The Force Awakens really killed my interest in Star Wars at the time. Probably more than the prequels. But then I ended up really liking Rogue One, maybe more than most people here. Still, I wasn't really that concerned about The Last Jedi. It probably helped that I didn't have cable so I wasn't seeing much in the way of ads or bothering to watch much of the trailers. However, while I was in the middle of the move, I was staying at a place and began watching TV and shows I missed from not getting TV like The Daily Show / Conan / The Food Network. This happened to be right around the time that Last Jedi almost released in theaters so there were plenty of ads for the movie and the cast like Hamill were doing the talk show circuits so I suddenly started getting really pumped about the movie. I was pretty disappointed at the lack of Luke in the TFA so it was exciting that he would be front and center and now that the lame excuse of copying/mixing A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back together to create TFA for a whole new generation couldn't be applied to this (and the goodwill from Rogue One), I started to get pretty hyped for the film.
I did end up seeing it the Tuesday of opening week and it was a weird mixed bag. I do like it much more than TFA but I still think Rogue One is better. I read a lot of the discussions in this thread at the time of the movie as it came out and a lot of people have pointed out the faults and criticisms I have on the movie. The biggest is how time doesn't make sense in this movie. This is all happening in what? About a 2 day period? The Empire has been so resurgent that this is all that's left of the rebel fleet because I don't remember them being that strong in TFA?
Even with those inconsistencies aside, I think the biggest problem with the film is that it keeps trying to have one plot twist too many. You see this in the rebel escape. With Luke, he's not going to help. (Ok, he is going to help like expected.) Confronting the Empire alone? I guess Luke's dead. Oh, he's actually really powerful? Don't pull an Obi-Wan Luke. Ah nuts. They're having Ren kill Luke after all. Oh, what? He's been manipulating him with a force vision of himself. That's awesome! Brilliant. What, he's disappearing? This manipulation was too much for him. So Luke is dead after all? Then why'd you just get the audience's hopes up that he outwitted Ren and was still alive. Argh! Sucks. One twist to many.
Some of the talk going into The Last Jedi was about Snoke and learning more about him and who he was so that was another thing that got me curious and wanting to see the movie right away only for him to be a non-factor with nothing much explained about him at all. It's kind of funny in a way but also frustrating. I forgot all about the mystery behind Rey's parents until it got brought up in the movie and with the way Kylo was talking to her about them, I was getting prepped for a reveal that she was Kylo's sister and that Han and Leia were her parents only for the answer to be nobody and that it doesn't matter. Which is fine, I guess. Anakin Skywalker came from non-force / inconsequential parents but it was such a weird buildup to a strange answer and part of me still isn't convinced that is the answer and that Kylo was lying to her and the next film will reveal her parents to be something special after all. That was another problem with the movie is that it keeps leaving you in disbelief, like, is that really how this character is going out? Is that really the answer to this question? Why didn't they hyperspeed the medical frigate into the Imperial Armada before? If the captain was going to go down with the ship anways, why not take a run at the fleet and take as many Imperials with you as you can?
And yet, there are parts I really liked. The whole Snoke throne room scene is one of my favorite movie moments / scenes from last year. Even the aftermath where Ren is trying to win Rey to his side and she's trying to win Ren to her side. I was wondering if she really would accept his offer and do a reverse Luke who rejected Vader and his offer and where things might go from there. For a brief moment, there just seems to be a lot of crazy places this story can go and then the bright lights of a ship being sliced by hyperspace is just too much crazy so everything settles back down to Rey and Ren sticking to their sides and going their own way with a traditional Empire vs Rebel final. But what if they paired together? What if Ren becoming de-facto Emperor while being pulled toward the light side by Rey caused the Empire to divide between Ren and Hux? Would the rebels suddenly join or be persuaded to join the Ren side of the Empire with Leia and Ren's connection? For a moment, the film and series really became alive with strange new potential but then it all faded away.
Really, though, I have no problem with any of the Ren, Ray, and Luke material and scenes. Hamill lived up to the wait of seeing him in this film and I just wish we could have had more adventures with Jedi Master Luke after all the training he went through in the original trilogy. So much untapped potential there. Unfortunately, with his hermit history now, it might be hard to make any solo Jedi Master Skywalker films since he doesn't seem to have gone on many adventures after the end of RotJ. The push / pull of the Rey and Ren dynamic worked a lot better this time and was when I was most engaged with the film. I like the opening battle and desperation of the Rebels trying to blow up the Imperial Cruiser or Destroyer (I'm not up on my Star Wars spacecraft) and I liked the spectacle of Hoth Redux and Luke's trolling of Ren. Unfortunately, I feel the rest of the film needed a bit of a rework or better awareness of how it comes across on screen. Unlike TFA which I have had no interest in rewatching since I first saw it a couple years ago, TLJ is something I could see myself watching again though most likely, I'd probably just want to skip ahead to the good parts sort of like the prequels. Rogue One is still the best Star Wars film Disney has put out so far in my book.