*** A V O I D !!!

Rating: 2/10 (22 December 2017)

If you are of an age to have fallen in love with the originals then keep away from this. It is a ghastly "frankenstein" of all the bits of the originals that made us fall in love with them. Stitched together by a grim determination to make a quick buck or two: Poorly timed attempts at humour, atrocious acting, 'life wisdoms' clumsily thrust down your throat, bizarre diversions into minor-character side-plots, vacuous scenes of 'self-exploration', clumsy dialogue... The actual pain kicked in when a young girl - deserted for days on a clump of rock to learn an esoteric religion from an old hermit - seems to meticulously re-apply her make up each morning. Why? To empower women? To teach the little people the power of makeup? She is plenty-pretty already.
What they got right: They pleasantly introduced some technological advancements in the 30-some years between the two eras. Snoke was semi-interesting. Finally, Kylo Ren was above average.
But these are minor points. Hence I gave it 2 / 10.