[hivemind]

Went out last night to see what all the fuss was about. After subjecting myself to the dross of The Force Awakens back in 2015. With a heavy heart and some Southern Comfort before the screening of The Last Jedi I made my way to cinema with a group of enthusiastic Star Wars friends.

Well, what can I honestly say about this film. Firstly I felt the chemistry between Rey and Luke wasn't evident at all. Secondly the film run time is just tooooooooooooo long. Looking around at people midway during the film I could see people looking rather bored and somewhat more intrested in their smart phones. The acting was just terrible too. I will say that Adam Driver was about the only actor that actually took the plot seriously, the rest just chewed up the scenery with with dialogue that made me want to cringe. Another thing as well, Luke didn't feel like the Luke Skywalker from the original trilogy either.

Something was lacking in the character development, and I found myself thinking about what George Lucas must be thinking as I watched The Last Jedi. Lucas probably wished he'd never relinquished Lucasfilm to Disney. Where in the original trilogy Lucas kept the stories far more grounded and more believable to the audience, this film, like The Force Awakens is all over the place, in more ways than one.

I too complained about the prequels, but when you look and see what a complete and utter mess Disney/Lucasfilm have made of the Star Wars universe, you have to conclude that the soul has been totally ripped out, and a more corporate (Disneyfied) path has been taken with characters that don't stay with you in the same way the characters in the original trilogy did. Even the jokes are absolutely terrible, and this time you can't blame Lucas either. There's certainly elements of The Last Jedi that mirror's The Empire Strikes Back. The Last Jedi is trying exceptionally hard to imitate the said 1980 film in places. It's trying far too hard to be the bad boy of this rather lame so-called new trilogy, and for the most part it doesn't ultimately succeed in my view.

Yes, the CGI effects are very well accomplished and handled by ILM, but the story leaves you cold. Where the superb The Empire Strikes Back delivered a tight, well thoughtout plot with a fine twist at the end, this film leaves you feeling underwhelmed and damn right pissed off. Even Phasma doesn't get much of a look in. All in all I won't spoil the film for those that may read this mini review.

I was looking forward to seeing something different from the vertual re-make of A New Hope with The Force Awakens, but unfortunately Mr. Rian Johnson couldn't deliver what was needed to make this film a satisfying middle film like the masterpiece that is The Empire Strikes Back. There's more I would like to say about this film, but won't.


Rating: **/5