Snoke(re-interpreted in this film as intentionally nothing more than a shadow of the Emperor) and Luke Skywalker represent the original trilogy - old, stubborn and trapped by their own legend. Their apprentices - Kylo Ren and Rey - are also trapped, by their expectations. Kylo seeks to live up to his family name, to be a worthy villain in the mold of Darth Vader whilst the orphaned, random woman from Jakku seeks to become a Jedi and be the next great hero(seeing a father in both Han Solo and Luke) to save the galaxy. As they realise the significance of this together, it creates a vital bond between the two, each desiring the other's help in building a grand new world.
During the course of the film, Snoke and Luke both die unexpectedly midway through the trilogy in the traditional Sith/Jedi way - assassination and a peaceful sacrifice, and leave the future of Star Wars in the hands of the next generation where it now belongs. As Yoda points out in a wonderful cameo sequence: "We are what they grow beyond."
The Last Jedi pulls off the plaster of nostalgia without shame and bets all of its money on the new leads, an extremely daring move that was naturally going to split the fandom apart just like Anakin's iconic lightsaber in the film.
Unfortunately, apart from being an epic meta commentary, the film has some pretty lame plotting. Everything to do with the Resistance still feels either like a tired retread of the original films or just a boring cliche in of itself and a potentially interesting detour to a casino planet quickly devolves into a tiresome Captain Planet episode about saving the abused animals. Personally, I feel that the movie-long chase between the First Order and Resistance ships should've been scrapped entirely in favor of developing Canto Bight more and maybe giving some insight into the Snoke character, whose enigmatic nature, intentional or not, is still rather frustrating in this day and age of complex storytelling.
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Mark Hamill is astoundingly great as an older Luke Skywalker, to the point where it seems laughable that his acting used to be mocked. He manages to juggle Luke's bitterness, guilt, but also his naturally charismatic side and threatens to steal the film from Driver and Ridley. The fact that we see him tempted to murder is difficult to accept, but Hamill does such a good job of selling the scene and Luke's inner struggle that they just about get away with it.
My feelings on his death scene are mixed. Whilst I appreciate the ignominity as it continues the theme of toppling legends as well as showing off an amazing new Force ability, I do think it would've been emotionally more effective for Kylo to just cut through him, Obi-Wan style. Not to mention we actually might've had a lightsaber duel in the movie.
I'm really not sure what to make of Carrie Fisher, in both this and The Force Awakens. The writing certainly caters to her, showing off Leia's dark sense of humor, leadership skills and even her latent Force abilities(for the first time!), but there's just something depressing about how exhausted Fisher appears to be, and all those raspy, forced line deliveries. Rest in peace, princess.
Adam Driver's Kylo Ren has become one of my favourite characters in the Star Wars universe. I already quite liked his emo wannabe Vader gimmick in the last film, but the decision to have him kill the supposed main villain and take his place has put all the fears of his lack of originality to rest. Kylo is a mentally unstable, incredibly emotional and burdened villain of the 21st century.
Daisy Ridley continues to do a terrific job as Rey. The film shows off her inquisitive nature, what with her trying to uncover the truth about Luke and Kylo's past, her attempts at getting Kylo to break off from the dark side and of course her continued search for her own origin story. And this of course has its downside... curiosity killed the cat. Like Kylo, she is vulnerable and quite relatable in her search for an identity.
Unfortunately, her two co-leads aren't as well developed. After being sidelined for most of The Force Awakens due to being a last-minute addition, Oscar Isaacs does get more screentime as the stalwart, hotheaded Poe Dameron, but it's mostly wasted on a meaningless mutiny subplot and he barely gets to do anything cool.
Also, this is the second movie where he is separated from the rest of the main cast, even his best bud BB-8(again).
Meanwhile, John Boyega is saddled with the cringeworthy "Star Wars fan and moral crusader" character Rose, whom I just can't stand. The banter between them is fairly decent, but I just wish Finn was doing... well, anything else. He does get a pretty cool standoff with Gwendoline Christie's perpetually underused Captain Phasma.
Once again, C-3PO and R2-D2 are cameo parts, which is really starting to get under my skin considering that even in the prequels, they played main parts.
Despite the fairly rotten material he was given, Andy Serkis does a good job of giving Supreme Leader Snoke an actual personality at least, to the point where I actually liked having him around(versus the lifeless hologram from the last film). He's more laidback than Palpatine, and comes across as almost like the Sith equivalent of a bachelor. Damn, how I wish he really was Darth Plageuis. It would even seamlessly work in the context of the story. Oh well.
Laura Dern's self-important Admiral Holdo just got on my nerves, especially since she had no motivation to not clue the other Resistance members in on what her plan was. And why couldn't it be Ackbar instead???
It's a shame that Benicio del Toro apparently considers working in Star Wars a mistake, because his stuttering, shameless hacker character was a memorable highlight of the film, one of those minor parts that come across as so realistic that you could imagine their lives outside the film.
Frank Oz never stops being awesome as Yoda, and his appereance here has to rank as one of the character's best moments. I will spoil no more.
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There really isn't much to say special effects side. It's 2017, it's Star Wars, of course the visuals are absolutely spectacular. Probably my favourite computer generated effect was of the Rebel cruiser lightspeeding through the Star Destroyer.
On the puppet side, Yoda looked slightly off. Why is it so hard to recreate old puppets, I wonder? I was very impressed to hear that the crystalline canines on the mine planet Crait were intricate puppets, they look fantastic.
Speaking of Crait, it initially looked like a Hoth ripoff, but the red salt appearing whenever the white surface was scratched was a visual spectacle.
Did I mention... no lightsaber duel? NO LIGHTSABER DUEL. Why, in the name of Zeus?? Whom I do not worship, as I am Christian. But it sounds cool.
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The Last Jedi is a film of extremes. Parts of it are boring and dull, and parts are some of the most innovative and compelling storytelling I've seen in ages. All in all, a fascinating, gutsy entry in the franchise.
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