Objectively speaking, Star Wars: The Last Jedi is a very good (and visually stunning) sci-fi movie. Is it a good Star Wars movie, though? That's a debate we've seen rage on since 2017, with filmmaker Rian Johnson's creative decisions causing quite a stir.
As well as walking back on the mystery surrounding Rey's parents and Supreme Leader Snoke, the director also depicted Luke Skywalker in a way that simply didn't sit right with fans...or Mark Hamill himself, for that matter! The backlash has been vocal, and Johnson has now looked back on what it was like to be on the receiving end of that criticism.
"It’s been a process. At the beginning, it was not easy. It was incredibly painful," he tells Empire Magazine (via CBR). "Before the movie came out, if one person said something slightly snarky to me on Twitter, I felt a deep, 'Oh my God, there's someone out there that doesn't like me...I have to fix this.'"
"In the context of social media, and maybe in the context just of being a human being in the world, it's a very healthy thing to have been put through the fire on," Johnson added. "You could also make the argument that those nerve-endings that have been seared off is a bad thing."
In other words, he's developed a thick skin, so your complaints probably aren't causing him to lose too much sleep at this point.
Johnson does hope to return to the Galaxy Far, Far Away to helm a trilogy, though if those movies shift the spotlight from established characters, he's unlikely to face the same level of backlash. J.J. Abrams also wasn't immune from that, with The Force Awakens dubbed A New Hope ripoff, and The Rise of Skywalker proving to be a disappointing exercise in damage control.
Regardless, the director didn't deserve the sort of vitriol he received after the movie was released, and there are plenty of fans who did actually love the bold choices he made with Episode VIII.
Have your feelings changed about The Last Jedi?