I went into "The Last Jedi" with very low expectations.

Sure, "The Force Awakens" was generally enjoyable, and "Rogue One" fully knocked my socks off, but my confidence in Disney’s ability to successfully produce another installment was basically nonexistent. I’d also read some scathing commentary online (carefully avoiding spoilers, of course, I’m no fool) which seemed to justify my bad attitude. That didn’t stop me from paying to see it in theaters, though, because I’m always a sucker for Star Wars and — guess what — it was actually pretty good!

Spoilers ahead, kids. Don’t ruin it for yourself.

The foremost perk of all of the new Star Wars movies is their production value and general quality overall. The harsh reality of Star Wars is that, up until the most recent few, they’ve all been objectively bad movies — the writing, cinematography, dialogue, all of it is decidedly subpar. This is not to say that they’re not enjoyable, because they absolutely are and I love them, but it’s important to note that it is true to the Star Wars legacy to produce a movie that is not necessarily a masterpiece. I won’t go so far as to say that "The Last Jedi" was a masterpiece, but the cinematography and CGI? The soundtrack? Extraordinary. Inspiring. Superb. The sequence leading up to Admiral Holdo flying into the First Order ships was genuinelybreathtaking — there were a lot of artistically valuable shots in this movie, which was a surprising thing to encounter in Star Wars. In that regard, "The Last Jedi" was great.

There were some parts of it, however, that were less than ideal. The one where Luke drank green milk from that alien on Ahch-To, for example, was kind of horrifying. I think we can all agree that we were better off before seeing that. Kylo Ren’s shirtless scene was also an uncomfortable situation because of the dampness factor and spontaneity of it all. Why did he refuse to clothe himself? Why did BB-8 swoop in on this Deus Ex Machina moment piloting an AT-ST? How did he get up there? There were a lot of questionable details.

With all that being said, I think "The Last Jedi" was overall a good addition to the Star Wars franchise. It opened with a scene of sacrifice as the Resistance scrambled to evade the First Order, and that became one of the overarching themes of the movie. We also saw Luke return to the screen, only rather than the straightforward, positive hero of the past we got a brooding, conflicted veteran in self-imposed exile — a character development that is a nod to the original Expanded Universe. He stresses balance and natural order, both concepts that are deeply tied to Jedi mythos and lore but haven’t really been discussed in previous movies. Luke is a symbol of hope to the Resistance, perhaps the only symbol left as their numbers dwindle, but he himself is beyond hope.

These motifs of hope and sacrifice guide the plot forward as "The Last Jedi" takes a long, hard look at the previous Star Wars films, including "The Force Awakens" and "Rogue One," and says definitively that in times of real strife, hope simply isn’t enough. War requires sacrifice. The lines between right and wrong are often unclear or even nonexistent. It pushes Star Wars beyond its space opera past and focused heavily on the themes and moral discussions of the franchise as a whole. The themes were offset by the light situational humor that is characteristic to Star Wars, and while it could be argued that it was a little heavy-handed at times, it’s important to remember that these movies are marketed very heavily toward kids, which makes it forgivable. The emphasis on character development and theme paves the way for a nuanced, thoughtful sequel, which — dare I say — I look forward to seeing.