Expected Outcome to Under-Delivering Trilogy

Rating: 7/10 (29 December 2019)

A good movie in of itself...in the context of Star Wars as a movie event...this trilogy has been disappointing for its lack of originality, poor story telling and character development (which understandably the Netflix era audience has grown accustomed to). Part I-III are starting to look quite good in spite of Jar-Jar. Here's why:
Positives
lightsaber duels as always
Epic battle scene (only one) though nothing iconic (like Luke firing torpedos into the exhaust vent) - the Rogue One star battle was much better
Duality of Rey especially wearing the black hood was chilling
Kylo drawn to the light
Red Five
Tremendous Sith choral theme
Negatives
the complete lack of exploring the origins of the central character of Kylo Ren; was Leia an absent mother due to her Jedi training? In fact why introduce the Jedi training now...AND since she didn't complete her Jedi training she shouldn't be qualified for that telepathy moment (indeed how did Han have a telepathy moment with Kylo) and the sinking shroud (a la Obi Wan disappearing after being struck down by Vader)
very poor story development...Adam Driver is an immense actor who could have pulled off something awesome if the backstory to Kylo was introduced in Force Awakens...there was no emotional attachment to him...in the end he passed, like wind
Why does it always have to be a planet destroying super weapon? How about enslavement/colonisation/chemical weapons/disease ??
Okay we need the Achilles heel but WHY would a flotilla of high tech planet crunching star destroyers be dependent on one gaping beacon for navigation?? Are the strategists THAT stupid??
What the hell was that final smooch between Rey and Ren about? Hollywood tokenism of including African actors? Why did Finn have a crush on Ren and leave it unrequited? Has Hollywood not yet accepted the black male/ white female relationship dynamic? A proper Finn / Rey relationship would have gained so much more sympathy after their trials and tribulations? No? Instead she decides to become a Tattooine hermit...token political correctness/female independence I guess
Luke and Han need wax/gel or proper haircuts: don't they have this in the netherworld??
The original Star Wars was like a Saturday matinee serial...and hence the attraction...this was dark and darker, much less fun
Felt like this series was not written as a trilogy, which is the result of having three different writers - bad move
JJ Abraham's still can't quite shake off his shaky shaky camera technique which at times was quite good and other times I thought it was Star Trek
Series IV-VI and I-III had charismatic star power in its leads to distract the audience...Alec Guinness, Harrison Ford, Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor etc...here we have an aging Apollo Creed...there was also the master/Padwan relationship which added a mythical edge...this bond was missing between Luke and Rey
Sorry a rant