Oh so bad!

Rating: 2/10 (29 June 2020)

This movie reminds me of a speech given by a child on a topic that they don't care about or understand for a school assignment. They have nothing to say about the topic really, but they know all the features that need to be in the speech to earn a passing grade. It's like JJ Abrams just went down a list of things that had to be in the movie rather than finding an interesting story to tell with good dialogue. I'm not really sure I blame him or Disney, they are in the business to make money and I'm sure they made plenty with this. Is this just a shameless corporate grab? Of course, but why take a chance with pissing off fans with something original when you can play it safe and make a bundle? The Star Wars movies have a fan base that is very loyal and as long as you give them the all the features they require, it doesn't seem to matter if it adds up to a nonsensical and boring mess. Hey, I'm not a "hater", I just can't overlook the fact that this is a bad movie. It was somewhat cathartic to read the negative reviews here because everyone I know who saw this movie seemed to like it. So, although I rented it with low expectations (because I have seen the other movies in this series) I didn't expect it to be awful. So, what makes it bad? Well it's bad because it's not good. Ha! Case closed! The original Star Wars was good because it was funny and had great characters that you really liked and cared about. The special effects were amazing for the time, but it had the confidence to slow down and have small moments. It had Harrison Ford in his prime. The only character I liked in this movie was the little robot mechanic on loan from a Men in Black movie. While I can remember a few scenes from this movie, I don't remember any that were particularly good. I wanted every scene with Kylo Ren to be over before it started. I really like Adam Driver, but watching him stomp around just wasn't very interesting. The Rise of Skywalker takes itself too seriously and really lacked humor, which I think is deadly with this kind of movie. I am not expecting great art from this franchise, I just want to be entertained.