1. The Leia ejection/return to the ship. I audibly gasped. Reminds people why all these younger people still fuck with Leia like that. Reminds people of the strength of the force in the Skywalkers. Great narratively, great character-wise, great from a suspense/thrill perspective.

2. The casino sequence. From a thematic perspective, literally the WHOLE FUCKING MOVIE hinges on this sequence. From a narrative perspective, it's completely justified before and after. Furthermore, it's one of several moments in the movie when the heroes' plans don't work-- which I found *thrilling.* I literally can't believe that people don't like this. I also can't believe people who love The Force Awakens with that WACK-ASS OCTOPUS-LOOKING MOTHERFUCKER CGI SEQUENCE where they waste the actors from The Raid have the audacity to complain about the CGI in this sequence. The CGI during the casino was better than the five worst CGI bits of TFA.

3. Luke projecting himself into the fight. Luke's entire narrative was about denying himself the Force. It makes perfect sense that his final act is using the Force to an extent we've never seen before. He was so connected that he was able to project to everyone in the area. They set this up with plenty of context about how the Force is with every single person, so if Rey, Ben, and Luke can see one another via the Force, it makes complete sense that a master of the Force can find a way to summon enough strength/conviction to make that event happen. Again, loved loved loved this turn.

4. Luke's death. He becomes one with the Force, much like Yoda did. He takes the mental toil on knowingly, summons everything within him, and does what needs to be done to save Leia, Rey, and the Resistance. I keep seeing people want him to Obi-Wan Kenobi himself in real battle. Why? His entire character arc was about learning to stop ignoring the Force and embrace it-- it makes complete narrative sense for his character to use it to such a degree that he exhausts himself, finds comfort in his final act's success, and fades away.

5. The kiss. Did I feel love sparks throughout between Finn and Rose? No. Did I think that a soft kiss in the literal face of adversity fit perfectly with both Rose's character and the overarching theme of celebrating tenderness and love in the face of hate? 100%. Didn't bother me in the slightest. Actually works even better the more I think about it afterward.

6. Rey's meaningless parentage. SO INSANELY THEMATICALLY IMPORTANT. Anyone can be the next Rey. This one I refuse to even debate.

7. Snoke not being some callback to a previous character. GOOD GOOD GOOD. If he was some older dude disguised as "Snoke," I was ready to fucking boo the screen. This reveal goes hand-in-hand with Rey's. Anyone can be the hero, anyone can be the villain. It's totally hard as fuck to be either. Snoke emerges somehow-- doesn't really matter how-- exploits a young dude who's hurting, climbs the ladder, electrocutes fuckers until his movement nearly wins. Sometimes the guy who tries to kill us all is our relative. Sometimes he's a shady government official. Sometimes he's just some random-ass asshole. If the Force is with all of us, we all have the capacity to turn super-dark. I had less than zero problem with Snoke being no one we previously knew. The fact that he died (a) similar to the Emperor, blinded by the hubris regarding his protege, and (b) not because someone made a turn, but because the killer, Ben, was just fucking tired of dude fucking with him and using him as a pawn. Everyone uses Ben, from his family and Luke to those on the Dark Side. Snoke being just an evil asshole and not someone with some notable lineage/secret background helps underscore that point.

I'm happy to discuss further the other moments that some people seemed to hate, as the more I talk about the movie, the more I realize how well-structured it is, how thematically tight it is, and how the moments that people seem to hate are precisely the moments that made me love it so. I've never fought for Star Wars EVER until this movie-- I never thought I'd be the guy passionately defending filmmaker choices in a Star Wars film. But here we are. It's that well done.