Finally saw this last night. I just... I don’t know. During the film I found myself comparing it to whichever of the M:I sequels had the characters wearing four different fake faces at one time (I believe it was II). It just kept feeling more and more absurd as it went on. As an independent sci-fi film this would have been very good to great. But it isn’t independent, it is the continuation of an established story. And I realize that at least some of what was done through our the trilogy can be explained in the EU but, not everyone who watches the films immerses themselves in these stories stretched across all mediums. The films are the focal point of the entire Star Wars universe, if people walk out of the theater scratching their heads over more than one or two minor things then you failed.

And that is with out mentioning the brining back of Palpatine (and ruining Vader’s redemption) and Rey being his granddaughter after already teasing she was a Skywalker. Poe and Finn just continue to be unlikeable (to me anyway). Poe is supposed to be a Han Solo type but comes across as corny instead of cool. A Calvary charge on a star destroyer just looked silly. Force ghosts can interact in the physical world by summoning lightning (TLJ) and raising an X-wing from the sea but can’t/don’t show up to help defeat powerful enemies. And speaking of the force, users can grab ahold of ships in flight and damn near fly their own selves. And probably some other issues I’m forgetting at the moment.

It WAS an entertaining and visually good looking movie. And as I said, it could, with a bit of retooling to come across as a stand alone story instead of a continuation of one, be a decent to good unique sci-fi flick. But as a Star Wars movie, while having its moments, it ignores too many story lines and plots not just from within this trilogy, but through the entirety of the saga.
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This was my line of thinking before seeing the movie.

But after seeing the movie, I no longer believe that Anakin's story arc was changed because, as The Emperor himself admitted, he died before, a clear reference to his death at the hands of Anakin on the second Death Star. So in that regard, Anakin's tale is unchanged, from my perspective.

While I would have preferred a different ending that didn't involve resurrecting The Emperor, I thought it was pretty cool that we finally saw the followers of The Sith, former Sith Lords as statues (which also appeared in EU novels) and the latest Sith Homeworld of Exogol, not to mention that it was The Emperor himself that was deceiving Ben Solo from birth.

The movie, for me anyway, was far more enjoyable the second time and I'm hoping to see it at least once more before it leaves the theaters as it'll probably be early April before it's released digitally.
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I’ve gone back and forth on Vader’s redemption since learning they were bringing Palpatine back from the dead. He did turn back to the light and he did kill the emperor. But in doing so did he really fulfill the prophecy and bring balance back to the force if the Emperor, or anyone else, can be brought back from the dead? That does not nullify Vader’s turn but, it nullifies it’s significance in terms of the prophecy. Hell, it nullifies the prophecy itself.

I agree that catching a glimpse of the Sith order was cool. And it was something that could be pulled from the EU with out any confusion because while it was new to the film universe the Sith themselves were not, making it a non-left field world to explore. The fact that the details of that world were drawn upon from the EU is inconsequential on this matter. BUT, they could have done that with Snoke. And while that is a RJ problem Abrams couldn’t help, it ultimately falls on Disney for allowing these films to be made with out an outline for all three movies to follow. And that is by far the biggest fail through out these films. How you tell a story with out a cohesive storyline is beyond me.
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And you know, all the Star Destroyer had to do was fucking pitch to one side and they were fucked :-)

Just a dumb movie. Big, stupid, loud and dumb. Didn't care about the massive plot holes, just give us your money. Star Wars: Rise of Transformers
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:-) Heh, yeah, that would have about done it. Although I consider that to just be typical movie making convenience. That in and of itself is just something one expects in most movies. But the scene itself just looked silly.

Yep. If you told me this was a Michael Bay film I’d never think of questioning you on it.
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Physics in a Star Wars movie? Are you kidding me?

Let's start with the fact that a lightsaber could never, ever exist in our universe because light doesn't have an endpoint, nullifying the possibility of such a weapon or device.

As for the movie, it was clearly explained that the planet Exegol had a weird atmosphere consisting of many anomalies, including Gravity Wells, which could easily explain why the characters didn't fall off the Star Destroyer.

The ships also had limited manueverability due to the unstable atmosphere so had the ship turned to its side in an effort to dump the Rebels, it too could have crash landed.
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You love JJ :-)
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No, I just see reasonable explanations where they exist.

The entire Star Wars Galaxy is Fantasy/Sci-Fi.

Even semi-reasonable explanations make sense if you employ a Suspension of Disbelief, which is required when watching Star Wars.

There was much, much more dumber stuff in the old EU than in the sequel trilogy.

Like mountains of nonsense.
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You shouldn't try to explain JJ's hamfisted writing and plot.

There's no rhyme or reason to it.

It just is, cus it was the easiest thing to do.

He's a dumbfuck with zero creative energy beyond making things look cool.
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So was Lando hitting on the young girl there at the end? His line delivery sure felt like it.
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I don’t know but, it was odd to say the least.
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The scene was cut but Jannah is Lando's daughter.

I'm not singling out you but it infuriates me to no end that some people need everything spelled out for them onscreen.

That's why Lucas added the scene in the Special Edition of The Empire Strikes Back in which Vader is shown on Bespin saying "Prepare my Star Destroyer for my arrival" because people complained "but how did Vader get back to his ship"?

It's why Lucas included the scenes in which Leia is seen as a baby on Alderaan and Obi Wan is seen dropping off Luke to Owen and Beru, two scenes that were completely unnecessary because we already knew their stories! But a certain segment of people need to see it on screen for it to have happened.

It drives me crazy that people can't use their brains...
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I considered the possibility she might be his daughter when he asked the question. But his delivery of, “Let’s go find out.” just seemed off to me (and plenty of others from what I’m reading). That’s why I said I don’t know. And I consider this to be a bit more ambiguous than the examples you gave. JMO.
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Sure, I understand that it's more ambiguous but it's also, at least in my mind, a "Connect The Dots".

Lando's family was captured and taken by the First Order. Lando connects with a woman that is roughly the same age as his child would be at this point in time, who was also captured by the First Order after birth, became a First Order Trooper, mutinied and escaped, only to be reunited with her father.

From my understanding, the scene in which Lando realized that she was his daughter was edited out because it was "too on the nose".

I won't be surprised if the novelization goes into further detail.
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Eh, I didn't pickup anything other that's my daugher. They look a lot alike. Postures the same. Sitting the same direction. If it were anything else, they would have blocked it way differently.
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