And the Fall of a Saga

Rating: 3/10 (22 December 2019)

Thank GOD it's over, but mercifully, and the highest praise I can give this movie: the 141 minutes, unbelievably, flew by. Unlike the previous installment that was a tad longer, but felt twice as long.
I heard someone describe this movie as scene, then scene, then scene and then end. My Star Wars friend and I laughed as we pointed out that's how all movies are. Until...I saw this. And they were so incredibly right.
This film is just a checklist of things needed for a Star Wars movie with a few extra bonus scenes to conclude the 9-film franchise. It did NOT feel like a comprehensive story, it did NOT have any emotion to any character dying or almost dying and it did NOT feel like a continuation of the previous films - like, for the first time, you didn't actually have to see anything prior to understand this "plot" as a whole. (It would help, though, since there are about 50 little Easter Eggs for fans. Most pretty funny, and I did like.)
So, just like that checklist, they just went from scene to scene without much flow or great editing. It actually felt more like a chore to get to the end for the filmmakers and actors who ALL seemed to have checked out by now.
Let's see if I can sum up this movie in a non-spoilery synopsis, though, frankly, there's not much at all to spoil. If you can imagine what this movie is about, you're probably right. But, anyways, a dark figure emerges outta nowhere in the timeline and offers the series newest sorta bad guy, Kylo Ren, much more to defeat the good guys with since all they've ever proven over 9 movies is how inept the most powerful machines and forces are against a group made up of the tiniest of fractions of the Dark Side.
So, our good guys hear this and must go from Point A to B to C to...Z to try and work things out. Bring balance, whatever.
I certainly didn't hate this movie like I remember walking out of Episode VIII: The Last Jedi with such a broken heart. And previously I hated Episode VII: The Force Awakens since it was a 89% shot-by-shot remake of Episode IV: A New Hope. Since VII and VIII's releases and a few more re-watches, I'm warmed up to them a bit, though I still rank them low overall.
I don't know if the same can be said here. Like I said, I didn't hate this movie - the special effects were good and the humor, namely from C3P0 and Chewie, did make me laugh out loud more than a few times. But, I really didn't like it much. The story, if there was one, was so flat and so uninspiring. I really didn't care about any of the characters here. None of them. Well, again, I liked C3P0 and Chewie for the humor they brought me, but I didn't care if they lived or died. In fact, when some characters DID pass on, extremely little time was given to grieve and the setup to their demise was almost comical, almost a last-minute add-on...and followed by a quick MOVE-ON.
While it's watchable and has some great little homages to the series, it currently ranks as my all-time least favorite theatrical film in the entire series. Which is sad, because that was the exact same reaction I had when I saw both VIII and VII.
Recommended? Sure. Especially since there's nothing in here to really offend and it does conclude the saga, if you're a completist. I've seen a lot worst out there, so I guess I could recommend this faster paced finale.
***
Final thoughts: Here's my Best to Worst Theatrical Releases of This Saga:
1 Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
2 Rogue One
3 Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
4 Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
5 Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
6 Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens
7 Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
8 Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
9 Solo
10 Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi
11 Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker