad feeling that something wasn't right. Sitting through the end credits, I felt surprised. In a bad way. I was at that time 100% sure I did not want, or need, to see this movie again. I had planned to see it many times -- a Star Wars tradition held by many a fan. The director of the dark and gritty "Looper" would surely make an interesting movie. But one screening was enough for me.
The three main problems I have with this movie are:
1 - the rude, shameless, mindless ripping off of iconic Star Wars scenes from the OT, basically cheapening the original movies and this one -- a no-no pointed out by fans after "The Force Awakens" that seemingly deserved to be repeated in this movie.
2 - the drama-draining humor -- "Bathos, the Vampire" is unleashed once again to suck the life outta a Hollywood movie, making this one more of a joke than the space operatic thrill ride it 100% needs to be.
3 - the surprisingly(!!) green-lit main story, which basically is like a house built on quicksand: you can put as many shiny things in it as you want, but the house will not be functional, as its foundation needs to be sound in the first place.
There are many other problems dragging this movie to the bottom of the sea:
disrespect for old characters, unhelpful storylines for the needy new characters, franchise-destroying changes to space combat, an enemy force made to feel more like confused clowns than the sinister forces of olden days, postmodern views on right and wrong, not to mention a shocking attitude towards the many questions emanating from the previous movie in the trilogy.
This movie feels completely psychotic, disregarding the previous movie like a maniac with a chainsaw. It goes berserk, wrecking the house that was built beforehand, and in doing so creates an empty wasteland for the next movie to pick fruits from. It feels like the director didn't know he was making a trilogy movie. The movie doesn't add momentum to the trilogy, it drains it. It doesn't play along, it throws a legendary hissy fit.
If a movie can be an assassin, this one is. It kills "The Force Awakens", it mortally wounds Di$ney's trilogy, and slices a huge gash in Star Wars itself.
If you buy a popular movie franchise, there's no guarantee that you know its personality. Knowing it means liking it. Liking it means... having said ability. Di$ney executives probably don't like Star Wars. And as such, cannot truly know what Star Wars is. It puts them in a tough spot. The easy way out is to "kill the past" and make your own, new Star Wars. But good graphics won't be enough to prevent a maelstrom of anger amongst the fans who actually like and know the franchise -- in this case, a fan base belonging to what has been THE biggest movie franchise in human history!
Gone are the days of cursing the disappointing prequel movies.
These are much darker times.
"The Last Jedi" has to be the most infamous example of how NOT make a movie franchise trilogy. Some say there were no plans for an overarching story. Some say JJ Abrams had written down a few notes. No matter what the case is with this trilogy -- plan or no plan -- this movie should have been stopped in its tracks and not released. Somebody with care for Star Wars -- its personality, its essence -- should have said "NO."
Case closed.
Ship righted.
New course set.
Sadly, we're sinking down through dark depths now.
At the end of the day, Rian Johnson got paid.
And us, the fans? We're poorer for it all, left in the vacuum of life's misery, our religion desecrated.