This movie redeemed the sequel trilogy for me.

Rating: 9/10 (23 December 2019)

NO SPOILERS: Went in with less than enthusiastic expectations, left the theater feeling very elated. This movie was much better than the previous two entries, where both The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi felt somewhat like "first" films, as in, the sequel trilogy could have been off to a good start if either of the two were the "first" to kick-start the sequel films under Disney. The fact that J. J. Abrams came back to direct only makes TLJ feel even more like the odd film out, being of a different tone completely from J.J.'s style and approach. If J.J. had stuck around to oversee the whole trilogy, I think it'd have wound up much more cohesive an overall narrative. BUT... that didn't happen, and this film kind of feels like both a second film in its first half and a third, final film in its last act, which didn't bother me; it just made it feel all the more epic, in my opinion.
Personally, I didn't like TLJ or TFA all that much, but Rise of Skywalker really went leaps and bounds (no action scene puns intended) to redeem the sequel trilogy for me, and it so excellently elaborated/expanded on the lore established in TFA and connected the sequels in a powerful way to the Lucas-era Star Wars films. I'm glad C-3PO had more screen time (I wish R2 wasn't so short-changed throughout this trilogy) than before. I loved the cameos. I actually found Palpatine's presence to be very creepy and well-done. Leia's re-used scenes were pretty well incorporated, too. I wasn't distracted at all and found the rewrites to have been meticulously crafted to the overall narrative. Her role in Rey's life is very fitting to her character and I think it paid tremendous homage to Carrie Fisher.
All in all, I think I might actually try and go see this again, but it's becoming evident that, in terms of Star Wars films at least, what the critics think and what Star Wars fans think about what is "good" Star Wars and what isn't... is very different. As a fan of Lucas-era Star Wars (yes, even the prequels), I found Rise of Skywalker to be the best Star Wars film since Revenge of the Sith. I wasn't looking--like many critics might, I'd imagine--for the craft of filmmaking here. As a Star Wars fan, I was looking for cohesion within the previous Star Wars entries. What I found was something powerful, and something that paid respects to the push/pull symbolism of the Force and the Jedi/Sith lore itself. I loved this movie.