[MINOR PLOT SPOILERS] Star Wars: The Last Jedi ’s divisive reception is genuinely unprecedented. The originals are universally loved, the prequels are universally loathed and The Force Awakens only faced dissent from a miserable minority. Yet this latest instalment has a Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 54%, meaning fans are split almost straight down the middle. When asked if The Last Jedi is any good, I’ve genuinely replied, “I don’t know”. Sure, I know my opinion, but what on earth is theirs going to be? I don’t want to give them any false expectations. The situation is only made more confusing when you consider the lavish acclaim poured on the film by critics. Why are audiences so polarised? Why are critics so enamoured? How is there such a disconnect between these two groups? These are all excellent question that I can't and won't answer. Instead, I’m going to explain why The Last Jedi is my favourite Star Wars film since The Empire Strikes Back . I love The L...

Ever since Avengers: Age of Ultron , a film stuffed with more superhero cliches than you can shoot a giant laser at, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been trying to shake things up. Last year's Doctor Strange was a good example of this. Going all out on trippy visuals and ending with a third act that favoured mind-bending inventiveness over mind-numbing spectacle, Doctor Strange hinted at a refreshing new path for the MCU. Have Spider-Man Homecoming and Thor Ragnarok , the latest two instalments in the MCU, continued down this road? Before its release, audiences were rightfully sceptical about Spider-Man Homecoming . The Spider-Man franchise had already been rebooted very recently with the two Amazing Spider-Man films, both of which were received with a collective "ehhh". On the other hand, audiences had already witnessed Tom Holland's Spider-Man in last year's Captain America: Civil War , in which he effortlessly stole the show. Regardless, most people were...