How I learned to stop worrying and love 'The Last Jedi'

There will be some spoilers.

When The Force Awakens came out two years ago there were reasonable doubts that a good Star Wars movie could ever be made again in the aftermath of the prequels. Most diehard fans of the saga had a similar reaction to the prequels: initial embrace and then a rapid decline of appreciation. They did not wear well, to say the least.

So in 2015, The Force Awakens was the Star Wars film we needed -- it was funny, instantly likable and grounded in a way the original trilogy was. And although there would be detractors who cried 'derivative' -- it probably needed to be. 

It needed to clean the palette from the bad taste the prequels left and reassert the relevance of what has become the most profitable franchise in movie history.

Flash forward to today. With The Last Jedi we have the first major Star Wars film that is not steeped in too much reverence for its predecessors, in fact it is perhaps the first Star Wars film to display a certain degree of cynicism towards the sanctimonious Jedi and posturing Sith. This may be why its been met with a more skeptical reaction from many fans, despite some rapturous praise from critics.

I will admit it was the first Star Wars movie I didn't fall in love with immediately, but on second viewing it's emerged more and more in mind as a truly great entry in the series -- one bursting with ideas and promise that can be fulfilled in future films. There will be some who will continue to argue that this is a money grab, a vehicle to sell toys and that everything that needed to be said about Star Wars was said in the original 1977-1983 trilogy, but I am not one of these people.

The Last Jedi deepens the themes of that original trilogy which were fundamentally about the nature/virtues of heroism and the temptation/cost of villainy. This film is about the future -- but it also contains three separate plots that are variations on classic themes of what makes a leader, what it means to sacrifice for others and why love triumphs over hate. Is that hokey? Of course. But it's the earnestness of Star Wars that makes it great, and it's the simple elegance of its storytelling that has made it so special to children and the kid in all of us adults.

Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker

It's not a perfect movie. Director Rian Johnson has packed this film with a lot of ideas and perhaps a side character too many. The character of Rose, for instance, feels a little superfluous and undercooked, the much maligned Finn plotline may have worked just as well without her. And I could have dealt with a few less porg shots. Johnson leaves it all on the floor, so much so that for the first time I genuinely don't know how this trilogy could or should wrap itself up.

In other words, J.J. Abrams really has his work cut out for him -- not only does he have to top this sprawling epic, but he has to bring the stories of Rey, Finn, Kylo and Poe to a fitting conclusion.

And The Last Jedi, to the chagrin of some grumps, really does blow up a lot of established concepts and premises that some previous films clung too. I actually love the choice to make Rey a 'nobody' unconnected to Solos or Skywalkers -- which I hope the next film adheres to. The exciting thing about 'the force' was that there was always this possibility that anyone could possess the gift (something the prequels obnoxiously threw cold water on).

I also love how this film, in no uncertain terms, really makes a compelling case for what the force is and why it's so powerful. Mark Hamill, who is a joy in this movie, gets some of the movie's best dialogue (unfortunately Rey's can be a little wooden from time to time) and in sequences that recall the best of The Empire Strikes Back, he underlines the stakes that make these movies feel like more than cartoon space battles.

Oscar Isaac is great in his b-plot, which also gives Carrie Fisher far more to do and culminates with a show stopping moment delivered by Laura Dern. And Benicio Del Toro turns up as a fascinating charlatan whose 'take no sides' philosophy poses an intriguing temptation for Finn. If you can't already tell, this is a movie bursting at the seams with content. What's funny is when I think about how I'd improve it, it requires adding more to the film, which is already too long.

Upon second viewing I came to realize that this was Star Wars finally breaking free of the constraints placed upon it. The first three will always shine best because they were wholly original and had no entrenched decades-long fan base to serve -- although one could argue the fan service already started to take hold in Return of the Jedi.

Some of the weakest parts of that film amount to some close loop exposition -- including Obi Wan's awkward explanation for why he misled Luke about his father and Yoda explaining to Luke that he has a sister. The first Star Wars film, A New Hope (if you must), was a standalone that didn't need a follow-up. So that meant The Empire Strikes Back could be anything it wanted to be.

Ironically, that film, which is now the Star Wars film against which all others will be measured -- was not a huge critical success when it first came out and commercially it has been the lowest box office performer of any canon Star Wars film. Still, it didn't have to resolve any plotlines, and was free to introduce new ones.

The prequels were marred by many things -- George Lucas's laziness and ego, horrific acting, an over-reliance on CGI -- but primarily they were really bad attempts at fan service. They tried to retcon explanations for everything we've already seen and in its labored efforts to set up dominos that have to fall eventually, they didn't bother to craft characters we cared about.

The Force Awakens managed to do that. And while that film carefully aimed not to offend, it did establish some worthy new characters with distinct personalities. Rey and Kylo Ren especially seemed like wholly different characters than we've seen in previous films, and so perhaps its unsurprising that they are the standouts of The Last Jedi.

And what more to say about The Last Jedi? It isn't interested in fan service. It's not interested in answering questions, it's about raising them. And just when you think it's getting too self-important, they throw in a little light humor to remind us all that we're not supposed to take this too seriously.

Some consider that trolling and I'm not saying every 'joke' lands -- but for a movie about regret, pain and loss -- it's pretty funny and lighthearted throughout, which is no small feat.

Maybe it makes perfect sense that the most successful brand in movies would also be the most harshly judged. I'm sort of fascinated by what this movie's detractors would have preferred. Many of these same people complained that The Force Awakens was too much of a retread, and now this film is too original? Should the answer be just no more Star Wars, period?

I try to judge movies in terms of whether they accomplished their intent. Star Wars movies are supposed to excite and delight, and this film largely did both. And I think with repeat viewings its reputation will truly grow -- I think it's one of the most interesting blockbusters of the year.

May the force and patience be with you.