When the tickets were first being sold, the runtime was said to be 2h 35m. It seems to me like they did a final squeeze in order to get more showtimes and get a more family friendly runtime. And, oh boy, can you tell. Particularly in the opening act.
If you’ve been following some of the leaked stuff then you know there was much more to this movie than what we got. Palpatine’s reveal was meant to build up throughout the first act instead of just being dropped in out of nowhere from the very beginning.
Lando was supposed to have a daughter that was kidnapped long ago to become a stormtrooper. The end was meant to imply that it was Jannah. But without that set up, you only get them randomly meeting without any idea of why they’re talking to each other. It even makes the exchange seem potentially creepy.
I really hope that we get the deleted stuff in the Bluray because I could feel a good film trying to burst out of the seams of what ended up feeling like a rushed, unearned mess.
I’m one of the ones that honestly loved the movie, but I do agree the pacing was insanely quick at the very start and a little towards the end. If this is really the case then I’m both bummed that the version I really like isn’t the entirety of the movie, but hopeful that we do get all those scenes in a bluray. I usually hate extended editions with a passion because they should always put the film as it is in theaters instead of shortening it to detract from the proper vision, but I wouldn’t mind getting an extended cut of Episode 9 officially released instead of fanedits throwing in the deleted scenes.