A Long Rebuttal Because I Am, If Nothing Else, Verbose

Rating: 8/10 (17 December 2017)

It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that no one hates Star Wars more than Star Wars fans (the same can be said of Trekkies with their fandom so I see a trend).
I cut my teeth on Episodes IV, V, and VI (my father found them to be excellent babysitting tools). Episode V was my absolute favorite so I had very high expectations for Episode VIII, especially after enjoying the grittiness and despair, yet hint of hope found in Rogue One. I thought, they haven't completely forgotten how to 'go dark' in a movie.
I have read through the various one star reviews and felt the need to address some of the complaints people seem to have from a different perspective. (I would address them all, but that would make this a treatise and who has time for that?) While certainly not a perfect movie after a second viewing, I felt it was still amazing and captured the spirit of Episode V that I loved so much.
The most common complaint is the treatment of Luke Skywalker. Here is a young man, at the end of Episode VI, who has triumphed over the Dark Side and is ready to fly off into the sunset on his X-Wing to enjoy his happily ever after. He does as Yoda requested and passes on what little he has learned (how long do we really think he spent on Dagobah, even with the time lapse between Episodes V and VI; certainly not an entire childhood/adolescence). Then everything blows up in his face. Everything he tried to do is circumvented by the Dark Side, because defeating the evil Empire doesn't mean he defeated evil. He's a broken man and believes he has destroyed the very soul of his beloved nephew. So he runs away and hides. It's easy on the outside looking in to be angry he didn't just act the hero and start over, but I think he had a very human reaction to a devastating event. I loved where they took his character, because it showed no matter how high we rise, we can still fall so hard and hurt so deep, but have the potential to rise again, which Luke does in his character's penultimate scene. It was an awesome ending for what was the most powerful Jedi the universe had ever seen. I think that's what people need to remember: no matter how powerful, all humans have a physical end. (Besides now we get Force Spirit Luke!)
Another issue I'd like to address is Rey's heritage. I love that she came from nothing! Here we have Ben Solo (Kylo Ren) who's bloodline is the stuff of legend. It's made into a very big deal by everyone! Then we have Rey, who is so ashamed of her parentage that she suppressed who they were and what they did. She has no vaunted bloodline, but she's a Force prodigy! It's a wonderful homage to class warfare and diamonds in the rough. One doesn't have to be royalty to be powerful in the Force. I would have been disappointed if she had come from famous, powerful parents.
The movie is a beautiful path of very dark events united by moments of humor and joy. That's life in a nutshell! It was about finding a way through the sucker punches and never giving into despair. It was about the hope and heroes and leaders that were born (and reborn) at that darkest hour before the dawn.
It certainly wasn't a perfect movie, and I wasn't happy with every scene (no Rey-Finn for me). There are still questions to be answered, but it isn't the end. There's still Episode IX to come and I can't wait to see where it goes from here!