Previously on Star Wars...
...Starkiller Base has been destroyed. Everyone waived a happy goodbye to Rey, Chewbacca, and R2-D2 as they made their way to find Luke Skywalker in the Millennium Falcon. As Rey stood pensively in front of Luke, calling him back to adventure, our journey temporary ended before the next chapter could begin.
In the "The Last Jedi", while Rey was making her way to Luke's location, the EMPIRE, I mean the First Order decided to STRIKE BACK back which is what they pretty much do during the entirety of the movie. I don't understand while the First Order pursues the last of the Resistance in open space until they run out of gas. That's it. That's what seriously happens until the final act.
So what happens between full tank and empty?
1) Storyline A: Rey and Luke
Luke doesn’t want to train Rey but she sticks around anyway because where else is she going to go. Luke finally decides to train her by teaching her three lessons. The lessons include why the Jedi must end. He makes some compelling arguments but it becomes a little hard to follow because at the same time Rey is going through her own personal journey within herself, telepathically speaking with Kylo Ren, and sometimes plot from the other storylines get in the way.
Eventually, Rey leaves the island to confront Kylo Ren to save him from the dark side because Luke will not. Yoda shows up in puppet force ghost form which looks pretty horrible special-effects wise. Yoda make some valid points and Luke decides to participate.
Luke is somehow able to project himself across the galaxy to confront his nephew and former student whom he essentially created him accidentally through fear. Ultimately the confrontation is just a distraction so the last of the Resistance can get away and Luke becomes one with the Force.
2) Storyline B: Finn and Rose
These two have an adventure on Canto Bight, the casino planet, where they happen to meet a guy (Benicio Del Toro) that can break in and out of places who helps them and then betrays them. Finn fights Captain Phasma and then she dies. So her character ends up being as meaningless as her appearance in The Force Awakens.
3) Storyline C: The Resistance
Leia, Poe and what's left of the Resistance are on the Resistance cruiser a.k.a. the Raddus as I mentioned earlier going from full to empty. While on the ship, we are treated to a mutiny between newly appointed leader Admiral Holdo (Laura Dern) and Poe Dameron. Thankfully Poe gets a lot more screen-time, but he appears to have learned none of his lessons from in the comic book, but that all takes place before TFA, so I guess he just forgets. I will give him a pass as he's just as impatient as the audience wondering what the hell is going on as they wait for death while the gas runs out.
Overall, I know I've mentioned a lot of negatives, but there were some positive things that happened as well if you read between the lines. At the end of the day, the light met the dark and I left the theater liking it, but not loving it. I'm sure it'll grow on me just like TFA did after multiple watches.
For now, I'll give it 3 out of 5 stars.
