Saw Star Wars last night ... I'm a big Star Wars fan and really liked "The Force Awakens". A friend of mine who saw the movie before me told me "the movie's EPIC". With that high expectation, I was a little disappointed.
I think the movie is FINE, and people who would watch it would watch it in theatre anyways, but it fell short of 'epic' imo. I think the plot is too predictable, and throughout the movie I kept waiting for some kind of twist, or climax, and it just didn't happen.
I think the movie fails to exceed being "just ok" for a few reasons ...
1. this movie (TLJ) and in fact the reboot including TFA, are really carried by the old actors - Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill ... the new actors are weak in comparison. Daisy Ridley is the stronger of the bunch, but Adam Driver is REALLY, REALLY weak as Kylo Ren imo. I remember when I saw Darth Vader in the original Star wars (granted, I was a kid) I was terrified. I don't get that feeling at all with any of the 'bad guys' on screen. The Last Jedi (and the SW reboot) would be a total disaster if it's left to just the 3, 4 new actors to carry
2. The plot development is highly, highly predictable. Not only it's predictable, it's a combination of cliche's from a bunch of blockbusters over the year. Look at the character of Luke Skywalker - as much as they tried to confuse you with trailer misdirections, it turns out to be EXACTLY what everyone would have guessed as soon as you are told he's gone into missing. I mean, if Luke has REALLY gone over to the dark side, I think that would have made it 1000% more interesting. (Interestingly, Hamill told the director "I disagree with every decision you have made with this character."
3. The original trilogy was very successful in being creative and created an "aliens-western" world that just wow'ed you with imagination. The new trilogy pretty much happens in the same "Star Wars" universe, there's nothing 'new'.
Now the movie still has its humorous moments, and as a die-hard fan of the original trilogy it's always a treat to revisit the original characters on-screen like seeing an old friend, so I think it's always worth the admission price. But I guess I kept waiting for those "MOMENTS" in the originals, like when Hans Solo was frozen, or when you find out Luke and Leia were siblings, or when Luke cut off his hand after he found out Darth Vader was his dad ... etc etc. And you keep waiting until the movie's over.
I can at least say this - the movie's over 2.5 hours long, and I didn't once check my watch ... so the plot does move along, and it is entertaining enough to keep you engaged. It just falls short on what I expected after TFA ... and I blame it on my friend who said it's Epic I guess