Yes, Rian Johnson's "The Last Jedi" riled up many long-time "Star Wars" fans and quickly became the most divisive movie in franchise history. There's no arguing that. You may say the film was "bold" but there's no discounting the fact that those that did the complaining were longtime fans that, in all essence, were purists when it came to the franchise and were allergic to any kind of change emerging to the characters and storylines. The main complaint was, of course, the way Johnson treated Luke Skywalker and how his all-encompassing statement that the "Jedi was dead" could not have been uttered by the same guy who told Yoda in 1980's "The Empire Strikes Back" "I won't fail you, I'm not afraid." Alas, this deviation from the original spirit of the character rubbed many people the wrong way. Others were also complaining about the new characters whom, coincidentally or not, were female, (Laura Dern's Admiral Holdo and Kelly Marie Tran's Rose Tico,) which even led to a fan deciding to edit his own 46 minute version of the "The Last Jedi" without any women in it.
Daisy Ridley, in an interview with USA Today, actually admits that some of “The Last Jedi” criticisms are not that far-fetched:
“It’s just a different thing. Everyone’s going to have an opinion now anyway on the internet, but I also think it’s fair,” Ridley said. “If people hold something incredibly dear and think they know how it should be and it’s not like that, it’s fair for people to think they were done wrong. It doesn’t mean they were — ultimately, Rian’s a filmmaker and one person can’t dictate how a film is supposed to be — but freedom of expression, sure.”
For many, the joys of Star Wars comes from the comfort of familiarity, the mythology Lucas created. “The Last Jedi” erases all that. The primary intent of the film was to reinvent the franchise. Of course, these purists wanted things to stay the same, but watching “The Last Jedi” you can sense director Rian Jonson trying to, as Kylo Ren says to, “let the past die.” It’s a theme that resonates throughout the film. The little moments that make up this backlash are not “little” to fans of Lucas’ original films. For example, Rey handing off Anakin’s blue lightsaber to Luke, who then goes on to toss it over his shoulder and brush off Rey? That’s a nono for them. Luke doesn’t even believe in himself anymore. The mythology, his legend, was, in fact, a sham according to this new movie. I, of course, enjoyed the film, but I do understand fans’ frustrations.
Disney opens “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” on December 20th