So mind-twisting that I don't even know if I'm a Star Wars fan anymore

Rating: 5/10 (19 December 2017)

I saw this film last night and came out of the cinema with very mixed feelings. Reading the other reviews here I really do identify with people's criticisms, but I think it's all too easy to get swept up in hyperbole and drama-queening, so I'll try and bring a bit of balance to the force here...
Let me start with the things I loved... (I'll also put out a general SPOILERS ALERT).
I thought some of the decisions made by Johnson were immensely brave, refreshing and admirable. Some people hate where he went with Luke Skywalker but for the most part I loved how he had fallen into this hopeless, nihilistic funk. "This is not going to go the way you think," Luke said in the trailer, and it turns out this was a warning for us all.
People have also complained about how so much mystery was set up in TFA only to be dashed in TLJ. Rey is told that she's no one special, there's no significant revelation about her parentage. What an awesome decision! It's been such an overused tripe in blockbusters about this 'golden child' or 'chosen one' rubbish. Yawn! I salute them for turning this one on its head, but let's still not get ahead of ourselves. This is just what Kylo Ren told her. Darkside characters are noted for telling lies, right? Even Jedi have fed such lies before, yes?
Assuming it's true about Rey though it does leave me with a bit of a 'so what?' feelings towards her character, and although I liked the surprise of Snoke getting popped off mid-trilogy, it does leave a lot unanswered. Who was he? What were his motivations? Such important aspects that could have made for a more intriguing film.
I don't really know where the saga goes from TLJ, and I do actually wonder if I even care anymore. The central Star Wars characters have been replaced with new faces for a new audience. The classic SW fans, along with the SW characters, have all been let down with merciless ageism. Old people can do more than just die, you know!
Okay, so I'm already into the things I didn't like... Whilst there were one or two moments were I laughed, too often the humour jarred with me. Things like Poe saying he was holding the line when speaking to General Hux, or Rey telling Kylo Ren to put some clothes on during their mind meld were too jarring. It felt like sitcom style humour, or like something you would see in the endless SW parody films. Have these become too prevalent that this self-aware humour is inescapable, that it's impossible to make a serious film these days without any 'winks at the audience'? These sorts of moments remind the viewer that they're watching a film, that these are actors in costumes, "a child in a mask" as Snoke says to Kylo Ren. Family Guy isn't going to be able to make parodies of these films. Disney have already done the job for them.
There's something too self-conscious about SW now, too irony-aware, as is the vogue, and perhaps it started with TFA but certainly not as bad as this. Disney have got the keys to the theme park and they're riding the rollercoaster all caught up in the thrill of 'being part of Star Wars'.
There are indeed some great performances in TLJ. The standouts for me were Oscar Isaac and Adam Driver, Mark Hamill too. Whilst I like Domhall Gleeson as an actor, there is something far too pantomime villain with Hux. He seems as though he belongs in a tame BBC Children's drama. Daisy Ridley has received a lot of applause but I may be the only one in the universe who feels her performance is a little too forced (if you'll forgive the expression), maybe a little too stage schooly. She does present a powerful character but at the same time, I don't know... just trying slightly too hard?
The planet where Finn and Rose go searching for the code breaker seemed, like the humour, too real-world, not a galaxy far, far away. It was far too reminiscent of 1920s Las Vegas or something. Whilst I applaud the attempts of social / political commentary in terms of the theme of arms dealing, or with the idea of philosophies and religion needing to evolve as Luke was grappling with on his island, at points it was perhaps a little too spoon fed for me. It also felt somewhat awkward... Oh no, Luke's about to destroy the Jedi books!... Oh wait, no he isn't! Look, there's Yoda to calm him down! On no, Yoda's destroyed the books himself anyway, and now he's about to give Luke a lesson on why he's done what Luke was about to do anyway.
A lot of criticism has been pointed at the general plot ideas. For the most part with Star Wars I think you just have to go with it. The rebels are low on fuel? You know what? Don't fret too much about the ins and outs of how that would work. It's not worth it. What DID bother me though was the constant device of 'someone making a noble sacrifice to save everyone'... The bomber in the opening battle, Laura Dern's character zooming off in the ship, Finn attempting a kamikaze maneuver into the First Order's weapon, even Luke's appearance at the end. I got really tired with that.
The whole search for a code breaker sub-plot was messy too. So they find him, but then get locked up in a cell but it just so happens they they're put in with ANOTHER master code breaker, who even has the ability to break out of the cell, but he was just waiting around for two rebels to be locked up with him with the very specific goal of finding a code breaker? He didn't want to just break out of there earlier? Wanted to show off to someone? Again, such slickness and convenience reminds me that we're watching a movie.
What has killed the whole Star Wars deal so much for me is with what happened with Luke. First it appears he's been blasted to crap by the First Order, but that was just the filmmakers messing with us... He's dead! Oh no he isn't! Oh yes he is! Oh no he's not!... Okay, so yeah he does actually die. Disappears into thin air for the sake of contriving another emotional ending. I detest how all our classic characters have been resurrected and systematically executed film by film. At first I could sort of forgive Han, considering Ford's personal desire for the character, but repeating the trick becomes so formulaic. Plus, we know that, sadly, we won't see any more of Princess Leia. Who's up for execution in Episode 9? Chewie? C-3PO? Is this as imaginative as we can get, that we just have to sacrifice another icon of cinema for the sake of squeezing a tear out of the audience? Is killing someone off the only go-to device that filmmakers know of these days?
Without these characters it just seems somewhat pointless now. I know there's some interesting and strong new characters that have been set up in this new trilogy, but there's something horribly disjointed about the whole thing, to the extent that, after the best part of two films, two of these major characters have only just met for the first time and have to clumsily introduce themselves.
I think I'm still processing what I saw last night as I don't know exactly what to make of this film. I don't think I brought balance with my review, in conclusion. I'm on the dark side now but maybe I'll watch it again next year when I've had the chance to grieve the loss of Luke and I'll see this film differently.