Pleasantly Surprised

Rating: 7/10 (21 December 2019)

I hated the Last Jedi. I went into this with low expectations. Well JJ stuck the landing. He did the best he could with what he had left to work with. This movie was clearly convoluted with a plot made from elements of a patchwork of what was left over from TLJ. Palpatine was brought in because Kylo REN was not a good enough villain to carry us though the movie. A lot of things just went unexplained, but the pacing doesn't really give you time to think about that. It was fantastic getting Mr Billy D Williams back. Shoulda been there from day 1. There are elements from this film, like the bonds formed between the new trio of Finn, Rey and Poe that should have been there in TLJ. It all came together in this film. Background characters stayed in their lane. Leia was treated as she should have been... Royalty. It was as if she was really in the film. The new guy who played Chewbacca may be up for an Oscar. Not kidding about that. Threepio and R2 were brought back into the fold and not just cast aside in favor of the newer droids on the team. This movie worked and is a more fitting sequel to TFA than TLJ was. 7/10 stars. There were a few things I didn't like, but that would be spoilers. Overall, Great Job JJ. You saved Star Wars.