I loved Del Toro in the movie even if his appearance and actions weren’t as good as they could have been. His last line is the best line in the entire movie.
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As he should be and as warranted.

Rogue One, IMO, is spectacular.
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I’m not universally against many of Rian’s story decisions, it’s the execution of them that was poorly thought out and executed. Just my opinion but he seemed to be trying so hard to put his fingerprints all over it that he lost track of the fact that this was a sequel and many of the characters had established back stories. You can always take beloved characters in new directions, but you MUST have a good story/arcs to make such course changes ring true. Rian made his movie (as he should have) but he badly missed the mark on fundamental parts of his story.

Again, just my opinion.
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To point out an example:

Luke being a crumudgeon doesn’t bother me like it does some. But having him almost strike down his sister’s only kid is weak and doesn’t really connect Kylo’s actions with what happened in Episode VII. It would have been much more effective if Luke’s training led to Kylo gaining access to areas of the Force that led him to Snoke (and connecting the dots between Kylo with Luke and Kylo joining Snoke). Could have also created some kind of story arc that had some kind of redemption for Luke that fell flat in TLJ (in my opinion). This isn’t being a Star Wars nerd, it’s being a story-telling nerd who thought that point could have been handled so much more deftly and been something interesting to resolve (for both characters)in Episode IX. As it stands now, I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be cheering for or considering be in the next film? All the interesting characters and plot lines are dead.
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Mine was how powerful Rey got over a short period of time. IMO, she should've been a little under powered. This would allow the audience to connect with her more when she finally achieved her goal through hard work, determination and cunning. Hence why people like Batman more than Superman, because Bruce's abilities were earned not given.
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I have no idea what you're talking about. There is a Star Wars trilogy, and I hear an excellent movie was made as a stand alone to flesh out a part of that trilogy.

There is no truth to the hateful rumors of the existence of a Rocky V, a Godfather III, or a Star Wars trilogy of prequels.
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Correct.
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Can we add the matrix sequels to that list ?
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Nor is it universal believed to be a streaming pile of shit that requires an apology tour. I saw it again today for the third time with my entire family all home for Christmas and everyone liked it... and the more die-hardy star wars fans loved it, except for one brother - in - law. Also, huge applause at the end again, unlike the first night. And lastly, packed theatre and many of the earlier shows all sold out. Just my personal observations, but it seems like it is gaining steam, not losing it.
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This. For the most part. Not so sure about the late truck for the $.
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Not good. I'm not a fan of the long boring politics of Star Wars or the real world politics Lucas put in there. IMO the only real positive of the prequels was McGregor's performance despite what he had to work with.

I'd actually watch a "prequel" film that told his story after ROTS.

I actually liked the Poe, Finn, and Ray characters from TFA. The only things I didn't like were how OP Ray was and the soft-reboot storyline. It made no sense. It didn't ruin the film it just took away from it. TLJ had an opportunity to explain why Ray would be so OP and I think most fans would have been ok if they had done that.

But they didn't. And on top of that more questions were raised and more silliness was added.

If you watch the prequels again you'll see that Lucas did the same thing with Anakin. He was stupid OP and just magically great at everything. The only saving grace was his huge jump in time from the 1st and 2nd prequel films. Anakin was a Gary Stu in that first film, it was also bad then, but people often forget that when throwing shit at the new film...
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This is probably a symptom of the time we live in.

If someone admits some very big weak/silly points in the film but says "yeah, that sucked but I still enjoyed it" I'm cool with that. I disagree, but I can respect that opinion.

I can admit the director did an excellent job - the writers did not. The film does look beautiful. And for me the best part of the film is the throne room scene. That scene gave the film and franchise a chance to completely go in a new direction and I feel that was a missed opportunity. What came after those events was a big let down for me.

For me the negatives did ruin the film. I'm out after this one. If you enjoy it go see it again. Have a ball.

I only get frustrated when people try to pretend the negatives and stupid mistakes aren't there because they clearly are.
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My son, 11, gave it an 8.5. It was about a 6.5 for me because of all the flaws in the film. Did I enjoy it? I did, and I'll go see the next one. I'll probably see it again when it comes out on video. Some really cool stuff happened, but far too much of the film was just plain awkward.
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And that's all it comes down to.

There were some big lows and some really big highs.

To me, if that throne room scene had paid off later I could have forgiven all the bad that had come before it.

Unfortunately the light saber blows up, Ray is gone, and we have no explanation for how she got on the Falcon.

Whut?

Then there's no real Kylo vs. Ray/Luke scene.

Then the dumb Finn/Asian Shrek scene where no one even shoots at them at the feet of the 1st order.

To me, that throne room scene was where I went from "Oh, OH this is building to something" to a big let down and domino effect...
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As far as Ray connecting with the Falcon I think they gave us enough to connect the dots. She told Chewbacca to hang out of sight and wait for her and we were also told she took off. I didn't need to see them meeting up.

My least favorite scene was Leia in space. I can live with little issues like not using lightspeed as a weapon from the very start if the ship was getting sacrificed. Or why there needed to be somebody to pilot the ship to begin with.
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