Entertaining, but still wish it didn't exist

Rating: 5/10 (22 December 2019)

Well, it's all done now. Skywalker. Vader. Palpatine. Except you know it really isn't. Since Star Wars is now a franchise and a brand and a 11 movie mega-mess, you know it'll never end. As entertainment, this was an engaging movie. It wraps up the threads started in the last two movies, yet it probably won't stay with you. Nothing here is new or super creative, although they'll keep your brain busy for 2 and a half hours. Many plot points feel hornshoed in, or attempts to retcon previous movies to explain what happens in this one (ie. Palpatine). Yet, if you're like me, you stopped caring about all the explanations and reasons a long time ago. Starting with The Force Awakens it was pretty clearly established that any logic you may think you know about the Star Wars universe isn't going to be used. And that even simple movie techniques (like C3P0 losing his memory) aren't going be permanant or meaningful. And that's the problem with this film and all the new trilogy films - it doesn't really matter what happens or what the characters do. They aren't going to act logically and choices won't bare any consequences. The story is going to plod along whether it contradicts anything that came before so it can reach its targeted goal. The good guys won't die, the bad guys will, lots of flash action scenes will fill every possible moment - it's all a product catered to a group of fans who want more of what they love. The problem is, by adding more to a series that was truly innovative and great, it reduces what the original was. Star Wars was once a movie series that changed the lives of many people and changed the way SciFi was done. Now Star Wars is a franchise on the level of never ending horror flicks like Elmstreet or Halloween. Each additional story doesn't add anything to the original experience (the prequel trilogy did that at the very least). The stories are instead rehashing everything that's come before to deliver an "experience." They are completely unnecessary experiences, however (ie. If you didn't watch them, nothing will change in the other films). I'm pretty sure that Lucas didn't intend Palpatine to come back (which does kind of negate the point of the original trilogy, if all they fought for didn't really defeat him). And it's obvious that the motivation for telling these stories isn't "Hey, I've got a great story for you," (which is the basis of any good movie, book, comic, etc) but instead, "let's keep this going (so I can make money off the huge audience out there)." I suppose it's nice for the kids, who are the true audience, to have never ending fodder for their imaginations to feed on (because that's what the original trilogy was for us old folks). Still, I wish this new trilogy didn't exist so Star Wars could be what it is was - a (finite) story that inspires your imagination.