The first act is a bit plodding as the story is separated into two different strands, one involving Luke, Rey and Kylo Ren, the other following the rebels. It's this second strand that is the least interesting and I found myself wanting them to go back to Rey's story. However, once these two strands meet somewhere in the latter half of the second act, the film kicks into high gear and doesn't let up for a minute. There are a few interesting ideas brought up too with regard to the relationship between the jedi and the force. Hopefully these themes will be touched on once more when episode IX rolls around. Despite the minor flaws of the first act the second half of The Last Jedi is such a thrilling ride that you cannot fail to be won over by Rian Johnson's treatment of the Star Wars universe', even when it succumbs to the Disney trope of having cute, cuddly creatures to provide "comic" relief as surrogate sidekicks for Chewbacca. Not quite the high point of the series for me (that honour still belongs to The Force Awakens) but it comes pretty darn close.