Don't listen to the haters

Rating: 8/10 (22 December 2019)

The Rise of Skywalker is a totally enjoyable movie, and a legitimately great wrap on the story. It makes sense (Palpatine as the ultimate bad guy in all 9 episodes, and we know from the prequels that he knows about coming back from the dead).
Great surprise with Rey's background. They had us hanging and I didn't guess it. It explains why she always had power that she wasn't aware of.
Awesome turnaround for Kylo Ren. I really didn't like KR in episode 7 - but the completion of his story felt authentic and made me really end up liking the character. This was probably my favorite part of the movie.
And the conclusory battle was terrific.
And thank you JJA for all of the nods to the fans. Was so fun to see everything come full circle and in an unpredictable but plausible way.
All that said, overall this is not the best SW movie. Mainly in that it went too fast (so much to cover). The Sith planet was probably too dark. The final fight between Palpatine and Rey/Solo didn't quite make sense (he can easily destroy her with one lightsaber but god forbid she uses a second!)
But it was totally enjoyable. I have a family of SW fans, kids 6-11 who have all seen all of the movies at least three times each. We all loved it.
I think I'm the Star Wars movies there are basically three tiers of quality - the first tier (4 and 5) a middle tier (3, 6,7 and Rogue - although I actually place Rogue in the top tier, just don't want to argue that here), and a lower tier (1,3,8 and Solo).
I definitely put this in the middle tier - not the best but a great wrap for the franchise. Bottom line, don't listen to the haters.