*Sigh* Well, I'm done watching Star Wars. Seriously.

Rating: 1/10 (19 May 2020)

Much like The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, this film would have worked more as a speculative fiction or if it just wasn't a Star Wars film. They would have been great science-fiction/fantasy films if it wasn't for the fact that they are officially part of the Star Wars universe. However, The Sequel Trilogy is Star Wars and it is terrible.
Much like Timothy Zahn said when he wrote the Thrawn Trilogy (a great book trilogy that sadly is now confined to the Legends universe), bringing Palpatine makes everything that everyone fought for in the Clone Wars and the Rebellion pointless. Plus, with no inclusion of Baby Yoda, Ahsoka Tano, Darth Maul, Ezra Bridger, or other related characters, it's safe to assume that the First Order killed them. It really wrecks the rest of the early Star Wars productions since you realize it is all in vain and pointless.
Much of the plot makes little to no sense, especially the twists. It really feels like that they were writing this script while filming at the same time because they throw in characters and twists for no apparent reason. Characters like Zorii Bliss and Jannah have little to no purpose to the plot, while the big twist that Hux (of all people) is a spy for the Resistance is just a cheap plot device that serves no purpose, really. Also, the new Force Powers make little no sense, mainly the strange ability that Rey and Ren have to use their Force Connection from The Last Jedi to exchange physical items over great distances. That makes for a great magic trick and a convenient plot device, but it's a little too reminiscent of a Marvel film.
And speaking of Marvel, that really is the big problem of this entire redoing of Star Wars: That they are trying to imitate Marvel's immense success. Instead of using established original canon stories or even just George Lucas' original storyline, they brought in a different director for each film and have him do whatever he wants and then have the next director build off of what they did. It works for Marvel's Cinematic Universe, but it really doesn't for the Star Wars saga.
This film has a couple of good points. The action scenes are nicely choreographed, the main characters are a little more interesting, and the camerawork in combination with the special effects is on the same level as films by more competent directors like Zack Snyder and Peter Jackson.
As I said before with The Last Jedi, John Williams' score is literally cookie-cutter and nothing memorable aside from reusing a couple of pieces from the Original Trilogy. There is no use of 'Battle of the Heroes', 'Across the Stars', or 'Duel of the Fates' from the Prequels at all, which is truly sad since I think those are some of John Williams' best pieces for Star Wars along with a few others. But seriously, they could have at least brought in Kevin Kiner from the Animated shows.
The final battle is okay, but how Palpatine finally dies is very anti-climatic. Not to mention it's basically a rip-off of Avengers: Endgame's climatic fight, most notably with the dialogue. Seriously, when Rey blasted Palpatine while saying her quote, I briefly thought she would say 'And I am...Iron Man!' instead of 'I am all the Jedi.'
I wasn't too surprised that Kylo Ren/Ben Solo redeemed himself also, though he certainly didn't deserve it after everything his character did. He really is a poor overly-emotional imitation of Anakin.
So, in short, Episode IX is pretty bad if you grew up a diehard Star Wars fan like me. It's worse, for me, since I really now have no motivation to work on a Star Wars Legends screenplay project of my own or really to keep watching this franchise. I might still read the Legends Books and Graphic Novels, but I have really not interested in The Clone Wars or Rebels anymore (which is sad, because I heard both of them had great finales in comparison of this finale). I really hope that the rumors that the franchise is taking a break for restructuring itself after this debacle are true, but I doubt it since they are still pushing more pointless spin-off shows for Disney Plus about Cassian Andor before Rogue One or Obi-Wan in his exile (yeah, that sounds truly exciting! Not!). I'm far more interested in the upcoming Dune film by Denis Villeneuve than anything new from LucasFilm LTD. I think I really am tired of Star Wars and I just don't want anything to do with them until they get their act together.
Now, I know normally I say 'May the Force be with You' for an ending comment, but I guess that's done now so instead I say this: Farewell.