Understand that I am in my early 40's, grew up loving the original trilogy. I even tolerated the nonsense in the prequals because it was Star Wars and I understand George Lucas' shortcomings including his ego.
Also, I had ZERO expectations going in to the Force Awakens and enjoyed it as a whole because it felt like Star Wars.
As for TLJ... one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Even if it had nothing to do with the Star Wars universe, it was still a movie with almost no plot and entirely too much political nonsense that had nothing to do with the small bit of story that was there.
Now on to The Rise of Skywalker.
I would compare it to Return of the Jedi and Phantom Menace but better done overall. Where Lucas tried to use the Ewoks and Jar Jar to make the movies more kid friendly, TROS lightened up the primary cast, dialogue, and story progression.
There was a TON of apologetic pandering to the original fan base, almost annoyingly so, and Abrams tried his hardest to undo or explain away the bad writing from TLJ. They also provided explanations and back stories that were probably intended for TLJ which made the movie feel clunky at times but they were better included than left out.
The best character arc was Kylo.
You finally get to see the Knights of Ren but with no backstory (I think it's explained in one of the newer comics or graphic novels along with Snoke).
Overall I enjoyed the movie; to summarize, it was fun.
Feel free to ask questions and I don't mind providing spoilers... I will label them accordingly so people who haven't seen it have the option.
Also, I had ZERO expectations going in to the Force Awakens and enjoyed it as a whole because it felt like Star Wars.
As for TLJ... one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Even if it had nothing to do with the Star Wars universe, it was still a movie with almost no plot and entirely too much political nonsense that had nothing to do with the small bit of story that was there.
Now on to The Rise of Skywalker.
I would compare it to Return of the Jedi and Phantom Menace but better done overall. Where Lucas tried to use the Ewoks and Jar Jar to make the movies more kid friendly, TROS lightened up the primary cast, dialogue, and story progression.
There was a TON of apologetic pandering to the original fan base, almost annoyingly so, and Abrams tried his hardest to undo or explain away the bad writing from TLJ. They also provided explanations and back stories that were probably intended for TLJ which made the movie feel clunky at times but they were better included than left out.
The best character arc was Kylo.
You finally get to see the Knights of Ren but with no backstory (I think it's explained in one of the newer comics or graphic novels along with Snoke).
Overall I enjoyed the movie; to summarize, it was fun.
Feel free to ask questions and I don't mind providing spoilers... I will label them accordingly so people who haven't seen it have the option.