What a waste...

Rating: 2/10 (29 December 2017)

For all of the flaws that The Force Awakens had, it was far more entertaining and had a more coherent story line than this piece of garbage given to us by Rian Johnson and Disney. They were given a great story line on a silver platter and threw it in the trash. So many missed opportunities. You might as well have had Michael Bay direct this. Character development is nowhere to be found. And that's important because that's what ultimately makes a great movie, not all of the noise and effects. Stars Wars has turned into Transformers.
Where to begin?
1. Snoke was made completely meaningless so all we're left with is Kylo Ren as the "ultimate" bad guy. And so far he hasn't distinguished himself enough to be anything remotely close to an ultimate bad guy.
2. Luke Skywalker's character - Wow. Just wow. Way to go, Rian Johnson. Way to tarnish the Skywalker legacy. You should have listened to Mark Hamill on this one. Curious to know what Hamill would have done differently - anything would have been far superior to what that hack Johnson did.
3. Leia - Look, Carrie Fisher is dead so as much as this is ghoulish to say, they had every right to kill off her character. They had two golden opportunities to do that - the first being when the bridge was hit and she was expelled into space. The second being where she could have been the one drive the cruiser into Snoke's flagship. Either one would have brought a tear to SW fans eyes. Instead we get a forgettable Laura Dern becoming the martyr and a flying Leia immune to the effects of the vacuum and cold of outer space. So we're sure to have a CGI Leia in E9. Ugh.
4. Rey - So apparently she doesn't need any formal training from Luke other than to breathe...just breathe. And at my last count, Luke still owes her a lesson. Also the part where she was in the "dark side" hole was pointless and should have been cut.
5. Finn & Poe - these guys are getting annoying real fast. Finn - is he a coward or a hero? And his "romance" with the Asian girl is forced and unnecessary. Poe - is he supposed to be like Han Solo flying an X-Wing? The writers give us no reason to care about these guys, other than that they're the good guys.
6. Kylo Ren - see #1. And where are the Knights of Ren??? Yet another missed opportunity.
7. Captain Phasma - a toss away character (literally) in Force Awakens, sadly a toss away character here. Missed opportunity...again.
8. THE SLOWEST AND MOST RIDICULOUS CHASE IN MOVIE HISTORY!!! Seriously, I thought I was watching Spaceballs for a moment.
Many of my complaints echo the others mentioned in the other reviews, however I don't agree with all of them such as the complaints about the amount of minorities and women present. Um, it's a different galaxy not the United States. I doubt the universe is white humanoid male dominated...check your hangups with that stuff at the door for Chrissakes. And the Porgs didn't bother me as much as the Ewoks did.
I have serious doubts about E9 based on what we were given here. Disney and Rian Johnson may have ruined Star Wars irreparably. But they won't care as long as the money rolls in.