I quite liked this movie.

The main bad part for me was, as others have touched upon, the Canto Bite/Casino scene. It sort of reminds me of the Pod Race from The Phantom Menace in that while the scene is essential to the overall story of the film, it just drags on for too long and in doing so, stalls the momentum of the narrative. the Pod Race scene from TPM would've been much better if it'd only been one lap instead of three. And similarly the Canto Bite scene would have been better if it'd been about a third of its actual length. There's nothing wrong with a story slowing down for a "breather," but it shouldn't grind to a halt. After all, the Mos Eisley Cantina scene in A New Hope was a slowed down "breather" scene. But it was short. Back then Lucas knew to shorten the scene so that the pace didn't stall. This was why the scene with Jabba the Hutt meeting Han Solo at the Millennium Falcon was cut. The previous scene with Greedo already establishes that Han has a bounty on his head from Jabba. The Jabba scene is really just repeating that point unnecessarily.

What they should've done with the Canto Bite scene is cut it to make it a lot shorter, and then add those scenes back in for a later Special Edition! Fans love that kind of stuff and it gives you an excuse to re-release the film in cinemas and on DVD to make more money. Peter Jackson did the same thing with The Lord of the Rings. We didn't really need to see Eowyn flirting with Aragorn (although explaining who the Dunedain were was useful).

Having said that, I don't find it as boring as the Pod Race. I suppose because while the pace of the plot is stalled, it just isn't as repetitive as the Boonta Eve Race (inevitable since they are racing round and round on a race track ). The scene of them riding on the back of those animals will probably be less exciting on subsequent viewings though. Gah. Racing around is fine if the plot races along with it - like in The Empire Strikes Back when Han races the Falcon through the asteroid field. That scene is intense! And this scene is certainly no where near as bad as say "that scene" from Transformers Age of Extinction. Because not only did that scene stall the narrative but it added nothing to the story. It was completely unessential. The Pod Race and the Canto Bite scenes, while too long and slow, are essential to the story (just not all of it).

Now for my really little nit-picky complaint that I'm sure no-one else will care about.
Language.
Firstly, the dropping of the A-word and the B-word. No other Star Wars movie has swearing in it. Aside from making the film less appropriate for children, as a story set in a galaxy far away with characters who aren't from Earth, it also makes no sense. Because those words in English are very historically and culturally set -- I won't bore you with a 500 word linguistic essay about it, but they are very Earth-based. I preferred it when they used insults that were more rooted in the Star Wars universe, like "poodoo" or "scruffy looking nerf herder" etc. The other point is grammar. Luke tells Artoo-Detoo to "watch" his language, which is funny as it kinda softly breaks the fourth wall and hits onto that long running joke that Artoo, with all his beeping, is just swearing all the time. But uh... he should've said "mind" your language. Because --- rrriiippp -- okay, okay, I won't rant on about the technical linguistics of it. Moving on!

Alright, so beyond the major Canto Bite thing and the language thing which probably noone else cares about... I must say that I really did enjoy The Last Jedi. There are no other main flaws with this film, and the ones that I cited are by no means deal-breakers for me. There are so many other enjoyable things that I found in this movie, so let's look at what I liked...

  • More originality and an unpredictable plot for me. This film took a lot of typical movie clichés and just flipped them on their heads.

  • Great acting from all cast members, and also greater gender and ethnic diversity in the cast. Hamill's performance as Luke Skywalker was just brilliant.

  • Great visual effects, sounds and music.

  • The Easter Eggs didn't feel forced or hammy. Like when Artoo shows Luke Leia's old "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi" recording. Great homage but it also contributed to the story. It's not like say Dr Evazan and Ponda Baba at Jehda in Rogue One which was nothing more than an Easter Egg for fans but did nothing else.

  • The throne room battle was FANTASTIC! Reminds me of when Optimus Prime and Megatron teamed up within Unicron in Transformers Prime.

  • The Ren vs Skywalker fight was also really cool. Loved how Luke didn't leave any footprints on the salt-covered ground. I thought that it was because Luke was using the Force to make himself really light footed for better agility (in The Lord of the Rings Elves naturally have this ability - this is most noticeable in the scene where the Fellowship are walking through a blizzard and Legolas is the only one who leaves no footprints and does not sink into the snow. Everyone else is up to their waists while Legolas can gingerly step forward and look ahead). But the fact that Luke was a Force projected Danger Room illusion came as yet another surprise to me. #sniktsnikt

  • So cool seeing Leia finally using a Force power to save herself. She was essentially doing an extended Force Pull to pull herself back inside the ship. And it is possible for someone to survive in a vacuum for that length of time. Watch this video if you want to learn about the science behind it. As for why she even has any Force powers, this should be obvious. Obviously she is also the daughter of Anakin Skywalker just like Luke. And in Return of the Jedi Yoda tells Luke to pass on what he has learned, and Luke later tells Leia that, "In time, you'll have this power too." So it was always stated that Luke would train Leia. And in the end we see Luke connect with Leia through the Force and also physically transferred Han's dice from the Falcon (just as Kylo Ren accidentally transferred drops of water from Ahch-To) -- this level of Force connection only seems possible between powerful Force users. Speaking of which...

