"The force is female" - Kathleen Kennedy

Rating: 5/10 (20 December 2019)

This is NOT a Star Wars movie. This feels more like an Abrahm's Star Trek movie. A space opera is meant to be about relatable characters with epic story arcs. This is purely a gorging of visual effects. As a casual Star Wars enthusiast, this trilogy is stained with Kathleen Kennedy and JJ Abrahm's lack of vision and extreme identity politics. This trilogy ultimately undermined everything the original characters achieved and broke a lot of the canon of the original 6 films, plus made a total mockery of the force. This is before I even get to the story!
The acting was mostly excellent. Daniels seemed off his game at 3PO and Billy D WIlliams was a former shadow of himself. Otherwise, everyone performed well. It was great to see Kylo Ren was no longer a "man baby" and Abrahms permitted him be a realistic character (showing Abrahms's extreme identity politics were softened somewhat). However, this is the extent of the likeability of the characters. I felt no attachment to any of the characters and by the end, I didn't care who died (save Kylo Ren).
When Lucas created the original trilogy, his focus was on Epic heroes gradually being built from the ground up. Abrahms dropped the ball by making Ray a Mary Sue from the beginning of TFA. Abrahms watered that farcical OPness in this film as Rey actually had some challenges and even failed! However, her OP ability to easily throw huge objects (FAR beyond Yoda's 900 years worth of skills) and Rey could fly through the air. This was a total farce and it butchered the essence of the force. The force has become a total joke.
The film is visually stunning. The story is paper thin. Most of the characters were props. The film is filled with McGuffins. The supposed "fan service" shows Abrahms really doesn't understand Star Wars, or the message from the fans. I suggest this mediocrity is enough to finish off Kathleen Kennedy and JJ Abrahms careers. I used to hold Kennedy in very high regard.
I was not a fan of TFA. I didn't make it through TLJ (I tried twice). This film was easily better than TFA and TLJ. However, this wasn't Star Wars. Instead of mythical heroes being built, this was Kennedy and Abrahms worshiping at the temple of identity politics. This trilogy will be rejected by most fans as non-canon, especially as all past heroes were destroyed, save Leia. It will not stand the test of time.
Also, the film just didn't give the audience time to breathe. The first third was enjoyable (as Abrahms needed to tell story rather than push politics). The second third was ok, except for the ridiculous power ranger character. The last third was quite painful to watch.
These characters were not from a place far far away. The characters were taken directly from the official check list of the US identity politics bible. When you saw Lando and Finn next to each other, this really hit home. Lando was truly beyond this earth and loveable. Finn was just your typical African American dude, a dime a dozen. Rose Tico was even worse. She was truly a prop.
3/10 For visual effects plus a bonus 2/10 because Abrahms had to work so hard to undo Rian Johnson's disaster. This is, in my opinion, the best of the Disney Star Wars trilogy. It's a huge mess.