Feels improvised

Rating: 4/10 (19 December 2019)

Firstly, it doesn't deserve the hate it's getting. However, it is very sloppy and clear that the conflicting visions between Johnson and Abrams and a lack of an over-arching, point A to C plan was never put in place. Lack of consistency with vision from the directors are to blame for the main issues in this movie; JJ essentially tried to fix TLJ, put his own Episode 8 in and round off the saga, which was a terrible idea and approach to take. People blaming Disney for this trilogy may have a point when it comes to creating it in the first place, but Disney are not to blame for the writing and directing of these films so it is pointless to do so. Just because it's Star Wars doesn't mean it can't be a bad film; that's not Disney's fault.
The whole film is very messy and jumpy and the use of Palpatine doesn't really make any sense. It all feels very improvised, most likely to TLJ messing up what JJ claimed to have in place. Regardless of whether that may be the case or not, it is the final act that ruined it for me. I thought it was fairly decent but they couldn't decide how to end it. Rey and Kylo kiss in the final act which is just like WTF was that. It made no sense whatsoever. Kylo seems to survive a death fall, HOW? And I don't know how 2 lightsabers makes a difference when she was deflecting the force lightning back at him. I thought the whole point was the Emperor had drained their force energy, but they could still use the force afterwards. There are so many things that are or happen in this film and we just have to accept it. The Knights of Ren are pointless. They are basically the new Captain Phasma who are only on screen to look cool. The all the Sith are in me and all the Jedi are in me bit is just god awful.
There are positives. I thought all the jokes were funny, it's a great specatcle, the sound and visual effects are incredible and the cinematography is outstanding. I bought Kylo's redemption and I think he was the best character by far. The planets they visit are all really cool. I especially liked the Sith planet.
Overall, this film is essentially 2/3 films rolled into one. With a better ending it would've been a decent film. I didn't feel anything when watching this and that's one of it's major issues. I don't care Kylo died, or when Rey died, or when Leia died. It's just very very average. It's fun in the moment but you can rip it apart when you look at it critically. It's not the worst Star Wars film, but it's pretty close.