An all around good movie, but harmed by some irrelevant sillyness, and endless hype.

Rating: 8/10 (30 January 2018)

Star Wars, Episode VIII is, all in all, an entertaining adventure, with good action, good performances, but somewhat tainted by some silly scenes and concepts. But, in general, emotionally, it's a movie that works creating interesting relationships between characters (at last, credible sexual tension in Star Wars since 1983!), good landscapes and action scenes, and went to places Star Wars never had gone before, such as the theme of "dealing with failure". Yes, it was present in ESB, but in this movie is more developed, perhaps not in a subtle way, but it's not a common theme in adventures.
But, it's a flawed movie, and that's undeniable. There's a lot of silly scenes, the humor is sometimes out of place (but it's not as overblown as it has been said), and there are some plot holes which makes the movie a lot more silly than it should be. For me, the worst mistake was, why the Purple Hair Lady didn't told Poe the plan from the very beginning?. There was no reason for she doing otherwise, and that lead to the subplot of Poe-Rose-Finn which is one of the most divisive points of the movie. I think these concepts should have been fixed, but, all in all, it's just minor errors, and don't detract from the emotional core of the movie, which is the relationship between Rey and Kylo, which was tense and it felt real, deep and complicated.
So, this is a fine movie, with some minor issues, but it's good fun, which is, in my opinion, the heart of Star Wars: good adventures and escapist fun... so, what's the deal with the vitriolic reaction is receiving?
In that respect, this movie is a clear example of an over-hyped product which ends being harmed by all the hype, which, in this movie was centered around all the mysteries created by TFA, such as: "Rey's mysterious origin story, what's her relationship with Luke, who is Snoke", etc. etc. ad nauseam. And it was like in a roulette, the ball fell in 00. Everyone loses: Rey's fathers are just nobodies, she has no relationship with Luke, Snoke turns out to be completely irrelevant, etc. So, in terms of fan expectations, this movie dared to subvert everyone's expectations. That's dangerous, but also, it's bold, and I have to respect the director for daring to take such a choice. But, I think a lot of the attacks this movie is receiving are a reaction of a hyped fandom, not a fair analysis done by taking the movie for what it is: a silly and fun space adventure for all the family to enjoy.
So, I think, it's an all around good movie, and I think it's unfair to say it's bad just because it dared to to subvert expectations. It's not good for that, either, but I think there are enough merits for considering this movie a really good one.
8/10