Me waiting for the movie to start.. and my review...

Ok, no fancy review. Simple. I liked the movie. Before seeing it I stayed away from any reviews BUT.. I did see review TITLES on various websites... mixed, but leaning, a little, toward the negative.

One of the reviews I read criticized the nostalgia.... that makes no sense to me, it was VERY well done and in NO WAY overshadowed the 'new'. It tied things together, and did so in a manner befitting the general theme of the way all the Star War's movies were presented.

Acting was MUCH improved... from the acting in the Rogue One. I notice this often... 'returning' characters usually do hone their craft and perform better... EVEN IF the original story lines, and movie, are better and more entertaining films.

Adam Driver, for example, (Kylo Ren), I thought HORRIBLE in Rogue One... but a good character. He was MUCH improved... I wouldn't say 'good' but compared to Rogue One MUCH better.

John Boyega was terrible in both movies... BUT WAIT... because here I don't actually fault John, the actor, as much as I do the character... uninspired, shallow, VERY poorly written character IMHO.

Daisy Ridley - Rey. She was good in Rogue One, I thought, and better in this latest film. But then... IMHO women are better actors than men, generally speaking.

And now the biggie... Mark Hamill... this shocked me.... he can act. NO, nothing spectacular, I don't mean that... but quite good and he pulled it off. I don't know why but I wasn't expecting that... being so long away from any real acting.

Hopefully there were no 'spoilers' in that.. but now there IS... so beware

Is it just me or are we back to square one, and that precisely? Yes, of course I understand that it was a finale leading up to a new start... but the 'new start' seems to me to be precisely where it all began some 40 years ago. It's as if in ALL the Star Wars movies not a single thing was resolved, AT ALL. Nothing gained, nothing really lost, back to precisely where it began.

Don't mean to sound negative here because I LIKED the movie. I could make the usual criticism's.. too much reliance on special effects, too many characters confused as to their own identity... BUT... the story was very good, IMO... the acting good, and although the film moved slowly in places the 'story' stayed pretty much flowing... and even in the 'slower' parts critical info and detail WAS brought out.

Thumbs Up from me... and I haven't 'ranked' it in my best to worst Star Movies but it's certainly NOT top 4... perhaps 5, I'll have to think about it. - JamesJM