We cool
TLJ, the main issue I had was Canto Bight. The Casino I agree with people does feel too close to an Earth Casino. Unlike the Cantina in ANH, the aliens don't look as diverse as as well...alien. I attribute that to mo-cap vs make-up effects. Also, once they get to the animals, free them and have the chase, it both looks bad and gets a bit too cheesy. The storyline is salvaged once they leave the planet, but the damage to that section was already done. However, the rest of the script I love and I think it came very close to being OT quality. Just that one section
TFA, my main problem with the script is it feels too much like ANH and has too many recycled elements without putting a spin on them. Just making the Death Star bigger and kills multiple planets is not enough. This is a movie where I think nostalgia actually hurt the final product. Yeah, I think the new characters are different enough and they're fine heroes for the new saga, but it's the fact that the main story plays too many of the same notes. I understand why they approached the movie this way, I just wish if they were going to use so many similar elements, they did it more like TLJ did. Also, TFA has some moments that don't sit well to me. Like when R2 powers up randomly. What causes that? Oh and he happens to have the rest of the map! Convenient. Also, the map to Skywalker I also don't see as universe breaking as the Death Star plans. The Death Star was a threat to the galaxy, at large. Yeah, Luke is a threat to Snoke, but it feels more like they wanted to name drop Luke and explain his absence more so than have a plot that makes sense. Finding Luke is not am immediate thing like stopping the rebels from destroying their galaxy breaking weapon is. It just doesn't feel as natural.
As for the ROTJ payoff, as you even said, Luke's story is handled amazingly well. Given the 2 movies of build-up before it, seeing him meet the Empire and turn Vader is just a joy to watch. Now, ROTJ has an advantage TFA did not: 2 movies came before it. But, it's not exactly an advantage I can erase (I mean, when debating if the Patriots are going to win a game or not, you cannot discount that they have Tom Brady). I also love the beginning when they save Han from Jabba, and seeing Han come back to everyone gives that prologue great payoff, especially given how TESB left us off. We can say Han and Leia in the middle here sort of have less to do after that (and I would agree they don't arc as much), but even so, they're still great characters to watch even if their part of the material is not the juiciest. I also love how they decide to cut back and forth during the final confrontation. I don't feel it ever gets boring and has a great crescendo. I sort of just get absorbed into the movie at that point. Honestly, I get that way with TLJ as well (just, Canto Bight!

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