Plenty of cheese and no crackers

Rating: 2/10 (24 December 2019)

There are plenty of 'don't believe the negative reviews' comments on here, as you can always expect from the fan crowd for whom Star Wars films can do no wrong, no matter how bad they may be. But in this case you really should believe them. This is a lazy film from an overhyped director with some pretty appalling acting thrown into the mix to top it off. I wouldn't call myself a Star Wars fan, although I've seen all of the films, so I approach this on the merits of the quality of the film, the script and the acting. There appeared to be no ingenuity whatsoever - just same old same old, crank the handle and out pops another one. The whole experience was lacklustre to say the least, over long and frankly quite dull and predictable. As for the acting, I heard that Abrams called Daisy Ridley's acting "wooden" when they first worked together. If that was his opinion then you can only wonder why on earth she was picked for such a prominent role to begin with? She seems to have a range of two faces - scowling angrily or looking wistfully off camera. Talk about two dimensional. Her performance alone, or distinct lack thereof, is enough on its own to avoid this film. The rest of the cast did the best they could with a weak, cheese-riddled script and predictable dialogue. No stand-outs though. Given the production value and overall cost of a film like this, along with the history it carries before it and the fact this is the last in the series, it's not surprising that so many are disappointed. They have every right to be!