The Good:
- Opening Space Battle: After being instantly afraid after the crawl that The Last Jedi was going to copy The Empire Strikes Back the way The Force Awakens copied A New Hope, I found the opening space battle overall a fun experience. I had two minor gripes with it, that I am going to say here because they are not detracting enough to be in the bad, but I think I should mention. One, Poe is without a doubt the greatest pilot the galaxy has ever seen. I don't know why this bothered me, but he began the battle alone and came out unscathed. I mean... it's fine. But two, I had no fear of the Dreadnaught. I understand it was big, but we had not seen it do anything. Just telling me to fear it does not make me fear it. But, having said all that, the space battle was well done and I felt the drama in the bomber was top-notch, especially considering the brevity of it.
- Rey and Ben: I could list them individually, but I include them together because the Rey/Ben/Jedi story line was just fantastic. I enjoyed both Rey and Ben in The Force Awakens, but they stepped up their game in this one. Their acting was perfect. Their fight scenes were well-executed and beautifully choreographed. I felt the connection, the conflict, and the drama between them was real. I could have watched 2 more hours of them. I even liked the reveal (true or not) that Rey's parentage was nothing special. And did I mention the fight scenes were phenomenal? They were. I'll mention it again.
- Luke: I enjoyed seeing Mark Hamill return in this iconic role. It was a nice extension of the character's story, even the frailty and weakness in the Ben backstory. The power and presence he brought a wonder gravity to his scenes.
- DJ: Benicio Del Toro was a grand scoundrel and I loved him. The "consistency" of the character's actions made happy. To have such a small role, his addition was great. I would have liked some more of him.
- Climax: The way Luke was utilized in the climax was unexpected, and cool, and really lent itself to a clear and honorable "passing of the torch". And though you thought he was going to die in the manner of Obi-Wan, he died like Yoda, which makes more sense seeing as how Yoda was his real master (Obi-Wan basically died like his master as well - different discussion). Beautiful send off for such a beloved character.
- Blended Tech: I liked that the technology was both new things and old things. It gave the universe a more "realistic" feel.
The Bad:
- Flying Space Princess: Not going to lie, the scene with Leia flying through space almost ruined the movie for me. The scene was stupid... just pure stupid. It could have been a meaningful heroic death, but she was robbed of that. That makes me sad. And this scene made me angry in every way.
- Disappearing Army: When Rose and Finn were about to be tortured and then "explosion"! When they awoke, with no one around, it really baffled me.
- The bits of humor: This detracted from the tonal feel of Star Wars to me. A little joke from a new character is fine, but repeatedly breaking the mood for the sake of humor just did not work for me. I was barely willing to accept it in Thor: Ragnorok, but this trend of "Whedon-ification" of cinema needs to end.
- Rose and Finn: This story just did nothing for me. I didn't think it added to the plot, or the drama, or even character development. Which leads me to...
- Captain Phasma: Still useless! Wow... so, useless.
- Snoke: They had built up this dude to be someone important from the past. Turns out, he was just a means-to-an-end. Seems to me using Snoke this way was a total waste of an opportunity. I mean, maybe it was meant to mirror Rey's backstory, I don't know. But where her's worked, the lack of Snoke information fell flat for me. What a let down.
- Salt Planet: Why didn't they send ships to this planet earlier to send out signals? Minor gripe.
Overall: I liked the movie. It was enjoyable, and though it did not feel like a central Star Wars film to me, it was fun. I would give it a 7 laser swords out of ten. I would not see it in the theater again, but glad I saw it in the theater for the first time.
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