Plot Holes GALORE! (but I still kinda liked it)...

Rating: 5/10 (21 December 2017)

Plot Holes: There were SOOO many things that didn't make sense.
1. Personal armor that deflects lasers exists now in the SW universe, but the Empire, who has seemingly unlimited resources, only gives it to one trooper (Captain Phasma).
2. One person has to stay back on the ship that is inevitably going to get destroyed, when we know auto pilot already exists (Anakin flying to the Battle Above Naboo), droids could easily do this task, and technically the absence of gravity could keep the ship going without anybody driving.
3. The resistance complains about losing so many bombers during the early space battle, but they could have just weaponized warp speed like they do at the endish of the movie and only wasted one ship because Finn knows where the tracker is housed in the lead Empire Cruiser. All they had to do is punch a hole through that area with 1 bomber and then leave.
4. The salt sleds clearly do not fly at the same speed. When Poe tells everyone to retreat from attacking the canon, Finn keeps going while Rose turns back. She then has the time to change her mind, turn around, catch up to Finn, and take a wide-looking path to knock Finn out of the sky when he's like 100 yards away.
5. Then, after they crash, Finn leaves his plane, finds Rose, and begins a conversation before the cannon goes off. He clearly would have made it to the destination in time and possibly prevented the wall's destruction.
6. The resistance only escapes the mine because wild creatures made of salt came inside with their new human friends, who just landed on the planet, and slowly helps them to find the exit. So the outside animals ran inside to be with people they don't know to help escape the Empire (who they also don't know). Strangely moral creatures.
7. Snokes is currently reading Kylo's mind when Kylo is thinking about killing him, but doesn't see it coming; this leading to the worst master/apprentice fight ever.
8. Luke's main criticism of Rey is that she doesn't resist the Dark Side in her training. He even adds that she didn't even try to resist. However, 20 minutes later she is the arbiter of the Light Side to Kylo trying to convince him to leave the Dark Side.
9. On that note, they still haven't explained how Rey, who skipped all Jedi training and lives in a time of no Jedi, can still connect with the force to do crazy stuff. I think Disney tried to fix this by having the fight between Rey, Kylo, and the red troopers be absent from force abilities.
10. Certainly not last, but last for this post, is that Leia apparently can survive long enough in the vacuum of space while she's unconscious to pull herself to safety. I understand it's not a real universe, but SW has always abided somewhat to the basic principles of life, which, to me, would include the horrible effects open space would have on a person's body.
Positives: The planets that are brought to life in this film are REALLY cool. The luxury port where all the weapons dealers party was interesting and diverse. Also, the battle on the white/red salt planet was stunning. Having the environment add to the mood of the conflict was a huge win, and I hope they pull in the stable boy for future movies. Well done! I also appreciate the risks Disney took to add new aspects of the force. Connecting minds and creating mental projections of yourself are new and inventive.
Negatives: There, unfortunately, are a few subversive political messages. The first is related to animal rights. We went from killing and sleeping inside a Tonton in Episode 4 to a Wookiee refusing to eat a cooked bird in Episode 8. Also, salt foxes become the true saviors of the move. The mistreatment of racing animals was effective and reasonable. However, having no aggressive creatures in this movie was a bridge too far for me.The second is one of feminism. The entire leadership of the resistance is female. Holdo, Leia, Rey, all attendance on the command deck. Holdo even have a sexist remark about "flyboys" being impulsive and stupid. If Poe said her judgment sucked because she was being an "emotional women", he would've been stunned sooner and Jezebel would be breaking the internet with outrage stories. Not to mention that Disney missed the mark on this message. Holdo unnecessarily dies, Leia is so old that she receives a kiss from her brother who really isn't there, and the resistance is worse off than ever due to their leadership. Additionally, most of the problems were solved by men. Poe figured out how to escape the cave, Luke held off Kylo, and Finn knew how the resistance was being tracked.
Overall: Disney clearly is recycling old SW and adding subversive politics to appeal to older fans, while trying to tap into the little kid market with cute animals and simplified SW lore. This movie is not the staple of the franchise, but it had some cool action, 1/2 the jokes were funny, and it wasn't wrought with token homosexuality. For my $5 local theater, it was worth it.