Well, I just got back from seeing this. I haven't read the bulk of posts here, but have gleaned some of the main critiques. My own thoughts:
I thought it was good overall. Flawed, yes. I would put it about on par with the Force Awakens, but for different reasons. Pros for me were the acting by some of the principals--Hamill, Driver, Ridley, Isaac--visuals were amazing, and the mood, score, set pieces, and cinematography were very well done/presented by and large. Storywise, I like that they took some risks. Force Awakens (and Rogue One) was so dang by the numbers that it was off-putting to me. Here, I would have done some things differently, but I applaud the willingness to not do the safest thing.
On the other hand, there were a number of issues with the story in my mind. A carryover from the prior film was that we still don't really know how the First Order achieved this level of power and influence, and now I'm confused as to how the rebellion is so small at the starting point in the film. These are such essential story elements that the film would have done well to better flesh this out, even with exposition on the order of the guy recognizing salt on the ground instead of snow.
Kylo Ren's arc was really odd to me. He was so conflicted, then seems resolved, but still oddly conflicted. . .they could do a better job letting us know where he's going. He is committed to Snoke, then he wants to scrap everything and rule the universe with Rey, then he immediately decides to only destroy the rebellion and Luke when she snubs him? Still whiny kid I guess overall.
Snoke was handled oddly. Everything they showed suggested he is all-powerful, Rey gets tossed around like she is a rag doll, but then Kylo who got schooled by Rey gets the best of Snoke. . . Leia allowing Laura Dern to stay behind was really weird. Leia is old as dirt. If someone in command is to stay behind, why not her, and let the younger guard stay on to fight into the future? But Leia is happy as a lark to jump on that escape pod and leave her second in command behind. Made me dislike her character quite a bit.
The anti-war mongering seemed a bit weird. Not sure where they were going fully. Really silly and simplistic to say that the rich are only arms manufacturers. There are no other thriving industries in the Star Wars-verse? Ending with broom kid was a weird way to foreshadow the next film. Are children going to come to the aid of the rebellion? Seems like the non-aligned groups who will inevitably rise up against the Order could have been better explored here. Who are they, what do they do, and why might they dislike the Order? All they all slaves working for the arms manufacturers?
Also, some characters I thought didn't work well. Del Toro's character's mannerisms were annoying, Fisher was incredibly wooden (though I don't blame the filmmakers for giving her the role that they did). Hux was treated like a comedic foil, but it didn't work that well IMO. Phasma seems that much more pathetic now, though they kept portraying her like a bad-ass in how she was shot. Chewy, R2, and 3PO serve no meaningful role.
Putting all that aside, I give it a 6.75/10. I enjoyed it. Most of these issues turned up on further reflection, and didn't distract me during the film too much. Luke's ending felt good. Not a movie I'll want to revisit anytime soon, but that's par for the course with Star Wars and Disney nowadays.
