As a lifelong fan, I loved it; ignore the haters, the force is not with them.

Rating: 10/10 (19 December 2019)

Having had the privilege of seeing all 8 previous core movies over my lifetime upon their cinematic release, I had high expectations. This was to be the end of an era. I'm delighted to say I was not disappointed.
The classic themes of sacrifice, adoption, love, cameraderie, belief, redemption, hope and bravery were powerfully interwoven with oodles of fan service and a truly operatic touch. At times it was all so powerfully emotional, but never less than a thrill ride too. Everything I wanted was delivered, and more.
JJ did us all proud, especially as I don't believe he was given the easiest material to work with as you look at some aspects of 7 and 8.
I think the haters watched a different movie to me, and / or have forgotten the genre Star Wars inhabits of family-friendly space adventure with quite the dark side. I understand that some flourishes may not be to everybody's taste but to give this wonderful piece of work a 1, 2 or 3 out of 10 is basically trolling and to be ignored (imho!). Am I giving a 10 to counter that? Nope; I genuinely couldn't talk at the end from being overwhelmed by the experience (in a good way) and give my rare 10 gladly.