A lackluster ending to a 40 year saga.

Rating: Null/10 (17 May 2020)

The Skywalker Saga. A story that has lasted since 1977 when A New Hope changed Sci-Fi forever. Since the Original Trilogy finished, we have gotten the Prequels (Which I still love despite the flaws), The Clone Wars (Which I have yet to watch), and now the Sequel Trilogy. The continuation of the Saga started off pretty good with Force Awakens, then took a giant step both forwards and backwards with The Last Jedi.
And now The Rise of Skywalker. A finale that had a lot to live up to and sadly didn't deliver.
+The VFX is amazing.
+Sound Mixing is miles better than the rest of the sequel trilogy.
+Sound Editing is on Par with the Prequels.
+Cinematography is AMAZING.
+The humor isn't the best but compared to The Last Jedi, it's definitely an improvement.
+Kylo Ren getting redeemed via Han's force ghost. It legitimately felt heartwarming and was one of the best scenes in the film in my opinion.
+Luke lifting the X-Wing out of the water. It felt genuinely satisfying to watch and it felt like it completed Luke's character arc.
-Right upfront, the fact that Rey is Palpatine's granddaughter. Not only did it make NO sense (especially considering the fact that she still had ACTUAL PARENTS) but.....just, no. There are absolutely no words to describe this.
-Anakin NOT being shown AT ALL during the final battle. It honestly felt disrespectful since he was the one who threw the emperor down a shaft and turned back to the light side. Scratch that, ALL the force ghosts should have been shown; it would have made for a better finale.
-Rey Skywalker. The idea is fine but it's RUINED by the fact that she is Palpatine's granddaughter.
-Hux being the spy. It not only comes out of nowhere but it also feels out of character after re-watching the Force Awakens. Hux is also shot dead shortly afterward, making this reveal meaningless.
-The Last Jedi. If the 8th installment hadn't have veered away from the ideas set up in the Force Awakens, then This would have been a better film in my opinion.
Overall, I'm pretty mixed on this film. But what I can say is that it definitely doesn't stick the landing. Even Damon Lindelof would have had more interesting ideas than the guys who wrote Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom or Justice League.