I agree with you, NFB, there’s no ‘right’ way to tell a story, and no story is going to appeal to everyone.

But TLJ is fascinating to me personally, because whereas the failings of TFA and TROS are fairly transparent, this middle chapter seems to have issues which are unusual, and no single explanation seems to fit. I think this is why there are so many essays and videos and complaints about it - a lot of people feel like something’s off, but nobody can quite articulate why in a way that’s satisfying.

There’s only so much to say about a film like TFA. Citiques can’t go far past the unoriginality of the Starkiller and the soft reset of the universe before coming to the realization that the substance of the film has turned to dust. Even solving some of the more surface problems, as I have tried to do in my edit, has made it less interesting to watch. It’s a case of superficial flaws obscuring fundamental flaws. TROS is even worse, to the point that I firmly believe that it is held together entirely by the audience’s bemused fascination with its logical absurdities.

TLJ however has a lot to say, and that makes it the only one that I feel is deserving of critical deconstruction. This is getting into my personal reasons, but I want to be a better writer and storyteller. The Last Jedi tells a story, but if I can’t see why it is disliked by so many people, then I might make the same mistakes.

This is not to say that TLJ is in need of fixing. Artists should be able to tell stories the way they want, even if it’s polarizing. But as a writer I would rather appeal to people than polarize them, and I apologize if people get the impression that I’m just ragging on TLJ because I don’t like it or don’t think its creator is worthy of respect. The reality is quite the opposite.