[SuperMatt18]

Watched the TFA and the Last Jedi again tonight to prepare for tomorrow night.

TFA was fun and did exactly what it was supposed to by connecting the original trilogy to the new era, but it did lack depth. Was exactly what it needed to be at the time though, something easy to digest, really fun, and really felt like “Star Wars”.

I wish the TLJ wouldn’t have caused so much backlash though. It’s rare that I side with Critics over a fan base, but the critics were right about that film. It was a really good film, it took more risks than TFA, and really did push the Star Wars universe forward.

It wasn’t as much fun, and didn’t feel as “Star Warsy” as TFA but that was good thing and fit in with the theme of “letting the past die”. IMO it was a much deeper movie, the character development was great, and it grew the series in the way it needs to grow if they want to expand the universe. It did drag for about 30 minutes in the middle (first and last hour were great), and the CGI did need more work though as I think that did hurt it a bit.

I still think I will like Rise of Skywalker but I really do hope it at least keeps moving forward with at least some of the themes Johnson introduced about the force not being exclusive to Jedi or Sith but for everyone.

I actually think both movies were the right movies at the time to move the series forward but sadly the fan base didn’t really want the series to be “Less Star Warsy”, and wanted it to remain about nostalgia and ties to the past like the TFA.