Flick was a lot of fun. The NEW stuff was cool. Force switcheroos, treasure hunts, Dark Science. I did not think a Kylo redemption story would be satisfying, but I dug it.

TLJ set the bar pretty high for how visually breathtaking it was, and the interesting shots and editing. Rise doesn’t even try to compete.

I think it was weakened by Abrams absolute love of homaging other films (Spock screaming “KHAN!” is forever seared in my memories). I was left with the impression of “I’ve heard this joke before.” TFA had a lot of that but I minded less because that movie also set up lots of new things. This film pays off those new things with more re-runs.

Emotionally and thematically “Rey from nowhere” really resonated with me, and undoing that with version #74 of “No… X is your Y” relative reveal didn’t seem worth it, neither did thematically changing Luke’s exile with the Palpatine-knowledge.

Rey is like 25. Her dad looked 30. Was Palpy on Tindr getting the ladies during the Clone Wars? In his 70s?

That Snoke was a clone explained nothing and created more questions. That is peak Abrams.

And having a beloved character die, get the feels from the audience, and then pull a switcheroo on the audience TWICE seemed a little much.

My least favorite of the sequels.