The Original Trilogy Recycled AGAIN!

Rating: 5/10 (17 December 2017)

3/5 as a film, 2/5 as an original SW film. Forgettable except some character moments. Who was the "mysterious" (Emperor knockoff) Smoke? Who cares. What was the point having him in? None but to wrong foot the audience into thinking he would matter. A plot device. Similarly the "mystery" over Super Rey's parentage dissolved into an "anyone can be special" didacticism. I don't really care which (force) orientation Ren plumbs for in the finale. Either way it won't be a surprise. And he doesn't instlil any fear. No Darth Vader. Two films in, what has the point been of making his entire character, what in the OT was one small part of Vaders- his conflict from ROTJ? I'd rather he were just plain evil. Maz thingy, Phasma and the Leia temporary replacement, all forgettable. What was the point bypassing Leia for half the film? A plot device to delay the reveal of her escape plan. Too much painting by SW numbers. And that casino planet stuff was straight out of the PT. The Bond films all have certain key elements, which even when repeated, rarely feels quite so blatant. I did though laugh at the jokes, albeit it came close to parody. But then this wasn't something you could take seriously. Another missed opportunity.