Am I allowed to bet on my own review?
Based on reactions here so far, I'm glad I'm not alone in my indifference. More than anything I was just kind of... bored. It's obviously not a bad movie by any means, and I guess I'd rank it higher than TFA, but I hardly felt anything at all. In fact, I have zero desire to watch this movie again, and my enthusiasm for the third is probably as low as it'll ever be. There were plenty of great moments, no doubt, but in the end it all amounted to a big, numb, shoulder shrug from me.
The Good
- Kylo's desire to "let the past die," ultimately leading to him killing even Snoke, was probably my favorite part of the sequel trilogy so far. Wanting a fresh start - as twisted as his version of that is - is far more relatable/understandable than simply wanting to embrace/join the Dark Side.
- The way in which Snoke was disregarded just as bluntly as he was introduced was, by far, the boldest move of this movie. It made everything I disliked about his character in TFA worth it. Setting up an Emperor clone just to off him like that was fantastic.
- Kylo and Rey's fight against Snoke's guards was probably the second best fight of the franchise for me. I will never understand how Rey is already a master with a lightsaber ("because she's strong in the Force" is a bullsh*t answer), but that was awesome stuff regardless, and an all-around great sequence from the moment Rey arrived in Snoke's chambers 'til she (inexplicably) vanished.
- The hyperspace suicide slice of the The First Order fleet was, indeed, jaw droopingly cool. Just a phenomenal sequence that was unlike anything we've seen in a Star Wars movie in terms of visceral execution and technique.
- I love, love, love how decimated the Resistance now is, to the point of it literally being just a few people, but with the hint of more out there. That's such a cool place to leave it... against insurmountable odds, but with endless hope and possibility. There's almost a Fellowship of the Ring vibe now, and I'm hoping that once we get a glimmer of where they're headed with this thread, I'll start to come around more on the prospect of the next movie.
The Bad
- Rey and Luke's relationship fell super flat for me. I was not at all engaged by anything that was happening on the island. It just left like that whole plot line was going through the motions and then ended on nearly the exact same beat as Luke's training on Dagobah, just way more premature, and for way less of a compelling reason.
- Everything with Finn and Rose was pretty bad too. As has already been noted, Canto Bight just wreaked of prequel-ness. And speaking of the prequels...
- Space Leia was maybe worse than anything the PT had to offer, even Jar Jar. That was sooo ridiculous and stupid looking.
- The First Order sucks. Period. And the continued lack of context around them is still maddening. The impression TFA gave was that they were on their heels at the end of the first movie, after Starkiller base - and presumably much of their fleet - was destroyed. Sure, they wiped out a capital star system or whatever, but it always felt like they were an annoying remnant of the Empire - granted, one that was growing in power - but not anywhere near the might of the Empire in all its glory. So when all the sudden, in the aftermath of losing Starkiller base, the opening crawl to this one tells us that The First Order is basically owning the galaxy now... huh? I still say one of the biggest mistakes of TFA was having the Resistance "win" in the end instead of retreating, because none of this would be an issue now.
- Rey and Kylo Force talking across the galaxy didn't work for me at all. I get why Johnson thought he needed to do it, and I guess I like that Smoke was ultimately responsible, but by the time it got to where Rey was asking Kylo to put a shirt on it really did feel like a parody.
- Rey's arc was utterly uneventful. She's a self-admitted nobody who already assumed she came from nothing and then learned just that. Armed with that knowledge, in the face of adversity, she remained steadfast and optimistic, never truly tempted by the Dark Side. So... how is that any different from her character arc the last go around? Sure, she learned a bit and can... lift rocks now... but I'm legitimately shocked at how little her character evolved and how absent she was in the climax. I don't feel like I know her any better than I did the last go around, and she's getting dangerously close to having Harry Potter syndrome insomuch as being special because... she's special... and never really having to earn it or prove it. After becoming such a pop cultural phenomenon and a beacon to young women after TFA, how every ounce of this movie wasn't devoted to truly advancing and enriching her story in some way is beyond me.
- Further, what of substance was left dangling for Rey's arc going forward? Nothing she learned in this movie requires resolving in the next. She's basically already a bad ass Jedi after hardly any training, she knows and seems at peace with her "origin," and she's now reunited with the only people she knows and loves. She's obviously going to need to be the glue that keeps the Resistance together, so does she have to learn to be a leader now? If so, why not even hint at that here? I just literally have no idea what she's supposed to do going forward, or who she's supposed to be. But more importantly, nor do I really care. That, and her confronting Kylo yet again doesn't interest me in the least. It feels like that well has already run dry.
- Finally, Luke as a Force projection in the climax perfectly summed up the sequel trilogy for me so far... as a faint projection of what could have been. Not only can I not comprehend how we made it two movies without Luke, Leia, and Han physically being in the same scene together - not even once - but the whole thing felt reverse engineered to meet Johnson's idea of Luke fading away while looking at the twin suns on the island. It was like he had that final shot of Luke in mind and came up with the projection idea simply so Luke wouldn't leave the island and Johnson could get that shot. "See you around, kid" was a fantastic and heartbreaking parting line to Kylo, but it wasn't worth Luke not actually being there. As many have already stated, we needed to see him fight one last time, or just use the Force in battle - in person - or... something.
Oh, what could have been.
Maybe I'll come around a bit more in the coming days, but currently have zero desire to even reflect on it further. As of now, I feel like nothing about this movie requires further examination or retrospection.
I don't know... for maybe the first time ever, I kind of truly feel "too old for sh*t."