Well I kinda enjoyed it. Because I lowered my expectations and detached myself. Not really that hard, though. Didn't really connect with either of the characters in this trilogy the way I did with originals. But the same applies to prequels. Neither Anakin, Obi Wan nor Padme were especially likable. It took Clone Wars to make decent protagonists out of them.
It's a visual and auditory spectacle, and it's worth it to see it in the cinema just for that.
But as far as I'm concerned, they messed it all up in the start, when they decided to copy/paste A New Hope, badly. You can't go from rebels vs empire to prequels explaining how it all originated and then reset it again like the original trilogy never happened. There's all kind of ways in which we could have gotten menacing villains even without empire. Evil rebels, jedi infighting, sith terrorists, new invaders… Come on. Entire fictional universe at disposal and you don't have the guts to try something new?
Anyways, I didn't like TFA, because it was an unimaginative reboot, with multiple inconsistencies. I liked TLJ because it was gutsy and mixed things up. But it made a real juicy mess of things. After 2 completely different episodes, it would be hard to make a satisfying conclusion. And I'd like to say it couldn't have been done better. But it really could have.
! Bantering between characters is kinda fun, but it's all fast paced and inorganic. These people haven't been together all that long to be acting like old pals. It's a little forced, and it shows.
! Rey is progressing like crazy, is extremely talented. Even a chosen one, an anomaly like Anakin couldn't do the half she does after years of training. And it's all because she's a Palpatine, but it wasn't foretold anywhere, so it seems detached from established universe. Surely someone, somewhere, sometime would have a vision. Especially when you add the fact she's connected to Ben, which is a pretty big deal. So, detached.
! Involuntary force lightning destroying that transport was a little too much. And so was the fact Chewie was in a different transport nearby. That's such a cheap way to create suspense.
! Knights of Ren? Wtf was that? Starting from Ben pimping his helmet. It looked silly and it served no practical purpose. The Knights are carrying meat cleavers and axes and I just don't buy that after being exposed to inquisitors with lightsabers and purge troops and regular fucking troopers with electrostaffs. They don't even get their time to shine, because that last fight with them, while Rey is fighting Palpatine's guards is some of the most uninspired action in all of Star Wars.
! By the time they were both standing in front of old Sheev and he rejuvenated himself, I was half expecting him to pull out a lightsaber and start sommersaulting around like Yoda in Attack of the Clones. And was disappointed when he didn't! At that point I just wanted a cool overproduced lightsaber fight out of the movie and didn't care about consistency, because people in charge sure as hell don't.
! Those star destroyers with their cannons… Sure, couple of decades ago it took an artifical moon to support such a destructive weapon. The scale of it is just too unconvincing to get a pass. But boy that scene with rebel ally ships coming en masse was really epic. Like wow.
! Back to Rey vs gramps, why couldn't he just stop with the lightnings when he saw Rey was repelling them with those swords? Nobody's perfect, but also nobody who has survived so long is that stupid. Would have been better if he was beaten by joint effort. Then Ben depleting his life to revive Rey would be a lot more convincing.
! Chewie receiving that medal in that manner was so cheesy. They should have done that sooner in the trilogy if they wanted to do it. This makes it seem like it was a last minute add on, done in a re-shoot or something. Another thing from that part of the film that felt silly was the two gay women kissing. Really takes you out of the movie for a second. We're talking about a character with a couple of lines and another character who we've never seen before. It's like 50% of the reason commander D'Acy even exists is to kiss with another woman. The whole scene felt forced and artificial. Personally, would have looked a lot better if they were shown kissing among other people greeting, hugging and celebrating. Is two women kissing a normal thing? Yes it is, for me anyway. And for the majority of the society. So why are you treating it as something special, when it's really not?
! And yeah they can go fuck themselves with Palpatine sending his message mid movies on Fortnite. What kind of drug are these people on?
Might be back with more, but these are the things I remember the most.