Jack Storey

Hardly the best; certainly not the worst. This movie spends an obscene amount of time undoing some of the previous film's biggest missteps. I can appreciate the need to course correct, but at what cost? Clunky is the word that comes to mind after the first viewing. All this said: I'm not sure there's any cleaner way to end such an epic, daunting adventure that spans more than a lifetime for many of us. Abrams was handed an impossible task, and pulled it off without making me feel completely cheated out of a childhood obsession.

It was fine. Every argument for why it's better than the 2016 version has already been made, so I won't waste space with that. It's enjoyable, but only to a point, and that's not the level-set that most pre-release reviewers teed us up for. There's a lot of swearing and blood, but that loses its kitsch after a few scenes; there's some cool choreography, but it still has that DC low-budget filter on it (though improved from ZSJL/JL); there's more heart than usual, but it's overshadowed by a clunky pace and poorly timed jokes...and too many characters. I suppose I expected more, and while I'm not let down, I'm certainly not mind-blowingly impressed. A spiritual cousin to Guardians this is not, and that's a shame. I had a bit of fun though, so that's something.