I really liked it. One of my favorite Star Wars movies. I can see why people hate it–it is different and. . . certain things happen that I can imagine people are angry about. But I disagree. I’ll start just by saying that it is visually stunning. There are a lot of amazing shots that I would not be opposed to having as a desktop image on my computer or as a poster on my wall. But the shots are just part of it, there isn’t time spent lingering on it and it doesn’t go out of its way to set them up. Basically, aesthetically I think this movie is a work of art.

Now, story-wise, still loved it. It had some surprise twists that totally worked. I really like what they did with Kylo Ren and even Luke. I do still have a lot of questions (where were the Knights of Ren and what the heck is Snoke?) but this is the second in a trilogy and you are supposed to leave it with more questions than answers. The answer we did get that I am very pleased with is Rey’s parents. Out of all of the theories I saw, the one I liked most was correct. I can’t say much without giving it away, but I think it makes Rey’s character better and the story better and fresh. Any other answer would have been. . . unimaginative and unprogressive (not talking anything political, just this moved it past the previous movies). So, yeah, the story was really good and more my speed than many of the others. Closer to something I would write than, say, A New Hope. There are only a couple of points I dislike. One might be cleared up in the next movie and the other just felt stupid at first, but I can see why they did it.

The characters were great too. I have come around on Kylo in The Force awakens and appreciate his character in that movie. That said, I like him so much more in this one as a character. But it builds on the first one for all the characters. They develop well, but are still obviously the same characters. I was worried that I wouldn’t like what they did with Luke, but I actually do. I think it fits the new storyline well. I like the “Legends” version, but I also like this one. Now, I do have to complain about Phasma. I had high hopes for her in TFA and was seriously let down, so I was hoping they would fix it with this second chance. She had one moment where she seemed badass and awesome. Then it was gone and I am still disappointed. I think they should have used her more and given her some actually badass-ness rather than an imposing look but a terrible character. Missed opportunity.

Lastly: porgs. Porg’s Chewbacca scream. Porg everything. The porgs are the best. And the other creatures are awesome too.

I am excited for the next movie, hopefully to get some answers to my questions. I really hope they stick on this route rather than listening to the backlash and going back to what they were doing before. This felt less Disney and more gritty and real and I love it. It was less all in on good vs evil than the new canon has been I feel like, which was good. I think they should have gone farther in that direction, but I’ll take what I can get. Overall, I really enjoyed this movie and if you go into it with an open mind, I think you will too. In terms of Rotten Tomatoes, I am on the side of the critics. Forget the backlash and go see it for yourself. 

I look forward to seeing what Rian Johnson does with his trilogy. I hope it is new, not trying to bring previous stories or characters to the new canon as many people are hoping for. He did a great job of making something new and breaking away from the past (though still paying homage to it) in this movie and they should definitely let him do that with his new trilogy.