Fresh out of a cold midnight screening, here are some initial thoughts :

It's different, in all of the most enjoyable and satisfying ways.

Where J.J. Abrams brought Star Wars thundering back into our lives at a rip-roaring pace, Rian Johnson grasps his moment to introduce ideas, conflicts and emotions that I have never before seen in a Star Wars episode.

I am downright amazed at the restraint shown throughout The Last Jedi's rather lengthy run time. Johnson is seemingly never tempted to cram this story with clichés and references, or to give in to predictable narrative pressures. Instead, he truly has made a story of his own, one which moves graciously away from what we know and from what we love, and into a new direction that shatters so many broad preconceptions about who these characters really are and where they might end up.

The Last Jedi takes it's time, and it is all the better for it, as the moments that I waited longingly to see were so often dwarfed by instances of unexpected beauty and rapturous imagination. Johnson's story is one that shows us we must let go of the past in order to move forward, and this is something that is so delicately weaved throughout every fibre of this wonderfully crafted film.

The Last Jedi is bold, brave, and an absolute joy to experience - and I will be experiencing it again very, very soon.