re: Star Wars Episode 8: The Last Jedi Discussion Thread ***SPOILERS***

Forget the star wars aspect, the movie is a pile of shite.

It abandons almost every core aspect of good story telling.

As a stand alone:

It has no recognizable plot, the "protagonist" undergoes no change or struggle or conflict and is absent the last third of the movie, the "final conflict" moment of the film is fake, none of the characters experience any meaningful growth, there is no real antagonist, there is no threat of conflict and resolution that binds the plot, half the movie is a subplot with no relation to the rest of the movie, characters are routinely introduced and then killed with no meaning or purpose, almost every action climax is immediately changed or fails to climax which is tiring to the viewer, etc..

As a second movie in a trilogy:

It in no way advances the plot of the trilogy, it actively destroys parts of the first movie, and it leaves no where to go. There's no one to even care about anymore.

It's just a horribly made movie that was written and directed by a guy who has only made 3 other Hollywood movies.

Disney Studios made a trilogy out of one of the most profitable and recognized IPs in the world and they gave the second movie to an unproven and unpolished hack with complete autonomy. It's a mind blowingly stupid decision by the studio.

Yes. The special effects in space were cool, but the story and script made Michael Bay seem like Homer, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Apollonius, Twain, and Orwell all rolled into one.