The Last Jedi

I spent part of yesterday at the movies, seeing The Last Jedi, and, overall, I thought it was, well, not very good (I almost said awful). Some of what I’m about to type may constitute spoilers, so stop reading now if that matters to you.

There were some impressive scenes, but so much of it was so predictable (from Finn shifting from a coward trying to run away to being a hero; to the con man who was a con man—and I’d swear I saw that scene in an earlier episode).

The stunning tactical incompetence of... the bad guys (now calling themselves “The First Order”) continues. And Snokes’ malevolence continues to be overdone. (Hasn’t anyone associated with franchise even heard of, let alone read, Machiavelli?)

Leaving aside Hammill’s acting ability, Luke is a whiner—and the scene with Yoda was just embarrassing.

The battle scenes, in addition to highlighting the incompetence of the bad guys, dragged on and on and on. The final confrontation between Luke & Kylo actually played pretty well, and Luke’s final lines were among the best things in the movie.

The casino scene was nearly pointless, although the escape of the “horses” was morally, if not cinematically, satisfying.

I was, I should note, offended by the scenes with the “chicken”-like critters (this movie’s Ewoks, but with no purpose, except to generate sales of stuffed animals).

They may have lost me with this one...but, then, I thought they’d lost me with Episode 2 (the movie that shall go unnamed).