It was a pretty big challenge to try and rescue the trilogy after what was done to it in the last film; so if you liked the Last Jedi this isn't the review you're looking for... move along.
We'll start with the boring stuff first; the editing. It was fast, like real fast. The film never left the audience with a moment to breathe. Starting the film with an adrenaline filled montage of Kyle Ren doing Kyle Ren things was only just the beginning. Each show stopping set piece sequence followed one another almost seamlessly, resulting in these 'big' scenes feeling repetitive and predictable. Too many and they almost become parodic and silly, especially when screen time dedicated to dragged out fight sequences with flying troopers (definitely going to be a hot selling toy no doubt) or horse like creatures running around on Star destroyers (Probably a toy too) are given precedence over dialogue and character building. The end result is corny one liners being shouted during these fast paced scenes instead of good dialogue that builds something resembling a cogent story. "They can fly now!?" x3... yeah we heard you the first time. That's one of the biggest problems with this film. Now Star Wars has never had particularly scintillating dialogue but what we got in this film was arguably the weakest of any Star Wars picture I've ever seen (maybe not the Holiday Special) because of these pacing/ editing issues impacting the script. Everything was delivered at lightning speed in order to move on to the next showstopper. Exposition was rushed and lazy/ if explained at all! Even the tempo of the score was so fast that slower scenes failed to enamour the audience to onscreen characters that we're supposed to feel something for in lieu of "intensity". Humour was also a recurring farce that hit the mark only a third of the time, but ultimately pulled away from any sort of running narrative yet again. But although the editing lead to what was a largely disjointed mess in terms of sequencing, the narrative was what really took the hit in this film.
I'll clarify again that it was probably an impossible task to make some fans happy after the Last Jedi. Defying expectations certainly wasn't what they set out to do in this film, instead trying to cobble together something that fans might connect with from the ashes. It was a noble goal, but bringing Palpatine back was not the answer. Essentially retconning Snoke in order to bring back an old favourite felt cheap, as if the first two movies didn't mean anything. Even if Snoke was just a guise for The Emporer hiding in the shadows. These facts weren't signposted or even hinted at in any of the preceding films. It was shoehorned in because the marketing team thought it would be a popular idea with fans. That wasn't the only retcon of what came before though, even characters that were built up like Rose were virtually absent throughout this whole movie in order to introduce new periphery characters like Jannah or Zorri that may better hit the mark with fans (to sell toys...).
It's a shame that the main branch of Star Wars films centred on the Skywalker story has become such a corny, trope filled shill. But hey, it's over now. So let's all breathe a collective sigh of relief and hope all future Star Wars anthologies and tv shows focus on mythology, characters and story.
We'll start with the boring stuff first; the editing. It was fast, like real fast. The film never left the audience with a moment to breathe. Starting the film with an adrenaline filled montage of Kyle Ren doing Kyle Ren things was only just the beginning. Each show stopping set piece sequence followed one another almost seamlessly, resulting in these 'big' scenes feeling repetitive and predictable. Too many and they almost become parodic and silly, especially when screen time dedicated to dragged out fight sequences with flying troopers (definitely going to be a hot selling toy no doubt) or horse like creatures running around on Star destroyers (Probably a toy too) are given precedence over dialogue and character building. The end result is corny one liners being shouted during these fast paced scenes instead of good dialogue that builds something resembling a cogent story. "They can fly now!?" x3... yeah we heard you the first time. That's one of the biggest problems with this film. Now Star Wars has never had particularly scintillating dialogue but what we got in this film was arguably the weakest of any Star Wars picture I've ever seen (maybe not the Holiday Special) because of these pacing/ editing issues impacting the script. Everything was delivered at lightning speed in order to move on to the next showstopper. Exposition was rushed and lazy/ if explained at all! Even the tempo of the score was so fast that slower scenes failed to enamour the audience to onscreen characters that we're supposed to feel something for in lieu of "intensity". Humour was also a recurring farce that hit the mark only a third of the time, but ultimately pulled away from any sort of running narrative yet again. But although the editing lead to what was a largely disjointed mess in terms of sequencing, the narrative was what really took the hit in this film.
I'll clarify again that it was probably an impossible task to make some fans happy after the Last Jedi. Defying expectations certainly wasn't what they set out to do in this film, instead trying to cobble together something that fans might connect with from the ashes. It was a noble goal, but bringing Palpatine back was not the answer. Essentially retconning Snoke in order to bring back an old favourite felt cheap, as if the first two movies didn't mean anything. Even if Snoke was just a guise for The Emporer hiding in the shadows. These facts weren't signposted or even hinted at in any of the preceding films. It was shoehorned in because the marketing team thought it would be a popular idea with fans. That wasn't the only retcon of what came before though, even characters that were built up like Rose were virtually absent throughout this whole movie in order to introduce new periphery characters like Jannah or Zorri that may better hit the mark with fans (to sell toys...).
It's a shame that the main branch of Star Wars films centred on the Skywalker story has become such a corny, trope filled shill. But hey, it's over now. So let's all breathe a collective sigh of relief and hope all future Star Wars anthologies and tv shows focus on mythology, characters and story.