I have found myself writing this review at 3am after having just came home from the midnight showing of the most recent installment of the beloved series. I loved it. The plot was coherent, loveable characters got better writing and the humour was on point.
However after speaking to my fellow midnight comrades, my positive view of the movie was not shared. Some people found moments cliche, predictable and as a result found the movie to be slow. I reference the gentleman sat two seats away from me who was happily snoring away.
From this point on there will be spoilers so think carefully before entering the dark side.
Perfect. Let’s dive in.
The Light (Good) Side of the Force
- Character Development
Rey was back being her charming self and we finally got to see her unravel her potential as a fully-fledged force-user. Alongside Leia, it was wonderful to see some care actually paid towards Rey’s Jedi training – a welcome change from the so-laid-back-he’s-horizontal Luke from ‘The Last Jedi’.
Also the Ben Solo/Kylo Ren arc finally made movement! I was so happy with his redemption. It was excuted with sentiment with the added bonus of Harrisom Ford returning one last time. His final act had me tearing up.
- Good Space Humour
The Poe and Finn banter squad feat BB8 and ConeHead (Deo) provided ample comic relief. Also with the added Chewie who is just a genius character.
I definitely felt the tone was made lighter with the jokes to contrast some of the darker themes of the movie. My personal favourite was the moment Ben brandished the lightsabre from Rey and just shrugs like “And what?”
- Lando
He gets a special mention because he’s Lando for crying out loud.
- Cinematography
There were some wonderfully filmed moments of beauty in Star Wars. The light saber scenes were particularly stunning. Though it didn’t have the finesse of an artistic movie it definitely had some scenes worth noting just for sheer talent of thos that made it.
And now the bad.
The Dark Side of The Force
- Reylo
Okay. So I was on and off with the idea of the pair of them hooking up. I wouldn’t count myself a shipper (only an avid Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver fan). Personally I thought it worked. It had been built up to. But some found it forced and downright wrong.
- Palpatine
Areas of the infamous baddie had not changed since our last encounter with him. Particularly his fondness for lightning. It just didn’t align with the movement of the movie.
Though I think it was definitely a great idea bringing him back they should’ve changed him in some way to be less predictable.
- I’m sorry about the last movie
You may be wondering what I mean by this but when you are watching it becomes apparent the movie attempts to rectify the weird foundation laid by the last movie.
It’s a shame they felt this needed to be done but understand why. The last movie messed with the structure of star wars and it suffered as a result.
Overall it is worth going to see: 8/10. Go on lads.