  • Further evolution of Force powers! Powerful Force users are now able to connect across great distances and even transfer matter via the Force. And this is not necessarily a new concept - previous films have established that some Force powers are only accessible at higher levels. e.g. only highly accomplished Sith Lords can project lightning. Darth Maul and Darth Vader were never able to do this (Vader most likely because he lacked sufficient organic matter to even tap into the Force at that level despite his continued progression in the Dark Side). Before Qui Gon Jinn Jedi were never able to commune beyond the grave, and it was Obi-Wan and Yoda who were taught, by Qui Gon, how to further develop this power and appear as Force ghosts. Obi-Wan was also the first Jedi to be able to become one with the Force upon death and disappear. This surprised Vader as we see him stepping on Obi-Wan's cloak to ensure that it wasn't some kind of illusion/trick. The Force isn't a stagnant thing -- it's ever evolving and growing. Users of the Force continue to learn and develop new techniques as they try to achieve their Ultimate Form.

  • This movie blurs the lines of good and evil. Rey isn't necessarily looking to be a light side user, she just wants to know what this power is and what her place is. <Insert HSC English rant about belongment> Kylo Ren also isn't entirely convinced about the Dark Side either. We know he's conflicted, but in this film he talks about how he wants to destroy everything. The light, the dark, the Resistance, the First Order... he wants to tear it all down. He wants to kill Snoke just as much as he wants to kill Skywalker, and ultimately succeeds in doing both. And I do wonder if Kylo also felt Luke's passing through the Force as Rey and Leia did, or did he choose who he want to communicate that feeling with. We'll find out in the next movie. What might be interesting is if this trilogy ends with neither the light or dark side winning, but rather the rise of the Grey Jedi. Those who embrace elements from both the light and dark sides and achieving a balance in the Force.

  • One interesting thing from the Canto Bite scene was how they showed that there are the same people gunrunning for both the Resistance and the First Order and getting filthy rich from doing so. Much like the Quintessons did between the Xetaxxans and the Lanarqans, as well as countless actual examples from real life. And people like the Code Breaker doesn't consider either side to be any better or worse than the other. His loyalty only lies with whoever is paying him. And before we criticise the Code Breaker too harshly, remember that Han Solo started off being just like this in A New Hope. He only cared about his reward. He did change at the end, and that was indeed Han's character journey. But the Code Breaker is pretty much like Han only that he hasn't gone on a journey to make him change his moral code. And heck, we know that Han even reverts back to being just a mercenary after his son fell to the Dark Side.
    #maydivorcebewithyou

  • This film really takes a far darker tone and the good guys just can't seem to get a break here. And the film ends on a grim note with a glimmer of hope. This really reminds me of The Empire Strikes Back. This movie is essentially "The First Order Strikes Back," cos yeah... that's exactly what they did.

[list]"Why didn't the Dreadnought just destroy the diminished Resistance ships?"
The main reason would be to use it as an emotional ploy to enrage Rey in an attempt to turn her to the Dark Side of the Force. The Emperor did the same thing to Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi...
"Hold here."
"We're not going to attack?"
"I have my orders from the Emperor himself. He has something special
planned for them. We only need to keep them from escaping."
In this case, the Resistance has no means of escape. If they jump to hyperspace, the First Order can easily follow and then they won't be able to jump again. If they continue to sail out slowly, then they will eventually run out of fuel. Escaping in shuttles is folly because they're unarmed and unshielded. And even if they reach Helm's Deep, uh, I mean, that abandoned Rebel Base, it's a dead end for them. There's no way that the Resistance could possibly win unless some Space Wizard magically teleports in and distracts Kylo Ren while another Space Wizard lifts rocks to clear a back exit. But what are the odds of that? [/i]

For me this film has many more pros than cons. Not the best Star Wars movie -- the Force Awakens did have better pacing even though its story wasn't as deep and was more predictable. So while it's by no means perfect, I still regard it as a good movie. If the next Bayformers movie were to be half as good as this film...