A long review for long term Star Wars fans

Rating: 9/10 (20 December 2019)

As a fan of Star Wars since seeing the first movie as a child in 1977, this review is for the long term, true 'die hard' fans of Star Wars, who remember if from the first film.
Having loved the original trilogy, but really disliked the prequels, I was happy when 'The Force Awakens' turned out to be quite good.
However, as I'm sure many will agree, 'The Last Jedi' was simply terrible! So terrible, that I was starting to fall out of love with Star Wars completely. It really was that bad, and it was almost as if it was written to deliberately disappoint and annoy fans like myself. I don't really want to mention the directors name of that film, but we all know who he was and hope he's never let near the franchise again. He did a lot of damage!
So when it came to watching 'The Rise of Skywalker' I was apprehensive, as it had an awful lot of repair work to carry out to fix the Saga.. Add to that this is the end of the Saga, and the pressure is even higher.
I have my own all metal R2D2 which I take to events, and this has got me on Disney's radar due to the work I do for the Astromech club, and I was fortunate to be invited to the premiere of the new movie in Leicester Square London on Wed 18th. I then watched it again the following night with two of my children.
Therefore, having already seen the film twice, I feel I'm able to give a good review.
So, onto the film!
The first thing I want to say, is that for the first time in years, this really does 'feel' like a Star Wars film. A combination of sets, battles, droids, and the music score by John Williams come together in a way that makes the movie feel so 'Star Wars'. That may be a strange thing to say, but with many new characters, locations and ships.. the newer movies were not really that familiar to the original fans. This movie reaches out to everyone.
There are various cameos in the film, some of which are easier to spot than others. I won't spoil any of them, apart from to say they are done well, appropriately, and really add to the excitement and thrill. Given this is the last film in the Saga, the cameos really help glue everything together.
The storyline is really, really good. Questions that have been left open are finally answered, and things that seemed to make no sense at all now make perfect sense, and boy are there some great surprises!
You start to wonder if The Last Jedi was actually written so badly in order to allow there to be so many questions left to be answered in this movie.. or if J J Abrams has just done a brilliant job bringing things back into line with some excellent writing! I suspect the latter.
The action if superb in this film. It really does have a feel of 'Return of the Jedi' about it, going between several different storylines that are all in their own right fast moving, exciting, and gripping. As can be expected there are lightsabre battles, space battles and lots of use of The Force. All are simply amazing and stunning. All the characters have now developed their personalities and relationships with each other, and have all developed their own various skills that the action sequences are totally on another level than they were in the previous episodes.
During the previous movies we have endured some really cheesy moments, such as Leia's 'spacewalk'(!!) and the terrible 'Casino' scene in The Last Jedi. Even the prequels had some terrible moments and characters (Jar Jar!). Happily, The Rise of Skywalker seems to have done away with all of this. There are a few moments that are amusing for sure, but nothing that makes you cringe. Overall, there is a darker, more serious tone to events that really works with the overall style of the movie.
As the movie draws on, you are pulled more and more into the various stories happening in front of you. Great acting, stunning visuals, and well choreographed action scenes mean that although a long film, it seems to fly by in minutes. I didn't look at my watch once during the entire showing. And I've seen it twice within 24 hours!
As far as ending the Saga, I feel it does do this really well. I'm giving nothing away, but as a long term fan, I was more than happy with the way things draw to a close. And I have to admit that at various times during the film, I did tear up a bit, some happy, some sad. But mostly happy.
Star Wars has always tried to portray a positive image of good triumphing over evil. Wrongs being put right, and loyalty and love being able to conquer everything.
J J Abrams gets this. He really does, as do the scriptwriters.
Don't listen to the press reviews by people who probably never even watched the original films or aren't fans, trying to outdo each other with their pretentious analysis of the acting, while concentrating on any flaw they can find to try and justify what they do for a living.
If you're a fan of Star Wars, like I am, then you're going to love this movie.
Put aside your dislike of 'The Last Jedi', and keep an open mind.
I assure you, It's a masterpiece, and a fitting ending to a truly epic saga.
J J Abrams.. we salute you!