A clunky but fun and enjoyable mess.

Rating: 8/10 (20 December 2019)

J.J. Abrahms had a lot to deal with after Ryan Johnson's audience flop, but kind of like me and many others this is and will be very mixed amongst fans. I feel that most fans will feel more favorable towards this movie in the end rather than against it.
How do I feel though? Well, the first half is just so clunky that the direction is kind of mixed up. This is both JJ's and not his fault at the same time. JJ was supposed to only work on The Force Awakens, but because of Johnson's direction and complete turnaround of direction, Abrahms had to come back and try to fix it up as best as possible. The first half is doing it's best to mend these pieces together. It is clear where most of the major plot points of the first 40 minutes should have really taken place in a version of The Last Jedi where something actually happened. It's really sad to see that they had to do it the way they did for this movie, but it had to be done. Most of it lands, the rest you tend to forget about until after the movie.
It's truly about 40-50 minutes in where this movie should have really picked up on. The rest of the film could nearly be flawless, at least with the general story. It's a pretty dang solid one as well. Truly does conclude the saga quite nicely and definitely left some great and memorable fight scenes that will definitely stick with me throughout the years.
Some of the more specifics (without spoilers) that are quite good is the chemistry between the main characters. The best chemistry is definitely between Driver and Ridley. Their character arcs have definitely had the most development throughout this trilogy and that's a good thing because the are indeed the most important roles. I'm not hating on Po or Finn though. Their bromance is better than ever and I love every moment that the two of them are on screen. The last part that is clear, is that it is just a stunningly beautiful movie. The locations and cgi are just fantastic and just so clean shot that it definitely feels like the movie belongs in this franchise.
My final words and conclusion is that the movie may have a bit of a messy and rushed set up, but still has the heart of Star Wars at it's roots. Don't be afraid to go see the movie for yourself and form your own opinion. It's not for everyone, but anyone can still have fun and enjoyment in this wonder conclusion to the Skywalker Saga.