The Song Fight Bulletin Board

We just watched this last night. I was expecting it to be really awful based on the very mixed reviews, the poor box office performance, and the rocky history to the creative process. I cringed at some of it, for sure. Some of the dialog and subplots were too corny even for a Star Wars movie, or just too weird and/or seemingly superfluous. I also groaned at the moments when they were trading purely on nostalgia, particularly when it was nostalgia for something that wasn't actually a big deal in the original trilogy. I especially find it annoying how they always trot out Chewie to get a positive reaction from the audience, and I resent that it works even on a skeptic like me most of the time, because who doesn't love Chewie?! Also, some characters were barely even one-dimensional, which is a very common issue with this overstuffed blockbusters everyone is making these days. But I felt like 75-80% of the movie involved mostly well done interesting sequences that kept the pace up and ultimately I think I mostly enjoyed it, overall. I don't think it deserved to be a huge bomb, it wasn't any worse than e.g. Avengers 2 etc.

Did anybody else see it and have any thoughts?

I thought it started badly but got considerably better as it went on, and by the end I was having a pretty good time. I think I'd set myself up for a LOT of cheesy references to the other movies and then there weren't actually quite as many as I expected, although there's a few eye-rolling moments in there for sure.

I loved the weirdo musical act on the villain's space-yacht.

I hated every cringe-worthy moment of it. I only watch DisneyWars flicks out of morbid curiosity now; they have completely destroyed the franchise for most die-hard SW fans. Apologists/fanbois are free to disagree.

I didn't think it was all that bad. I have a friend who said it was his favorite Star Wars movie yet. It is such an iconic character, whose past is alluded to frequently, but never explored. One of the best parts of Star Wars is that the universe is lived in. We don't need to know all the details of the past to enjoy the present. Our imaginations are really good at filling in the holes. So yeah, thanks for showing me the Kessel Run. I guess.