Too many unanswered questions!

Rating: 6/10 (20 April 2018)

Review:
I was really looking forward to this movie, especially as I heard that Luke Skywalker was making a comeback but I was quite disappointed with the outcome. I found the storyline quite messy, and there was way too many unanswered questions, which I found annoying. I also found it hard to get used to the moody Skywalker, who has completely lost faith in the Jedi realm, and it lacked wit, which I loved from the earlier movies. On the plus side, there are some amazing scenes, like the casino and the epic battles throughout the movie but there wasn't much character building, and Adam Driver (Kylo Ren), wasn't in the same league as Darth Vader. I was hoping to see loads of Jedi skills, which seemed to be missing in the film, and the surprising death was also a big let down. Anyway, with the First Order still battling against the Resistance, with Princess Leia in the commanding seat, Rey (Daisy Ridley) is trying to convince Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) that the Resistance can takedown the First Order if he helps them. As Skywalker has turned his back on the force, and believes that no good will come out of igniting his powers, he tries to show Rey some of his skills, and he soon realises that she also has surprising abilities. With the Resistance coming under heavy attack from the First Order, Rey returns to help them to fight against there new leader, Kylo Ren, who she has a special connection with. She believes that he still has good in him but he is possessed by the darkside, even though they both took down the evil Supreme Leader together. There are other storylines happening at the same time but it's really the Kylo & Rey plot that interested me. I have to commend the director for making the movie look fantastic but it didn't have the same spark that the original did. A lot of the scenes seemed way too long, especially the Rey and Luke scenes at the beginning but it's a must watch, if you are a die hard Star Wars fan. I'm looking forward to the next movie in this franchise but I was still was expecting more from this one. I have finally come to the conclusion that we are never going to get the magic from the first 3 movies but it's good to see some of the old faces, even though they didn't make a big impact on this film. Nice try but no cigar!
Round-Up:
This movie was directed by Rian Johnson, who brought you Looper, The Brother's Bloom and Brick starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He's due to direct the next Star Wars movie, so I hope that he listens to the critics, and answers some of the important questions. He also directed 3 episodes of Breaking Bad, which is always great to put on you portfolio but this movie has to be his greatest achievement to date, especially after making such a hefty profit at the box office. Although Mark Hamill wasn't happy with the script, he certainly put in an emotional performance but I still wasn't happy with the way he parted from the franchise. After watching over 2 hours of the bonus material, I can see that there was a lot of thought behind this project but I really don't think that were going to be able to appreciate it until we see the rest of the movies in this franchise. I also think that it's the type of movie that you have to watch a few times before you really get it but I still miss the original characters, who seem to be dropping like flies at the moment.
Budget: $200million
Worldwide Gross: $1.35billion
Genre: Adventure, Action, Fantasy
Cast: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Laura Dern, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie and Benicio Del Toro. 6/10