Spoilers.

Going into a film at a midnight screening with a set idea of what the film will be will adversely cloud your judgement.

Having watched it again I’m completely on board with what Rian Johnson wanted to achieve from his entry into the Skywalker saga. I thought I wanted to know who Snoke was, which OT characters would be Rey’s parents and a kick ass Luke Skywalker but this film isn’t interested in that and leaves the series with the new central characters ready for anything JJ wants to throw at them in Episode IX. And what characters they are, we fell in love with Rey, Finn, Poe, Kylo and BB-8 in TFA and now they have a clean slate to move forward, you don’t need a chosen one to bring balance it can be anyone who can harness the Force in the right way. Luke achieved what was needed, maybe not in the way I thought but imagine what The First Order troops are thinking now after witnessing a Jedi Master take everything they could throw at him for him to just step out of the carnage and fight their Supreme Leader.  The fear is there for them and the hope is there for the rebels.

Expectations work both ways as well, I thought this series would be all about the redemption of Kylo and how that wouldn’t work after he killed Han but I think this film puts that idea to bed and now he’s the big bad who will be defeated at the end of IX by a girl who comes from nothing.

The whole Snoke fight is one of the best in the series and even on the first viewing I was on edge in that scene and particularly the Crait battle where I really thought they were going to kill off Finn. The film has plenty of great moments from those mentioned above to the opening battle and the hyperspace crash.

It’s not perfect I’m still not on board with Super Leia or the casino planet subplot but I’m excited again for Ep IX and can’t wait to see how they end this sequel trilogy.

“Let the past die, kill it if you have to” As a massive fan of the OT I never thought I’d agree with this but just maybe it was needed to move the franchise forward.