Ok so here's my full review after one Midnight Showing
The Great:
Kylo Ren's entire arc. Rian Johnson really made me love this character, something JJ couldn't quite nail besides the look and odd attitude, and something Lucas couldn't even grasp with Anakin in the prequels. The Temple scenes with Luke and Kylo, that's how paint grey area in Star Wars, George. I was on the edge of my seat the entire film trying to figure out if he would really turn or not, and the way they executed that was spectacular. I understood where Luke and Kylo could both see this moment as entirely different, and gives reason as to why Kylo would turn. The way he and Rey communicated was really cool. Really loved the part where he sees the drop of rain on his glove.
The Force and the way they reintroduced the Force as a living thing and not some weird Tom cruise ****. They actually eradicated mediclorians in this. The Force is back, baby!
The Throne Room scene. Holy ****balls, I've heard complaints about no saber v saber battles, but that scene completely filled that void. The intensity of that scene is off the charts. When Kylo catches Luke's saber and essentially head-shots that royal guard, the theater went nuts.
Rey/Luke relationship. Exactly what I was hoping for and expected out of Luke coming out of TFA. Him deciding to give Rey lessons to prove why sometimes Legends like the Jedi, aren't always the ideal way of doing things was a great switch up on things and very fresh. Also, the "Dagobah" scene was very trippy, I loved the imagery there.
The space battles, particularly the lightspeed kamikaze and the opening sequence. Wow, somehow they topped RO in this department. That shot of Hondo(?) blasting through the destroyer was breathtaking, and will always be a watershed moment in Star Wars. Crazy how much of a pay-off that felt like compared to another Death Star or something like it.
The pay-off for Luke Skywalker in this, for me, was perfect. I didn't expect it at all. In fact, the entire last act of the film on Crait is probably Star Wars at it's best. This is what I imagined when I heard we were getting new Star Wars movies, everything great about the OT action and design, with updated visuals and fast paced editing.
My favorite part of the film was for sure Luke V Kylo. Kylo's emotion when he sees Luke was awesome. "Fire everything we have on that man!" Their entire encounter had me on the edge of my seat. That sweet, sweet, pay-off though. That Luke wasn't even there. That honestly is probably the biggest deal breaker for a lot of people, but for me, it worked on every level. That **** was ****ing awesome, and easily would have topped a regular saber battle. This flick sent Luke off in the most bad ass way.
A few other things I absolutely loved:
-Yoda, a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.
- R2 and Luke reunion. Tears man.
- Chewy and Luke reunion, and his reaction to Han's death.
The Good:
The Leia scene was really cool, the bait and switch got me, I thought they killed her off right there. Her coming in Superman style was a little odd but it was cool to finally see her use her powers. The music in that scene was great, and was my GF's favorite part of the entire flick.
The Humor, and surprisingly the Porgs. As many here know, I hated those little ****ers the entire lead up to this flick, It was more the idiot meme culture that took with them and ran with it. Glad to know they weren't just Force minions, and a small part of the film.
Poe was great and I was happy to see he wasn't taking dicks up the butt (yet) and that they gave him more to do.
Del Toro was good, though I need to see it one more time at least to figure out if he was really even needed. Interesting choice of a character.
Finn's battle with Phasma with the ship imploding around them was really cool.
The Bad:
Not so bad, but Rosie. I felt like at times she felt forced and didn't have much to do but make us like Finn more. I get this movie theme's is really about heroic actions of the little dewds, but this was drove home annoyingly hard with her character at times. She was just too SJW for me.
Rose and Finn kiss, I loved the moment up to that, I really thought Finn was a goner. But the way that wrapped up bugged me.
Tit Juice.
Luke throwing the saber over his shoulder irked me, but they still got a LOL at it. It will bug me on repeat viewings though.
The Ugly:
Space horses, what the hell. There was one cool shot in that sequence that I remember, but they should have cut that out. The entire sequence wasn't needed and felt like a quick PSA in between all the emotion in the A and b story lines. They looked terrible, riding them was dumb as ****, same with the hole "u free now go seabisquit" moment. They should had made this sequence a high rollers Pod Racing sequence instead of ****ing horses. That would have made it more gritty and fun to watch. The slave kids thing could had easily been written into it as well. Overall, a bit lazy.
The D'qar (casino planet?) was just too Hunger Games in design. Come on, give us troopers, not these nerdy space mall cops chasing Finn. The buildings, the peoples outfits, the whole ambiance was way off for Star Wars.
I probably have forgotten a few things that I liked and didn't quite like, but that's the gist of it. I'll be seeing it again in a few days, and cannot look more forward to it. 9/10 Easily for me now, I guess time will tell now.
My Star Wars Ranking as of today:
1. Empire Strikes Back
2. The Last Jedi (did not expect it to be this high)
3. A New Hope
4. Return of the Jedi
5. The Force Awakens
6. Rogue One
7. Revenge of the Sith
8. Attack of the Clones
9. The Phantom Menace.