Casino Planet was by far the worst part of the movie. A useless detour that should have been scrubbed out to make space for something better.
I could feel the film losing its audience, but then I remembered a scene in Revenge of the Sith where Obi wan is riding a giant chicken and this isn't that bad. Actually, I don't think it's bad at all, just a different type of adventure. Perhaps the set design needed to be even more outer worldly instead of looking like a place James Bond could walk into.
I thought the Yoda thing was an interesting commentary of Johnson sourcing his movie from the original trilogy to divorce himself from prequel nonsense. I still wish he had used the superior Revenge of the Sith Yoda and not the sock puppet. It makes sense he retains his end of life personality though.
I noticed an interesting mix throughout of old and new school effects. I thought Johnson was mostly clever with using new technology but making shots of things like the Millennium Falcon look much like they did in the original trilogy.
During the gliders scene, I hoped Johnson was going to be bold and kill a main character. That girl feels very jammed into the series and her arc is not strong at all.
When Finn made his run I was thinking that his arc was essentially complete with the defeat of Phasma, so he could be killed.
Is there anything these kids could have done that would not inspire this response?
Unfortunately no. This is Star Wars and Disney and we don't live in a vacuum. Perhaps if the scene wasn't filmed like a commercial for the new Star Wars land Disney is building, but as it plays now it's as blatant a commercial as the product placement in Batman & Robin.
-New Creatures (Porgs)
-Comedy - I absolutely hate the dumb comedy and absolutely love the smart. Examples -- Dumb equals the sea cows. Smart equals Luke flicking dust off his shoulder.
I like the Porgs, but I like the Crystal Foxes even more.
Luke flicking the dust is a moment similar to him tossing the lightsaber. If you're into these films for the majesty, these jokes are not welcome. They take out a lot of air, much like most of Ragnarok. However, I don't take these films that seriously so I found it very funny.
The best lightsaber fight is Vader v. all in Rogue One though.
All previous lightsaber fights were closer to sword battles in pirate movies. The throne room is the first time it played more like a classic samurai action film. The Vader scene is uber-cool, but there are some jaw-drop moves in that throne room.