It Simply Wasn't Star Wars

Rating: 4/10 (26 February 2018)

Okay...This one's a doozy. I'm gonna make this one brief, because the movie upsets me. There were definitely strengths in the film, performances, visual effects, that one lightsaber team up, and the relationship between Rey and Kylo to name, well, all of them. The Rey and Kylo relationship is actually the only real thing this movie accomplishes, now that I think about it. Everything else was pretty much just filler.
Now, the cons. The whole thing was bloated and sporadic, and should've ended a half hour sooner. Right after Rey leaves Kylo after fighting alongside him, and he decides to remain evil. Sidebar, I wish the director and writer were brave enough to actually have an impactful storyline, like Rey becoming evil and Kylo becoming good, or them teaming up in anyway. But no, we're robbed of that, and no real character development happens.
Anyway, there were a lot of plotlines happening with a different pace per plotline. The Finn and Rose plot was unnecessary and again, robbed us of an interesting storyline for a beloved character. Plus, the scenes where they're in the casino place were totally out of place. The other thing that pisses me off about the movie is that it destroys all the great possibilities set up in Force Awakens, for no real reason. My beloved pilot Poe had a strangely written arc that wasn't really an arc? I guess it was just showing him becoming more responsible and less reckless, but it was just underwhelming and cheesily written.
Also, Luke Skywalker was just a totally different character than the original trilogy Luke. Which isn't a bad thing in theory, but when it's not logical aging and character development and just lazy writing, that's upsetting. And I'm just gonna bring up the obvious; Leia using the force to fly through space was maddening. Yes, she's been established as force sensitive, but never enough to pull herself through space when she should've died instantly. What the heck. The tone of the movie was also all over the place, volleying back and forth between serious and funny. Just pick one, god damn it.
It just didn't feel like a Star Wars movie. It needed to be trimmed way down, and focus on building off what was established in Force Awakens. That one had a clear story, which is what this one should've had. It was just a mess most of the time.