Not perfect, but still immensely satisfying

Rating: 9/10 (19 December 2019)

I'm not gonna lie, this film has some flaws. But we have to take into account that JJ Abrams and Chris Terrio had to come up with a story that had to suit well with both those who liked TLJ and those who disliked it. Furthermore, the writers had the insurmountable task of finishing the sequel trilogy (not to mention the whole saga) knowing that there were no overarching story panned out for VII-VIII-XIX. In my opinion JJ and company are able to give life to a very entertaining Start Wars adventure in XIX, one that expands our knowledge of the Force while developing the character arcs of both Rey and Ben Solo/Kylo Ren. The return of the Emperor is quite epic and it manages not to destroy the legacy of the franchise's biggest baddy. Not only that, thanks to said return we get to learn more about the nature and potential of the Dark Side. His project, abilities, behaviour and dialogue fall in line with the person we knew from both the Prequels and the Originals, which is a positive aspect of the film. The idea that Palpatine is being pulling the strings all along is completely believable (at least I bought it) and, once more, mirrors the narrative of the past trilogies. The pace is quite all right but you still have moments to breathe and laugh. The action bits are very good and we are given lots of emotional scenes. This flick also relies heavily on nostalgia which is not a bad thing considering this is the last entry of the Skywalker Saga. For the people who are unhappy with the way Disney handles the legacy characters, the movie gets to nail it's use of Lando, Chewie, Luke, Leia and - spoiler alert - Han Solo (appears as memory to help his son turn back to the Light Side), so everyone should be satisfied in that regard. Finally, the final scene is seriously emotional and fitting. Perhaps more Force Ghosts could have made their way into the final cut. The presence of Luke and Leia is fine and suitable for the end of the Sequels, but since this is the end of the whole Saga the presence of the likes of Anakin, Obi-Wan, Yoda, etc is also required. Nonetheless, the voices of those historic Jedi are heard in the final confrontation between Rey and Palps which means that they are not absent from TROS, which would be a shame. Having said I politely urge all the SW fans to give XIX a chance. Please don't be influenced by those who say that this is a dumpster fire and go check out and forms your own opinion on the subject. There are loads of positives in this film and really consider this to be a satisfying conclusion to the 42 year long franchise created by George Lucas.