Went to Last Jedi opening night. ALL of my friends who went that night walked out either stunned, subdued, and refusing to fully comment on the movie until we processed it more. It really is one of the most divisive and conflicting films in the series.
In the last few days we are all still mixed about the film. There were good parts, great parts, poor parts, and just plain awful parts. Really, I hope Disney rethinks giving Rian Johnson a full trilogy with no restrictions, because I feel like he is primarily to blame for the mess he put everything into.
The only lasting positive I can say at this point is that I genuinely have NO idea where the series will go from here. Whether I saw the plot twists coming or not, it just feels like wild space going forward, especially with the loss of Carrie Fisher. I really hope they make the right decision and keep the character in the next film. Recast her and couple it with a bit of tasteful digital wizardry if necessary and roll with it. Writing her out will be as clunky and infuriating as some of the scenes, plot contrivances, and pacing of Last Jedi.
Also, experienced the same subdued mood as others like BnM mentioned. NO costumed folks, limited applause/cheering, the theater wasn't even full, probably close to 80-85% full not including the handicapped seats, though that may be due to the sheer number of showings throughout Thursday meeting demand.
And really, the biggest disservice to the film were the critics and early access reviewers. They should NOT have equated this film to Empire, it is by far not close to that film. I don't even think it belongs in the top three. But their high praise made everyone expect a masterpiece, which this film clearly is not unless you are walking in with rose colored nostalgia glasses and a huge bias.
They treated a number of the new leads poorly (not giving them enough screen time, poorly framing their actions/decisions/allowing them to just be idiots that shouldn't be anywhere near leadership), they treated some of the older characters like dirt (where the hell is Lando? There we at least half a dozen moments where he could have fit to the plot to the directors excuse of "we couldn't fit him in" is inexcusable, especially considering their massive attempts to boos diversity in the films,
so they drop the one major black character from the OT? And don't even get me started about Akbar.
HE should have been the one to ram the Raddus into the enemy ship, and it could have been a perfect alternative to replace him with Leia if they wanted to give her a graceful and emotional exit from the series.