So I saw this again with my parents last night (my fourth viewing). Interestingly enough, they both loved the DJ character and are hoping Del Toro comes back for IX, which is an opinion I haven’t really seen much. Overall, my mom had no problems with the story but preferred the simpler, more restrained style of TFA. My dad had no problems at all. For context, they were 15 and 14 in 1977 respectively, loved the originals, and hated the prequels. They both really liked TFA and my mom adores R1.

As for me, I was able to really lose myself in it again. After my third viewing I was worried that it didn’t have the same kind of endless rewatchability that TFA does for me, but now I’m pretty sure I was just over-tired for that screening. I think I agree with my mom about TFA being the more elegantly executed film, but I haven’t decided yet whether I value that more or less than TLJ’s ambition. In any case, I love them both.