[Gravedigger]

What I liked:

Han Solo and Ben's redemption. Even though Leia felt so sudden, I don't think I had any time to process it emotionally so it felt a little rushed. Given the death of Carrie and the overall rushed tone of the movie, it felt good still. Having Harrison Ford pop up was a great cameo, and not as a force ghost, but a projection of Kylo's torment over killing his father, a memory as they put it. Loved that part.

Poe Dameron, outside of the final battle scene, was well done in the movie.

The first 75% of this movie, it felt like Star Wars to me, mystery, the force, Leia training Rey, witty banter, different worlds with different cultures and colors. It was well done and on par with the Force Awakens in my book.

What I didn't like:

The movie was rushed to retcon/explain plot points. We all know that JJ Abrams should've been the director off all three of them once they decided he was going to be the director of TFA. So many jump cuts, even outside of the action scenes, it was hard to sit still for more than ten seconds to gain any emotional connection with the characters outside of Ben and Rey.

Finn and Jaina, or whatever her name was. Finn should've died in Episode 8, Rose was relegated to a backseat role in this movie which was good, but they didn't have any kind of romance, which just shows how ridiculous her running into his pod was in Episode 8. Ever since the first movie, where we knew that Finn was just a guy, he tried to beat Kylo Ren with a lightsaber, he wasn't a force user, and his character was just a lovable joke maker, but his death would've helped Poe's character, and his arc that he was the General now with Leia gone, he had to become the leader and not the rogue skilled pilot. Jaina was pointless in this movie, introduced on Endor, and only with less than 30 minutes of screen time. There were thoughts that she was Lando's daughter he thought he'd lost to the Empire, and they even looked like they were going in that direction when she says she was a former stormtrooper like Finn was, but that went nowhere. Leaving us with an awkward pervy Lando moment at the end with him asking her "What's your story" and her saying "I don't know." and then Lando saying "You want to find out?" It felt like an old man hitting on a young girl at a bar, it was just weird and didn't need to be in the movie. Her character came down to helping Finn get from point A to point B, which could've been carried by Chewy or even BB-8.

The ending was skimmed over. Luke's explanation as a force ghost to Rey was good, but I wanted more of it. I wanted Rey to raise the X Wing out of the water, similar to Luke doing it in Empire, with Luke behind her telling her to clear her mind, and coaching her. The final battle had too much of Rey walking up to Palpatine and him saying the same line over and over of "She will strike me down and become the Empress." It's like we get it, she's not going to do that. Like some have said, it would've been cool if she gave into the dark side, then Ben had to pull her out of it. Ben against Rey and the Emporer would've been a much better end fight scene than what it ended up being, although I did appreciate the call back to Revenge of the Sith, where instead of Palpatine being saved by Anakin before his face melted off from Mace Windu, this time he just gets obliterated. The kiss was hokey, Ben's death was ridiculously fast after that, when he transferred his life force it just looked like he put his hand on her belly, closed his eyes and then poof! She's alive!!! I thought the last 25% of this movie was rushed and needed to be longer, especially with Ben fighting the Knights of Ren. Those clowns went down in two seconds after he got a saber in his hand.

Palpatine. He shouldn't have been used, they offered no reason for how he's alive what so ever, and what's with the thousands of Sith disciples down there? How long have they been down there? What do they eat on an ice/metal/lightning planet to sustain themselves? Why didn't they come to the aid of their Emperor? They were just there for show and nothing else thus a waste. I don't know what JJ should've done, but something better would've been preferable. Snoke shouldn't have died in Episode 8, and then you could have the reveal that he's a clone of Emperor Palpatine in the last one and he's the big bad.

I liked it, I won't let the ending drag down the bulk of good work by JJ. I'd rate it as 7 being the best, 8 being mediocre, and 9 being between the two. He did what he could with what he had, but JJ should've just been the director for all three films. I don't know why they wanted to split it up like that, when you have the Russos in the Marvel Universe, you don't give them Infinity War and then give a whole new director Endgame. That was their **** up from the get go.