I enjoyed it a lot. I watched in a relatively small screen (maybe 200 people) and all of them seemed to be fans. I avoided all spoilers as much possible going in, so had no expectations, no preconceptions about what it 'should' be.
Seeing Luke as a teacher was entertaining. I look forward to his third lesson, presumably in Episode IX rather than just being missed! (Unless I missed it...)
Leia in space was okay, I think. I got what they were going for, re-establishing Leia as a Force user, even if not a trained Jedi. That set up the ending, with her being so strongly attuned to Luke.
Luke
The film led up to that, I felt, but even so it was still so affecting to see him come to that point. Anyone notice the footprints (or lack thereof...) during the final fight?
Snoke's robes had me thinking of Hugh Hefner. Anyone else? But clearly very powerful - his treatment of Hux and the way he toyed with Rey really established him as an absolute beast, strength wise.
The salt planet was such a stunning backdrop for the final fight. The billowing red clouds really added to the spectacle of the final showdown.
Is Kylo lying about Rey's parents? The way he delivered those lines made me wonder - rushed, almost stumbling, and seemingly a deliberate resonance with Luke's comment about how nobody comes from nowhere.
Laura Dern! So, so good. I had no idea she was in it at all.
Where were the Knights of Ren? I was sure one of the few things I saw was that they'd be in the film. Perhaps they were the Imperial Guards? That scene, incidentally, was downright awesome, and really played with my expectations for how Ren/Rey would go from that point.
Phasma got stuff to do! And given that her armour has been established as super-strong, I'm sure she'll be back. Similarly, Hux got some good stuff as well. In fact, I thought the new characters (Finn, Poe, Rey, Rose) all got good arcs over the course of the film. That was pleasing. Finn's evolution in caring about more than just Rey was well done, I thought.
It did break with certain established rules, but then, the rules are there to be broken. A lot of the criticism of TFA was that it cleaved too closely to the structure of ANH, albeit with two Lukes! TLJ definitely felt like its own film, albeit with some obvious nods to ESB/the others and I wouldn't be surprised if IX is even more diverse.
A couple of things I'd have liked to see slightly differently was to have a greater percentage of non-human Resistance members. There only seemed to be a handful among them, which seemed odd. I also could have done without the milking scene! Finally, the scene at the end with Poe and Rey seemed curious - whether they're being set up as a future couple, or just for tension with Rose/Finn... Well, we'll see.
Overall, thumbs very much up. I'll let it settle in my mind some more before seeing it again, maybe in the New Year.
