Color Me Surprised

Rating: 9/10 (15 March 2020)

I have to say fist, I barely tolerated The Force Awakens and really disliked The Last Jedi so with all these negative reviews floating around I was expecting to hate The Rise of Skywalker. But to my utter delight, I really enjoyed it to the point where it has become my second favorite next to Episode III Revenge of the Sith.
The pacing was perfect and the story kept me engaged all throughout with a velocity that I found surprisingly effective. The acting was good and of course the special effects were flawless but with all the money spend on this thing I wouldn't expect anything less.
This said, I can totally understand why many die hard fans might totally hate it. Several key plot points didn't quite make sense in connection with the 2 previous movies and it just dismissed many established facts of the whole saga in general. Not to give anything away but let's just say that this ending if it truly is the last Star Wars movie doesn't quite make sense considering everything that came before.
Say what you will about George Lucas but he kept the story tight and precise with every detail deeply connected to the franchise as a whole. You might have not liked some of his choices but no one could dispute the fact that he cared about the story and made sure that everything fitted together like a giant puzzle.
But somehow, even though George had no say in this whatsoever, I truly loved Rise of Skywalker to the point where a 9 rating was justified in my mind. I would recommend that you leave everything else behind and not try to connect the events of this movie too much with the previous 2 let alone all the others because it might become a tedious and frustrating experience.
I think that this movie is best enjoyed when one just tries to forget everything that happened before and let yourself get immersed in the story. I guess it was easier for me to really enjoy this because I am not viscerally attached to the Star Wars universe in such a way that I can't forgive lapses in continuity.
I truly enjoyed it and in spite of myself, I have to conclude that it is one of the best Star Wars I've ever seen. I won't even try to convince anyone else because it would be pointless since most fans have very definite ideas on what should happen in the Star Wars universe.
But for what it's worth, I think the force is strong with this one so color me satisfied.