I took my father to see this when it came out in theaters. After the movie, I told him that I thought it was my second favorite after Empire. My dad, who raised me on these movies, who has seen each of them when they first released in theaters dating all the way back to 1977, who has seen each of these movies almost as many times as I have, said "Nah, I think this might've actually been my favorite."
I just watched this movie again for maybe the fourth or fifth time and I still love it. I think this was honestly my favorite of Mark Hamill's performances as Luke, because he shows so much range. He's a very tortured character, angry at himself, angry at the Jedi, angry at the Sith, and angry at the Force. In one brief moment of weakness, fearing the potential of the darkness in his nephew, fearing that he wouldn't be able to be the mentor Ben needed (the same fear he showed in Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire, mind you), he made a mistake, because of course, not even Luke Skywalker is perfect, and that mistake cost him the soul of the son of his sister and his best friend. Without giving spoilers, Luke's arc takes him from the part of a reclusive curmudgeon, reminiscent of what we saw from Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back, and leads him to be the hero and the face of hope that the Resistance needs when he utterly humiliates Kylo Ren in front of the entire First Order and the remains of the Resistance.
The only real issue I have with the movie is that I feel the Canto Bight sequence is too preachy for my taste, as I just watch movies to have a good time - not to be given a sermon. But even that sequence has merits going for it, like that little drunk alien shoving tokens into BB-8 (that alien is played by Mark Hamill, by the way). Rose is adorable, and the fathiers are cute and the practical effects used to create them in the stable are flawless.
My favorite part of the movie is the whole last half hour that takes place on the planet Crait. The imagery of the asymmetrical speeders skating on the dusty surface, kicking up the bright red salt underneath is an incredible, unforgettable image. And as mentioned before, that one-on-one final confrontation is so satisfying, capped with that "See you around, kid."
