It's Something Different - But in a Good Way?

Rating: 5/10 (15 January 2018)

Not only was this easily the most hyped movie of 2017, it was also quite possibly the most divisive and controversial. Personally, I go under the mindset that "I don't care what they do, as long as they do it well." That being said, I found this also to be the most conflicting movie of the year. I began to question my moviegoing mantra. Never has there been a movie that I simultaneously love and hate with a passion. I can understand why this movie gets so much hate online, and why some people defend it so much and really love it. There is an endless amount of discussion topics, and so much to talk about. All in all, I don't even know what to say about this movie.
There is so much to say about this movie, and it's virtually impossible to not talk about and properly assess it without going deep into spoiler territory. Of all the main spoilers, the most surprising was the death of Supreme Leader Snoke. Personally, I'm not convinced that he's actually dead. Given the sheer power he has, and the major deceits he was able to pull off by manipulating Rey and Kylo Ren, it is reasonable to believe that he did not actually die there. If he did, then that was a tremendous waste of what could have been a great villain, and an enormously stupid way to end a character with so much mystery around him. Luke, on the other hand, died the death of a true hero. It wasn't the tragic sort that Han's was in Force Awakens, where it feels like he died in vain, it was that of a true Jedi Knight. He completely redeemed himself in the end of any issues his character had at the beginning. The other big spoiler is that Rey's parents were bums who sold her for drinking money. Some people were upset about that, but I'm OK with that. It's a twist you really wouldn't see coming.
There's a lot of stupid crap in this movie. Luke's character at the beginning of the movie was the opposite of what fans wanted to see for so long. I'd rather have him be simply hesitant to train Rey than to have completely given up on the Force. I was really pissed off that they killed Admiral Ackbar at first, but then I realized his actor died in real life, so it makes more sense. The Resistance as a whole, especially Poe and Admiral Holdo, got way too much screen time. The whole thing with Holdo demeaning Poe for being a "flyboy" is stupid, because without flyboys, the Trade Federation would probably rule the galaxy. I'd say Holdo made up for it at the end, though. Canto Bight was lame. The whole thing with Finn and Rose, two characters that could have been so much better, sucked. Benicio del Toro shouldn't have been in it at all. He looks and acts like he got kicked off the set of Rocky. Rose is the second worst Star Wars character (because the worst spot is reserved for Jar Jar), and says possibly the dumbest thing I heard in a movie all year. Even if Snoke is still alive, they wasted so much potential for him in this movie. And some scenes are strikingly similar to scenes from the Original Trilogy, particularly Return of the Jedi.
There's still plenty to like, though. This is still a Star Wars movie, and this was Luke's first major appearance since 1983. Even though I wish they could have done him better, it's still Luke Skywalker on the big screen again, and I'm happy that he's back. And there are all the classic, lovable things you'd expect; the opening crawl, Chewie, C3PO, R2D2, the Millennium Falcon... all that good stuff. Yoda's appearance was wonderful. And, as usual, John Williams delivers yet another successful score. One of my complaints with Force Awakens was the lack of new vehicles, which this movie more than made up for. Crait is a cool new planet. Kylo Ren is a much better villain that he was in Force Awakens. While Rian Johnson definitely made some questionable decisions while making this movie, the cinematography was very clever and original, and the movie was visually spectacular. The space battles and action sequences were fantastic. The hyperspace kamikaze was amazing. I'd say the good outweighs the bad. All things considered, this is definitely one of the weakest Star Wars movies, if not the weakest, but it's still a good movie in its own right. Honestly, I feel like this would be better as a standalone film with a whole set of new characters.