Please, no more.

Rating: 1/10 (20 January 2018)

Where to begin...I have never in my life been more disappointed or even mad at a Star Wars film. This film quite literally makes me angry. I have been a fan since the OT. I remember having endless amounts of fun watching the movies and playing with toys along with my older sisters. I grew up with Star Wars being a huge part of what we enjoyed together as a family. Just to put into context how important Star Wars was and is to me.
I remember the enjoyment of seeing the originals again on the big screen. I didn't really care for all the changes that were made for the special edition edit. I've always been a firm believer of "if it ain't broke don't fix it". However, although some of the changes were cringe-worthy at best, they didn't completely take away from the enjoyment of the film and the overall narrative.
When the prequels launched, I was just so excited to see something new and Star Wars after so many years. The story line was good but there were major missteps in its execution (i.e. Jar Jar Binks, wooden dialog, things talked about that would've been more exciting to see rather than just have explained through exposition, etc.) As bad as the prequels were at times, they still had redeeming qualities that had me wanting to see them multiple times.
Fast forward to today's Star Wars. TFA, while mostly fan service, did a great job at resetting the expectation/hope meter for Star Wars fans that had a bad taste in their mouths from the prequels. Even the first line of the movie was "This will begin to make things right." Although, it was sad to see Han Solo's journey end, it carried with it an enormous potential to be an extremely heroic moment for his character to end on. It also had the potential to create more character depth for Ben/Kylo. Once again, while not perfect and leaving a lot of questions unanswered, I came out of the theatre knowing I had enjoyed the film, despite its issues because it felt like Star Wars was back in a big way. I was really looking forward to seeing the next film to get some of these nagging questions answered that were extremely important to the plot and the pulse and direction of this new trilogy. I also enjoyed Rogue One which was a great film, despite its flaws, to hold us over until the next main course was served.
Now, TLJ: My wife and I didn't end up seeing it until it had been out for about 3 weeks or so because it's extremely hard for us to get free time together when we can go out; not to mention medical issues getting in the way. So we had most of the theatre to our selves with most people having already watched it. We didn't have much in the way of theatre-wide audience reaction to influence our enjoyment of the film. At the end of the film, I felt confused and extremely conflicted on how I felt about the film. My first thoughts were 'I think I liked it...I mean it's Star Wars, how can I not like Star Wars? It took a little while for what I saw to really click and sink in. As time passed and the more I thought about it, the less I liked it. The film picked up right where TFA leaves off, zero time has passed between films. The moment we've all been waiting for. Luke is reunited with his father's lightsaber; an object that carried with it endless lore and emotional attachment not just for those within the Star Wars universe but the fans who know its history. What does he do? Chucks it over his shoulder and off the cliff then walks away...my first thought, 'oh no, what the hell is this...you've got to be kidding me...' The entire movie although visually stunning, was filled to the brim with moments like that. Rian Johnson, I guess believes that good story telling equals building up people's expectations and intrigue in one scene only to undermine it in the next; "pull the rug out from under the audience" as they say. This was the theme of the entire movie: build, build, build...annnnd let down "haha gotcha!" They should have renamed this, Star Wars: The Endless "Gotcha". Even without the mind-numbing amount of "gotcha" moments, the overall plot was ill-conceived, at best. Plot motivations made no logical sense and the character development during this 2 1/2 hour long mess, was rife with missed opportunities and decision making that served only the purpose of moving the plot forward but carried little logical weight. As far as any of the answers that were set up by TFA, Rian Johnson, gave answers in TLJ that were either dumbfounding, irritatingly unsatisfying or completely ignored. I have a big problem with how the character of Luke was handled in this film; extremely unflattering vision for someone who has been a childhood hero to many, downright criminal. Luke's character wasn't just ended in this trilogy, it was utterly destroyed; such a waste. Although, I really like the idea of Rey's character, she was given zero depth in this film and those who believed she was nothing more than a "Mary Sue" in TFA, have had their suspicions confirmed. She's only just found out about the force with in the span of what, a few days? After almost zero time and two lessons from Luke, she's a full fledged Jedi who can best Luke, Kylo and pretty much anyone else; lame. Why are we supposed to care about this character who seems to have no trouble being the best at everything she does? How is this character relatable? Bad character development and bad writing. But so long as Kathleen Kennedy loves it.... "The Force Is Female"; no that's not sexist....Ex machinas and Macguffins were an epidemic in this film. I also left the theatre with a headache from all the heavy-handed political nods this movie beat me over the head with. These explicitly overt extreme leftist mentalities are probably what made me more angry than anything else in this film. I'm sorry but if I wanted the current pulse of politics and social unrest in America while having extreme liberal propaganda shoved down my throat, I would've turned on a documentary or the news; not Star Wars which says a lot for being mostly liberal myself. I could go on and on about the issues with this film but that would turn this review into an essay. bottom line, this continuation of the saga was such a disappointment. Time will tell but I think Rian Johnson killed this trilogy, as I, as well as many others, have completely lost interest in it. For the first time in my history on this planet, there is a Star Wars movie I don't want to own and have no interest in seeing again. Thanks Rian Johnson, how bold of you...