This was really an excellent conclusion to the third trilogy

Rating: 9/10 (20 December 2019)

After the misstep that was "The Last Jedi", and with dark foreboding echoes from the prequels (insert Darth Vader Theme here), this movie finds the good side of the force and redeems this trilogy. It continues with the quality writing, terrific story telling, and fine acting of the "The Force Awakens" with excellent characters, good dialog, and palpable tension between good and evil. Amazingly, it even manages to redeem some (I STRESS some) of the poor plot holes that were in "The Last Jedi".
Daisy Ridley's performances in this trilogy has been the brightest point, and in this outing she is truly phenomenal. Adam Driver has his best performance yet and is in lockstep with Ridley's character. Oscar Isaac (Po Dameron) finally found his character's place in this story.
While I rarely type out reviews, with some of the low early ratings, I felt I should contribute. I actually went into this really concerned I was about see another "The Last Jedi" (or worse, "The Phantom Menace"). I'm not sure what movie all of the haters saw, but I have to believe that their disappointment was due to some preconceived notions of what the story should be.
Interestingly, like the newer Marvel Avengers universe, Star Wars is held to a certain bar by its fans that is far above what may be reasonable. Viewers often have strong emotional attachment and the movie makers sometimes have to overcome the franchise's own legacy. There may be no reasonable way to make the masses happy in this day and age. However, I think people need to look beyond preconceptions and find the jewel underneath...
I for one cannot wait to see it again. I also hope the JJ stays at the helm for more installments. Just because this completes the original Skywalker saga doesn't mean that there can't be more to come...