The newest Star Wars movie hit theaters three weeks ago, dividing Star Wars fans all over.

Disney’s latest installment in the Star Wars franchise is an exhilarating and enjoyable addition to the franchise; however, with some shortcomings throughout the film, there is still much to be desired.

Star Wars The Last Jedi opens with the remaining Resistance fleet trying to outrun the ever powerful First Order. The plot doesn’t get any more or less complicated beyond that, and because of this the movie almost feels pointless in moving this trilogy along. On top of this, the subplots felt just as pointless as the overarching story, with the only redeeming quality out of both of them being the gorgeous backdrops and stunning visuals. Adding to the underwhelming feeling I had leaving the theater was the hit or miss comedy sprinkled throughout, that at some points just didn’t work. Finally, the similarity to The Empire Strikes Back is uncanny, with a repeat Hoth battle, training of a new Jedi, and many more similarities it was almost the same film. Although Star Wars The Last Jedi did have its shortcomings, the movie was an overall enjoyable experience, if you don’t think about it too much.

Maybe it’s the curse of the middle moving in a trilogy or the anticipation over-hyped this film, but Star Wars The Last Jedi did nothing to further the story established in the first movie of the trilogy or add anything to the already established characters. For context the Resistance, like usual, is trying to escape the First Order, but instead of getting a clean escape the Resistance is ambushed by the First Order in space. This causes them to try and outrun the First Order’s ships the entire movie, making this the premise for the two hours and thirty five minute run time. That may not be fair, for the last thirty minutes or so we do get to enjoy a Hoth-esc battle, which, to be honest, was a very fun set piece containing stunning visuals and an epic moment I won’t ruin for you. Besides that, the whole “space race” confrontation seems lazy on the side of the creators, could they really think of nothing more entertaining than a pointless situation that feels like it could be easily solved?

“I didn’t like the new Star Wars movie at all.” said senior Matty Campbell, “The movie felt like a mess, it was boring and unimaginative.”

Underneath that mess there was some plot development that did redeem this movie a little. The relationship between Rey and Ben Solo was done very well and through their interactions we got a deeper look into both characters. Also, because of their newly developed bond, the audience got a fun team-up, I won’t go into too much detail, but it was one of the best scenes in the entire film. However, the one team-up I felt underwhelmed by was Fin and a new character named Rose. To be frank, this subplot was even more useless than the main plot, doing nothing besides take up time and introduce the audience to Rose who is just not an interesting or well thought out character.

“I really didn’t like the new characters added,” said movie enthusiast Will Fleming, “I feel like Rose is this trilogies Jar Jar Binks, a pointless and annoying character.”

The one thing I was looking forward to the most stepping into the theater was seeing how Luke would take on the role of master and teach Rey how to become a Jedi. I couldn’t have been more disappointed. There was barely any training, and no nostalgia calling back to when Luke was trained by Yoda. Instead, Luke is a shell of the person he was because of his actions dealing with Ben’s turn to the dark side. This part may have been the most annoying part of the entire film. Luke, the man who saw good even in Darth Vader, even trying to redeem him, felt that Ben Solo, who was slightly tempted by the dark side, needed to be killed to prevent him from becoming evil. I mean really? Vader was way worse than Ben ever could be and he didn’t even want to kill Vader, why is Luke all of the sudden so easily persuaded to kill someone? It just doesn’t feel like the same character.  

“I enjoyed the movie,” said senior Dylan Murphy, “there was some parts where I felt like things didn’t really flow or make sense but overall it was a fun experience.”

Despite what I have said so far, Star Wars The Last Jedi isn’t a terrible movie. In fact it is very enjoyable, providing the audience with everything a Star Wars fan would expect; lightsaber battles, space battles and stunning visuals. The only issue is if you start to look deeper and pick out certain nuances you will quickly realize certain things here and there that either don’t make sense or feel like they just don’t belong in the film. I encourage you to go and watch the movie with an open mind and make your own opinion.