[psmith2.0]

No, everything about it rings truer, and sounds better, than anything I actually saw on screen since 2015.

I agree...the three core characters would've reminded tight. Han and Leia's love would've endured (and grown) and Luke Skywalker certainly wouldn't just thrown up his hands and said "screw all this". The people who made these movies never watched the original trilogy, I'm convinced. And if they did, they didn't like it. Which is the only thing that accounts for the piss-job they attempted three decades later. "Let's make everyone a broken, unlikable asshole...that's Edgy™"

Abrams and Co. just wanted to tear down the original trilogy (and its aftermath), which wasn't necessary. They could've added Rey (and whoever else) without undoing all the original movies (and characters) accomplished. The whole thing just leads a very weird "what's the point" taste in my mouth. Especially now, now that we know Palpatine can survive Force lightning and blowing up...the same way he was (allegedly) offed in this new idiotic movie. Which, to me, just screams "okay, so he's gonna return in a few decades to do some more villain shit, and so nothing in this trilogy really mattered or accomplished anything either").

If people don't stay dead and gone, then it's hard to act like "stakes are high" and "it's now or never!", etc. Because these idiot movies are clearly showing that isn't the case. No, just kick the can down the road a few decades and deal with it when it, inevitably, pops up again. When Palpatine shows up a third time (and I'm sure he will, why wouldn't he?), just make sure he gets some Force lightning directed his way and blow him up. That'll (temporarily) do the trick for 20-30 years. Then he can be someone else's problem down the road.

WTF kind of writing/message is that?

I buy the Snoke/Vader thing way more than the idiocy they came up with.