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  • RELEASED: 2017
  • RUNTIME: 152 mins
  • WRITTEN BY: Rian Johnson
  • DIRECTED BY: Rian Johnson
  • STARRING: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Lupita Nyong’o

This review may contain spoilers.

There are a lot of things I love about this movie and there are a lot of things that I really don’t like. I love everything with Rey, Kylo and Luke (minus the lightsaber toss and the laser sword comment). The force projection scenes with Rey and Kylo are so good and I love the way Rian Johnson continued their stories and fleshed them out. Luke’s story is also very compelling. He’s lost hope and he beats himself up for failing Ben. I also think that the Yoda scene is one of the best in Star Wars history. It’s so emotional and well written, it even makes me tear up and I love the idea of letting go of the past that Johnson explores. Also, Porgs are awesome. But my problem with this movie is that everything else going on in the story is really poorly done. Rose is a mildly likable character but she has no development and she and Finn are relegated to going to Canto Bight, one of the dumbest and most boring planets in Star Wars. They ride very unoriginal and bland creatures and it’s simply inconsequential to the rest of the story and as a result, Finn doesn’t get a chance to grow as a character. Poe and Leia are also relegated to a quarrel about hotheaded decisions which is super boring to watch and Leia uses the force in a horribly shot and cringeworthy sequence. None of the other new characters are interesting. Holdo is a 1D, very annoying character who’s just there to give Poe another person to bicker with and Laura Dern’s performance doesn’t help one bit. And Benicio Del Toro is fine as DJ but his character is the most translucent plot device in recent memory. He’s simply there to get Finn and Rose from point A to point B and talk about some half baked messages at the last minute. Hux is just a side joke and once again we learn nothing about Phasma who just disappointingly falls to her death after an admittedly well shot fight with Finn. And then we get to Snoke. I remember sitting in the theater and being so tragically disappointed in the fact that one of the most mysterious characters in recent memory met his end by being cut in half in the second chapter. How do you build up this ominous and wildly interesting character and then say fuck you we’re gonna cut him in half and never tell you anything about him?! It’s literally like watching a balloon deflate (although I did love the scene where Rey and Kylo fight the Praetorian guards and I love what Snoke’s death does for Kylo as a character). Going into the second installment of this trilogy I really wanted an earth shattering twist or development that changed the series as we know it like in The Empire Strikes Back but unfortunately, nothing all that shocking happens in this movie. And also, lines like “Godspeed rebels”, “big ass door” and “shut up” (Poe to C-3P0) have no business in Star Wars and I’m sorry but the whole thing with the kids on Canto Bight felt really forced.