Damage control with a hint of jam

Rating: 4/10 (22 December 2019)

JJ might be a good director, but as an ending this movie breaks a lot of things within the universe. I walked in with little expectations and laughed at the really canned dialogue and breaking of logic that flows throughout the movie, but as a star wars movie, this very much is not worth your time.
First, pacing issues run rampant throughout the movie, the first hour is litered with many many camera cuts, visiting various planets from various character perspectives, until we have enough background knowledge to really start the film proper.
Some scenes felt a little handfisted just to try and flesh out Po's history. If you watched, you know what I'm talking about. While it's not minded, it felt very forced. Most of the macguffins felt forced to push the plot in specific areas. Eg. We HAVE to do X, there's no other way, so let's go to planet Z.
My last big complaint is C3PO, who in this movie is without R2D2 to respect the actor of R2. However, all C3's jokes don't land, they come off really annoying and honestly could have been written out easy.
I like the few callbacks to RotS, but it's more just a shoehorn for a cool backdrop rather than necessary to the plot.
If you're a star wars fan, watch, but watch with low expectations. If you're just a fan of action blockbusters, think without logic. The movie likes to just throw things at you and hopes you don't hold it to the logic of the universe.
Good luck, and may the force be with this franchise after this movie 🙏