I wasn't able to catch it till Saturday with some old school buddies and that was kind of nice in a way, not forcing myself out in the middle of the week to see a premiere... at the same time I didn't want to get spoiled on social media so that was something of a dangerous adventure.
I tried to read through everyone's thoughts and things...
Me, I loved it. I thought it was fantastic. I'd not been as attached to the ST as I was the PT and even more so, the OT. This film was able to take the ST above the PT for me in overall hierarchy, and that was what I was hoping for kind of. I don't hate the PT but it's not held up as well for me and I'm ok not watching it when it's on TV. I'm not compelled to flick it on for some reason. I felt TLJ improved on TFA, and made it a better film with more depth. I felt that wait paid off.
That said, some sort of separated thoughts...
-The Battles... Crait, Space, etc. I loved them all. The Ski Speeders as a holdover to the OT and even the PT era was great. Poe putting his foot through the floor of his? c'mon! That was funny. Maybe you have to work on rusted out POS cars semi-frequently to enjoy that? I dunno, but I've literally had that happen in a vehicle, and so I actually lol'd at that moment. It was funny to me. Plus it made me appreciate Hasbro's work on that ship more too. That thing's pretty damn nice as Hasbro vehicle toys go, especially these days. Glad I got that while it was super cheap on Amazon.
-Kylo/Rey Force dynamic... I loved every scene they were sharing across the galaxy with one another. It took Leia/Luke's or Vader/Luke's connection a step further within the force. I loved it, and Driver is the (no pun) driving force of acting in this series I feel. He's their Ford. He plays Kylo Ren perfectly, every scene.
-Subtleties... Hux trying to draw his blaster, the FO ship commanders, the crewmen dialogue with Kylo... Even the humor, which I'm seeing a lot of complaining about. It's a more modern take on humor I think, trying to move this series out of the Lucas era. I think it makes sense when you're making a new movie for a new audience in a way. Some of it can feel meh, and I remember the same basic sentiments during Poe's "who talks first?" lines with Kylo Ren in TFA, but to me even if it's not something that resonates with me as much as maybe the kids or younger audience, it's better than Jar Jar stepping in ****, or forced rehashed lines from the OT so you remember it's Star Wars and everyone says the same joke over and over.
-Porgs... I loved 'em. From Chewie's first interaction with them, sadly, all the way to his adoption of a ton of them. I was more than happy. I was happy to see them establishing an eco system in general for Ach To... It was pretty cool how they did it.
-The Force Weirdness... I loved everything from Kylo/Rey talking, to Rey's journey, to Luke's change in demeanor from ROTJ, to Yoda's appearance, to Leia having some ability (finally) beyond talking telepathically, etc. I though the Force was taken from the Lucas PT-era science class back to its roots as a mystical energy. I liked that they went to old words from Yoda/Luke to get that aspect of Star Wars back on track and off midichlorian counts. I felt this was a much more "spiritual" film that way, like how ESB felt for many younger viewers when it was out. That's just me maybe, I don't know, but I really enjoyed that it felt like The Force was back to how I grew up with it, and not how the PT kind of took it. Lucas was going to this mystical area sort of with The Clone Wars, and then after the buyout I think they expanded on it further, but this film did a better job of resetting it than I think anyone could've hoped for that missed that aspect of it after the PT.
-Snoke... I thought it was edgy to do what they did. I hope there's answers as to who/what he is/was.
-Praetorian Battle... Fantastic. Best saber work in any film IMHO, and was an epic scene. I feel like it was one of the more iconic scenes in the saga, at this point.
-Luke/Kylo Fight... Again, same as above, I felt it was an iconic moment. Luke's death was as perfect as they could've made it too, I think, and I do hope we have him back... some more Yoda would be nice too. Hell, a lil Kenobi sprinkled in, I'd appreciate as well.
-Rey's parentage... I'm with others who don't quite believe Kylo on that. Plus apparently Snoke was manipulating the whole sequence too. I can take her parents being nobodies, her being born of the force, whatever. I feel like this isn't a closed storyline just yet though.
-Poe's dynamic with BB8. Like a boy and his dog, I appreciate it even though it's a seemingly minor/side argument.
-Chewie/Rey showing up and lighting up TIE Fighters. I loved that whole sequence, and Kylo's reaction was fantastic. Just as his assault on Luke from the walkers was great too. But the Falcon showing up in the nick of time is what the Falcon does, no matter who is flying it. And again, I loved the Porgs. They're not the most elaborate or complex humor but I thought they were funny.
Not a ton I didn't like, and nothing that I really hated or loathed... I will say, Canto Bight was fairly pointless. I mean I can see the end result, the kid with the broom, the way wealth is built from war and oppression of the weak... And there are similar stories throughout the entire saga. Jyn's past, Luke's past, Anakin's past, Han's past, slavery, Ewoks, The Old Republic politics, and so on... You can find these things blatantly, subtly, and in between throughout.
But Canto Bight was long, forced into an already long film (152 minutes I think?), and not really a necessity to get the same point across. They could've used established characters and not needed "DJ" to get the same effect really. And saved money on Benecio Del Torro's contract. Which he felt like a huge waste but it was interesting that he was just a dude and got his money and left. That was interesting and I'd kind of like to hear what their intent was with his character overall. Whatever though.
Phasma is the Boba Fett of this series and that's kinda lame? I guess as lame as Boba is anyway. Which to a lot of people is not at all, but yeah, just lame use of her. The fight with Finn was cool, but it was still brief.
I've heard a lot of complaints about the "slow speed chase", but for me that's just naval warfare in Star Wars (and really it worked similarly on Earth)... Lando tells Ackbar to engage destroyers at point blank range, Ackbar acknowledges they won't last long, so there's some establishment that distance matters. Likewise other things have sort of established the same can be said of fighters being father out from heavy guns and closer to them they're more effective and less prone to getting hit by them... So the notion of the slow speed chase (we'll abandon for Crait, hold out for help, etc. since hypering out is pointless) made sense to me... The hypering into a ship creates havoc seems kind of difficult thing to reconcile with past battles and issues though.
The opening battle with the bombers, I see people complaining about the physics and science and such, and I'd agree if they hadn't already established TIE Bombers dropping bombs on asteroids in ESB. "Bombing" is still a thing in space... I hear one of the companion books to the film explains how the Resistance Bomber fleet works, but they're clearly not a "fighter" and much more of a large ship, not maneuverable, and devastating if they get to a target and knock it out. Hell all they need to do is drop stuff with a shove out into space and it should just get to its target on inertia. The complaints there to me are unfounded. I can buy it.
Poe feels like his character has no real direction... except maybe a leadership role without Leia and now the Vice Admiral? I don't know. They're down to like 8 people left in the resistance though, so maybe he's just there by default now, but yeah I feel like his character is not driven by much of a point right now except some comic relief and the Han dashing/daring/super pilot fun thing.
Lacking more 3PO and R2 sucks... I'd like to see them be more included in the new trilogy. If anyone/anything should be more heavily used that are a carryover from the OT, it's these two. It feels like they're really just there in scenes to remind you they're still alive.
That's about all I can think of... It was a lot to take in, digest, think about, and remember so I'm sure I'm not remembering a lot of stuff... I'm going to see it a 2nd time on Saturday with the kids and my gf.
I loved it though. I really had a great time seeing it. Hell my only really angry outcome was that the figures are meh. I want better toys for this trilogy now.
