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Jul 05, 2018b_fetz rated this title 1 out of 5 stars
Roughly 2 hours of fan service -- a patchwork of "wouldn't it be cool if X did or said Y", regardless of whether Y contributes to a coherent tone or narrative -- and half an hour of interesting moments. Pretty disappointing coming from Rian Johnson (I strongly recommend 'Looper', if you're interested in watching a more successful science fiction film from this writer/director). Major portions of the plot are absurd (the whole codebreaker subplot makes no sense at all -- sneaking into a space ship is like sneaking into a submarine; how, exactly, do Finn and Rose get away from the Rebel ship that's being hotly pursued, fly to an entirely other star system, try to find a James-Bond-esque superspy, go to jail, hook up with a shady character, fly back to the ongoing pursuit...I'm just going to stop now because every single element of this is silly). There used to be a basic understanding that stars and planets are really, really far apart, and some gestures towards the notion that it would take time to get from one to another; now characters hop from one star system to another as if they were driving between neighborhoods. I know that this is space opera, the most loosey-goosey of science fiction subgenres, but the earlier movies weren't so cavalier about it and were more engaging as a result. It's hard to connect with the emotional circumstances when the physical reality is so unreal. I appreciate giving prominent roles to women and POC. I just wish the substance of the movie was as good as its (real world) cultural politics.