Wonderful Character Work....Slightly Less Wonderful Script

Rating: 8/10 (27 December 2017)

This movie has wonderful character work. All the characters are taken in interesting new directions that feel right for their characters. Yes, EVEN Luke Skywalker. (I'll get to that in a second.)
This movie was different from any that came before it while still having elements that make it a very 'Star Wars' Movie. There's so many nostalgic callbacks that are great, including a twin suns scene and so many things that are reminiscent of the previous movies.
Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver both give great performances and I loved their character. The 2nd most interesting part of this movie is the part where Rey and Kylo are interacting in the force connection scenes.
Now here is the problem I have with this movie. (Well, the main one anyway.) The most interesting part of this movie was Luke's motivations for wanting the Jedi to end. And yet, we didn't get enough time with him. When he regains his faith in the Jedi order, it just feels rushed. Which doesn't make sense. This movie is 2 and a half hours, it shouldn't feel rushed. And yet, it does.
This brings me too my second point, this movie spends so much time with Finn and Rose who just don't have chemistry. Don't get me wrong, John Boyega is an amazing actor and does great in his role, but he just didn't have chemistry with Kelly Marie Tran in my opinion. Also, their subplot is kind of boring as well. The Canto Bight subplot adds nothing to this movie and is just kind of boring. If you take the subplot out of the movie it doesn't change the film at all. I feel that all the time given to this subplot should've been given to Luke's character so that his ultimate sacrifice was more powerful.
In conclusion, 8/10. This movie was true to the Luke Skywalker character. People aren't perfect, and he failed as a master. It's understandable why. This movie was all about restoring his legacy, not taking it away. My only gripe was that Rose and DJ were awful characters, there were a couple of Plot Holes, the Canto Bight subplot sucked, and we didn't get enough time understanding Luke's motivations. Other than that, everything else is amazing, the hate this movie gets is mystifying to me.