Good movie, not the best, but special nonethless!

Rating: 8/10 (20 December 2019)

I had to chuckle and roll my eyes at the over-the-top fan service a few times throughout The Rise of Skywalker, but I still really enjoyed the movie. I knew a lot about the plot going in, so with that in mind I think I liked it better than I feared I would after reading what happens. Many of the occurrences were sort of predictable based on the previous movies. I know that many people may think The Last Jedi threw out the script, but TLJ moved on from The Force Awakens in a way that made sense and was mildly predictable (to me, at least: not everyone makes the same connections and that's okay). That said, I think those moments were done well enough to be enjoyed by most people. My feelings going in were like this: I know what to expect but I'm worried about not enjoying the execution. Well, after seeing the film, I think I worried too much.
One thing I loved about it was its depiction of force powers; both specific powers and the strength of powers shown were done in such a way that really opens things up for future Star Wars movies and series.
The CG work was amazing. Upon one viewing, I'd say its easily some of the best I've ever seen. The action sequences were immersive and entertaining. Well done there!
Despite many cheesy moments throughout the film, there were a couple of obvious cheesy moves that they (sometimes surprisingly) chose to leave out. I think we all expected a certain amount of cheese, right? In the end, I believe the team made good choices about which ultra-cheese moments to exclude, because the things I definitely didn't want to see didn't end up making it into the film.
I give The Rise of Skywalker an 8/10. I really don't want to be divisive with my comments, so I'll say this: even though it isn't the greatest movie I've ever seen, I think it will be one of my favorites for what it is both individually and collectively in a series of 9 movies. I feel the same way about 3 and 6 actually. Star Wars is something that's really special to me, so I hope you all enjoy this movie too.