Failure of "willing suspension of disbelief"

Rating: 5/10 (6 April 2018)

Mostly it is bad acting. We may have loved Carrie Fisher for her early presentation as the Princess. But, let's face it, she was not a good actress. And, in this she was frankly bad. Her emotional tone carried no authenticity for the situation she supposedly faced. Similarly, others simply failed to understand how a person would actually feel in the situations they were presented. Trying to "make funny" when you are at high risk of dying is not poetic license. It is a divorce.
Similarly, the opening scenes, especially, were far too contrived. The captain of the Empire's overwhelming Dreadnaught warship, being lulled into toying with a "bad connection"? Come on. To get to this position in the Empire this person would have to be much more than an easily befuddled adolescent who is only capable of barking orders to destroy everything.
In the original Star Wars (episode 4) George Lucas knew how to bring some humor into a situation while remaining true to a situation that was clearly serious. Such capability eludes the current director.
I can only hope that when the next one comes out adults will make it - people who know how to behave when things are serious, and can make light of things only when the situation allows it, without loosing character. I'll probably go, because I've gone to these since the first day that the first one came out. But I do miss the early George Lucas. Now we have special effects, but we've lost soul of the adventure. Good stories are about characters rising to meet difficulty, often to find themselves in the process. Spielberg knows how to do this. Too bad he wasn't directing.