A fundamentally flawed film

Rating: 6/10 (19 December 2017)

There are an awful lot of upset fans out there, and rightly so. The film is laboured and it's clear that the writers did not have a well thought out plan to take them to three films. Or that it was the result of a 5 year olds brain-storming session
Rey's journey in the Force just doesn't seem credible from the POV that she never appears to need teaching. Luke, the one person that is supposed to versed in the force, appears incompetent and moody, like a teenager that never grew up and the last person that Rey needs as a teacher.
Sadly much of the storylines that seem to have been set up in the Force Awakens unravel like a pair of knitted underpants on a Velcro seat, leaving you to wonder if it's worth tuning in to the third instalment.
Despite the poor storyline the acting and visuals are pretty good. The action is compelling enough, but as in the Force Awakens, the sinister characters are just pastiches and are too readily revealed. Kylo Ren hints at being an interesting and tormented character, but largely comes off as a moody teenager. The bad guys roam around without ever really having a raison d'etre. And this is problem with Stsr Wars, the more you show the bad guys the more you need to understand about them. The mystery of the Dark Side, and it's followers dissipates when they lose their motivations - if they were perusing inter-planetary dominance, rather Chasing around 'small resistance' groups you could believe in their badness. Instead much of the action is massively contrived.