Review of Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) by Hugh O — 17 Dec 2017

This film, at best, is a bizarre disappointment; at worst, it is an abysmal failure. There are actually too many things to critique that I don't know where to start. May be the fact that Finn and Rose's subplot is a pointless, half-baked, P.C. waste of time that has neither substance nor consequence; or maybe the fact that all the men are losers: Luke, a cantankerous recluse, Po, an impertinent fool who needs to learn a "tough lesson," Finn, who cannot even succeed at dying for others. Ben Solo had some good moments thanks to Adam Driver's excellent acting, but his flip-flop conflict was a bit drawn out.

This movie also felt very preachy. Plutocracy is bad, arm dealers are the greedy 1% . . . sure, but why is this part of a Star Wars movie! Save it for a college classroom! Not to mention the final message of Rose: We really win by loving one another instead of fighting our enemies. What a false dichotomy! This movie is called Star WARS . . it could have been called Star RETREATS. The one offensive was in the opening film . . . an attack for which Po is harshly rebuked by Leia. Every other engagement is called off, abandoned, or taken up by a force phantom.

Speaking of force phantoms, what an ending: Don't worry everyone, Luke didn't die! Yay! . . . (30 seconds later) . . . oh . . . wait . . . he died, nevermind. Well, at least he didn't die fighting! That would have gone against our message. Luke died . . . I died, when I saw him being suckled by the Loch Ness monster.

All the mysteries and loose ends came to nothing: Rey's parents are nobodies, Snoke dies and it never explains his backstory or how he seduced Ben Solo, the knights of Ren are passed over, etc.

I could go on, but what is the point! Critics who praised this movie not only do not know Star Wars, they do not know good film-making! It is depressing enough that they want to distance this saga from the Skywalker family. But more than this, The Last Jedi is not a well-made film. The plot, the character arcs, the dialogue . . . little of it is on point. "Help us JJ Abrams . . . you're our only hope!".