The interesting thing to me, with regard to the newest movie of the Star Wars anthology, is how many of the criticisms of the film exist because viewers don't like the fact that director Rian Johnson actually made a film rather than another episode of Star Wars.
After seeing The Force Awakens, most viewers said "that was good, I can't wait to see what happens next" whereas after The Last Jedi, anticipation for the 9th movie in the series has been blunted, because there was so much to digest from this movie. While this movie indeed carried on the overarching story, it was also an excellent thematic lesson in and of itself. The themes that the movie bore, most notably of failure and the ability to grow from those failures, allowed characters to develop beyond the archetypes we had already been accustomed to.
Let's take a look at two criticisms in particular, and I'll try to put your mind at ease. First, and most damning, is perhaps the one that came from Mark Hamill himself, who said he disagreed with how Luke Skywalker was portrayed in The Last Jedi, because the Luke he knew would never give up in the face of adversity like the fall of Ben Solo. Never mind the fact that most Star Wars fans remember his origins as a whiny farm boy, but his earlier failures are central to the plot of this particular movie.
If you need any help with this concept, Yoda is there to help spell it out explicitly for you (Aside - the criticism that Yoda seemed to have been shoehorned in to this movie also remain unfounded, because he is so integral to the moral to this story). In order to teach, one must pass along strengths, but also weaknesses and failure. Too late, Luke learned the dangers of hubris, which the Jedi's failures a generation ago should have passed on to him. Now, understanding these lessons, he can and did share those with Rey, and used Kylo Ren's own arrogance and anger against him, in order to stall for time for the Resistance.
A broader question, aside from the implications of the Force and the Jedi, is what the heck did the Finn/Rose story have to do with anything? Many people have said that they would have been ok with their story line had they been successful, but frankly, they had to fail. The point of their mission was to fail.
There were three important characters that needed to be a part of this story line. The first is Poe Dameron, who slowly saw the light as the movie progressed. He achieved an early success, destroying a dreadnaught in the opening scenes of the movie, but was reprimanded for the high cost of the attack. Shortly thereafter, an attack on the bridge killed most of the top leadership, including Admiral Ackbar, and severely wounded Leia (in a scene that I am growing more comfortable with) putting Admiral Holdo in charge, as a character that Poe did not know or trust.
The second character is more obviously Finn. Upon awaking from a medical stasis, he immediately wants to know the status of Rey. To him, the galaxy is mostly about him, and the woman who first ever treated him like a human being. His goal upon encountering Rose was to take the tracking beacon away from the Resistance fleet.
Being sent to Canto Bight with Rose opened his eyes to the plight in the galaxy. Yes, he could not fight those that he did not hate, but now, he learned that the Resistance wasn't fighting because they hated the First Order, necessarily, but because people like the stable hands needed the support of those stronger than them . By the end of the movie, the cause for Finn was no longer vengeance or self preservation, but doing right for those that needed help. Rose put it best when she told him that the war would be won by protecting who they love, not killing who they hated.
And that brings us to Rose, who was introduced to us in this movie, and might just be the most underappreciated character in The Last Jedi. Really, she is at the heart of where I think the franchise is headed. She is the every-woman, brought up from the lowest rungs of society to a mechanic's role in the Resistance. She comes from nowhere, like Rey, but without the sensitivity to the Force. In a movie that lays bare the failures of the doctrinal Force teachings, her heart and determination are the characteristics that drive any success in this movie.
That, I believe, is where this franchise is heading with episode 9. The only Skywalkers left are Leia and Kylo Ren. This franchise, then, is no longer about the Skywalkers, but rather about the Galaxy. The Force is guided by the Light and the Dark, but the Galaxy, like humanity, has Good and Evil at his poles . Unlike the Force, which requires balance, inherent Good doesn't require Evil to rise to its equal. This movie sets up the possibility of so many stories outside the characters we know, and sets up a climax in which the Galaxy, not necessarily a particular character or bloodline, prevails.
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