LMS D

This movie is beautifully filmed and I SO wanted to love it but omg it is way too long. Two hours in and there wasn’t really a plot yet. They were still just meeting each other at school? The film is way too indulgent. There was no reason to stretch the run time this much. Nothing happens in many of the scenes. Which is a shame because everything about it is beautiful—amazing costumes, talented performers, and individual songs are excellent. But it needs an edit. Seriously. I LOVE musicals, but they have no business being so long.

A disappointing end to the series that feels out of character for the story The Force Awakens began. Palpatine was a bad idea. It cheapens the first trilogy. The director also relies too much on nostalgia. Palpatine is t really ever a fully developed villain here. It’s all a lot of whiplash and Rey wandering off looking vaguely concerned. And I’m still mad at how they treated C3PO. He deserved better. It’s not a terrible movie but it doesn’t have the emotional punch of some of the earlier ones. Nothing except maybe Kylo really feels earned or finished.