I finally got around to seeing "The Last Jedi" on a flight a couple of weeks ago.
I saw a movie simply titled "Star Wars," on its second day in the theaters. I was 11. My older cousin saw it the first day and convinced my parents to let her take my brother (year younger than me) to see it the next day. Just that SuperDuper Star Cruiser thing in the very first scene -- WOW. It was fun as hell. I went to see it again a few weeks later, and by that time, it had already be renamed to "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope."
It would be many, many years later that I finally got to see "Star Wars" in the original Japanese. That would be Kurosawa's "Hidden Fortress." George Lucas was smart enough to steal from the masters. (The SuperDuper Star Cruiser opening shot? Straight outta Kurosawa.)
"The Empire Strikes Back" remains the best of the franchise.
The three prequels could've been good, if only Lucas was interested in exploring the story he was telling, rather than selling Moichandising. Anakin Skywalker's descent into madness would have been fascinating in the hands of a better filmmaker. There is also the parallel storyline, the devolution of a democracy into a fascist dictatorship, also a good base for a story. But to combine them -- because they're really the same story, one on the micro level, the other on the macro -- and if you've got the right director and screenwriter that could be an astonishing tale, especially if you have three movies in which to tell it. But, know, pod racing and Jar Jar Binks and we've licensed this shit to EVERYONE so fuck it.
"The Force Awakens" nods to the past, introduces the future, same as it ever was. Daisy Ridley is a spitting image of Natalie Portman. Poe is Han Solo. Shit gets blown up, I don't remember. Oh, yeah, there's a goofy robot, because Moichandising. The ending when Ray is on the island and we see Luke? Best part of the whole thing. They kill off Han Solo and nobody even says a little Kaddish, they all just keep on doing what they're doing. Especially Leia. One would think that J. J. Abrams could do better.
"The Last Jedi." More winking nods to the past. As pointed out way earlier, we've seen this movie before. But: Luke Skywalker is the center of this universe, and he (and Mark Hamill) lives up to the billing. He gets it. He understands why the Palpatine Empire was able to gain traction as it did. He understands that the Jedi were in part responsible for their own downfall. (Hubris. That's the word we all need to remember.) He understands the Force and how the Jedi (and the Sith on the other side of this Manichean coin) do not have a monopoly on it, or even the right to claim that the should have such. Yoda, too, knew this; the younger Luke wouldn't listen (more hubris) and runs off half-cocked and almost loses it all. The older Luke we see in "TLJ" understands completely; he learned the lessons in the hardest way.
"TLJ" sets up Episode 9. Will Ray turn Ben/Ren to the Light? Yes, ditching the helmet as Snoke suggested was a wise move on Ren's part. It also requires us to see Kylo Ren as human, not as the ultimate embodiment of evil, Darth Vader. So, #9. Have we seen that movie? Yes. Maybe. We don't know.
Regarding, "Where did the First Order come from, and how did it rise so quickly?" Yeah, that annoyed me when I saw "Force Awakens," but the answer is simple: The Dark Side Of The Force. You know the old sayings: "With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility" (another wide old Uncle Ben), and "Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely." Snoke was strong with the Force, and like Sauron he allowed himself to be completely corrupted by its power. And with that kind of evil power you can command legions to do your bidding. Orcs, stormtroopers, makes no difference; do as told or die. I suppose the story of Snoke would make for a good prequel, too, but he's not a character, he's a plot device.
BEST PART OF "THE LAST JEDI." In the casino scene (ripped off in equal parts from James Bond and "The Fifth Element", and wholly unimportant to the story), Finn and Rose are arrested for "violating parking law 27 B stroke 6." I was watching on the iPad Pro, and rewound and rewatched that scene three or four times, and finally turned on the captions, just to make sure I actually heard what I thought I heard. I'm sure Terry Gilliam got a huge laugh at that, especially because Adam Driver (Kylo Ren) is starring in Gilliam's soon-to-be-released "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote."