I was positively surprised with the recent Star Wars reboot, but since then... it all seems to blend together. Everything's looking the same. Somehow, no matter how beastly the action was it didn't come across as memorable this time around. Too many twists? Too much heroics? Inconsistencies? Pace? What's wrong? What sets this so far apart from the well-polished prequel?

Rey and Finn don't evolve much either. Finn's on the sidelines for the bigger part of the movie, and Rey goes on a quest - of which we catch a few glimpses, then she has to go back and... suddenly she can lift boulders. They sure do make things look awesome, but they don't build upon the character personalities in the process. It feels like suddenly they don't care for the characters. They portray them in the darkest ways possible. Some die, some decide so sacrifice themselves... only to be saved in the last second. And for what?

It feels like I take the main characters for granted at this point - which is good, they're good main characters, yet I can't help but feel they're going in circles. There's nothing new here. People die. New characters get introduced and then they die too. Old characters reappear (like the lady from the waterhole) and it seems they're still alive. Luke Skywalker returns... and then he's gone as well. Sometimes they throw in a few cute animals looking angry, as if to appease the audience. Hey, we know we messed up the movie, but here, look at this cute little penguin-looking dude!

There are goofs, like characters going into space and not being affected by... space. That's the one thing that comes to mind but I'm sure there was more.

It feels like they're intentionally phasing out all the things from the old Star Wars universe that have grown old too, though I do wonder what they'll do about Leia/Carrie in the sequel (considering she's the one person in the cast who died in real life)... maybe Laura Dern (Vice Admiral Holdo) will come back from the dead in that one... maybe not. If it keeps going like it's going I wouldn't be surprised. I wouldn't be disappointed either, though - I hoped she'd become a re-occurring character the first moment she appeared.

Benicio Del Toro makes an appreciated entrance as the shady DJ too, and a little boy appears as a promise for the future... I guess years will pass, he'll grow up, and here we go down the old Star Wars road again?

I still feel like Poe Dameron is the one character who still lives and breathes the old Star Wars. He's like a remnant of old times, somehow, new as he may be.

Though this movie was a blast from start to finish, with the traditional wit, myth, and clashes you'd expect it just wasn't... what I'd expected. There's the rescue mission, the journey into the abyss, the battle on the blood-red sand... it's all well and awesome, but it's almost too awesome. Like... I'm not sure what it's missing, and what I'm missing, but that's what it feels like. Something's gone. Something went wrong. I watched the movie with all but a yawn, but it feels like they forced it. Hope they get back with the balance. And stay strong...

 rated 3/5: not bad