I thought about writing a full-fledged review of Star Wars: The Last Jedi after seeing it on Friday night, but I’ve had several days to mull it over and read some other articles about it.

Such as this one, explaining why, evidently, a lot of Star Wars fans hated the film: http://epicstream.com/features/Top-13-Reasons-Why-Some-Star-Wars-Fans-Hate-The-Last-Jedi

I think instead I’m just going to highlight what stuck out to me about the movie.

Sound good?

***Spoilers Abound***

1. Rey is my favorite Star Wars character, and I don’t think it’s even close. She’s passionate and cares deeply for her friends, but she has just enough of an edge to convince me that just maybe… she might… possibly… go over… to the da– nope! She’s light again.
2. The Rey-Kylo intergalactic Skype dates were the best part of the movie.
3. Also, the scene where Rey and Kylo fight Snoke’s elite guards was visually stunning.
4. I like Finn as a character, but I kind of didn’t care about his arc at all. His jaunt with Rose to the casino felt like they spliced together 20 minutes of an entirely different movie. And it ended up not mattering at all. Seems to me like it was jammed into the story simply to put Finn on board the star destroyer so he could have his face-off with Phasma… and even that was lackluster.
5. Why haven’t I seen Mark Hamill in more movies? He was stellar.
6. Luke’s arc was pretty much perfect. I could have used more info about why he turned away from the Jedi religion. Either way, I enjoy the graying of the lines between the Jedi and the Sith, even if they’re mostly implied.
7. I’m okay with the Porgs. I’m also okay with Chewie trying to eat the Porgs before he befriended them. The Ewoks were definitely going to eat Han and Luke, and had definitely eaten humans before.
8. The space battles in the Disney movies have been brilliant and stunning and epic and everything I want out of space battles.
9. Laura Dern’s character, Vice Dmiral Holdo, was overall a good fit. The timing of her last-ditch jump to hyperspace through the First Order fleet felt a bit off. However, the image of the star destroyer being split in half is burned into my brain.
10. I thought Poe’s arc in this film was done well, but I could have used more ace-pilot scenes. That’s like… his thing, right?

So, overall, The Last Jedi was a positive experience for me. The internet hate will die off, most likely, only to be reborn anew as we approach the release of Episode IX. Mostly, however, it seems petty to me.

What did you think of the movie?

Steve D