The kitchen sink of Star Wars movies

Rating: 7/10 (27 December 2017)

It's far better than the retread 'The Force Awakens', but there's still something awkward about this latest trilogy in the Star Wars franchise. It's a bit of a 'kitchen sink', where writer and director Rian Johnson throws everything he can at us, whether it makes sense or not, and should have tightened it up. The plot requires contrived delays in time, such as when Finn (John Boyega) and Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) go off to look for the codebreaker. There are aspects which feel derivative, such as the aging master, Luke Skywalker, disillusioned and bitter - which also has Star Wars fanatics feeling disillusioned and bitter. And there are moments which feel just wrong, such as Yoda and Luke enjoying a nice bonfire of sacred Jedi texts (ugh).
And yet, the movie is entertaining, and has some great scenes. The ambiguous chemistry between Ren (Daisy Ridley) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) is compelling, as is the moment they face Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis). The scene where Kylo Ren and Skywalker battle is fantastic. I love how the film wrong-foots on a couple of occasions, and for the diversity in its cast. It may be cruel with Carrie Fisher having passed away, but I was not a fan of her performance, though Mark Hammill is great. Ridley and Driver were great choices, and set the franchise up well for the future. There's a lot of polarizing passion out there but don't believe the extremes. It's enjoyable for what it is.