Warning, spoilers ahead!
This was an excellent film with one flaw. Though this is the eighth Star Wars film, only in this one (to be fair, I haven't seen episodes one through three) can Jedis will themselves between planets. Here, we have Rey (the outstanding Daisy Ridley) interacting with Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) while she is on the secluded island trying to convince Luke (Mark Hamill) to teach her the ways of the jedi and he is struggling with his inner demons on a spaceship lightyears away.
That being said, this film has everything, tons of action, great acting and surprises along the way plus it has cute alien animals and humor tucked in in just the right places. And plenty of plot.
We also have a love pentagon and the death of a beloved character.
There is Rey who finally gets Luke to begin to teach her the ways of the jedi, despite the last time Luke did just that, Ben turned over to the dark side. We have Leia (the late, great Carrie Fisher) dealing with a ship running out of fuel and the Republic is after it with a vengeance. She almost dies as the ship is nearly blasted away and the reigns are given over to Officer Holdo (Laura Dern) who continues to take the ship on its course, despite the extreme lack of fuel, to Poe Dameron's (Oscar Isaac's) dismay. Then there is Finn (John Boyega) who wants to go get Rey, but is caught by Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) who is a low level maintenance worker and she is livid. They band together and along with Poe form a secretive mission to disable a tracking devise on the enemy's ship which allows that ship to track them in lightspeed which has not been previously possible.
They have a detour to a planet which is just one large, giant casino and pick up this rouge decoder (Benicio Del Toro) who has a slight lisp who doesn't have a side in the fight. Who will betray them, going where the money is.
And just when you think Laura Dern is also foolish and on the side of the Empire, you learn the reason why she did what she did. She was letting them continue so they could board the escape pods and head out to a planet which was armed and there call for reinforcements. Eventually, she ends up sacrificing herself so the others can be saved.
And just when you think Kylo Ren might have some true goodness in him and think that he's falling for Rey as he does kill Snoke (Andy Serkis), he wants her to join forces with him but she just can't do it. Which is probably a good thing because as strong as she is, she is not strong enough to completely turn Kylo around. And then Kylo stays on the dark side, firmer than ever and more evil than ever.
He has already killed his father and now kills his uncle, though not in the way he expects. Luke does die but is at peace with his decision. Finn wants to be the hero and destroy the cannon, but Rose doesn't let him. She has the best line of the film, "Saving what you love is what makes us good." Which is so true. She briefly kisses Finn before falling into a coma, and remains there at the end of the film so you don't know who is going to end up with who which only adds to the excitement.
This film might be long but it is a thrill ride from the beginning though it ends on a bleak note. I can't wait for episode nine. Grade: B+
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