Disappointing on many levels with some good moments

Rating: 4/10 (20 December 2019)

A mixed bag, but ultimately disappointing.
For me, this movie (and the sequel trilogy itself) doesn't have the vision, the story that needed to be told to feel it's justified.
But focusing on this instalment:
There were moments that worked (I would be lying if I claimed otherwise). Rey mind-tricking the Troopers, followed by Finn and Poe's reaction got a genuine laugh; or the scene between Ben and Han, ending in Ben tossing away his lightsaber. Unfortunately, these are few and far between.
Things I did not like (in broad strokes):
Characters - I appreciated that we got more time with Rey, but for me it came far, far too late. By this time, we should've known her, and I couldn't help but think that her claims of no one actually knowing her were right on the money. By the third movie of the original trilogy, we've spent lots of time with the main characters, had a firm grasp of who Luke, Leia and Han were, saw them all change... The same cannot be said for Rey.
The others feel inconsistent and almost like a child's version of grow ups: Finn and his background had so much potential, but apart from a brief hectic conversation with another ex-Trooper it never gets a mention. Poe is competent / incompetent, as the story dictates. He's comic relief, sidekick and occasionally saddled with the more brooding-serious moment. But any chance of pathos or tension is quickly followed by a kiddie-friendly joke. - These are characters that are not consistently written, I cannot really know them and feel for them. So I don't.
Worse, this trilogy butchered the original characters. ALL of them: Han as an absentee husband and father (with no explanation in-movie), Luke as the bitter hermit whose hope is all gone, Leia as a static figurehead of hope... Well, this movie doesn't buck the trend: I understand they had to work with footage shot earlier, but Leia's characterisation remained stationary across all the movies. Where's the woman who faced off against Darth Vader and held her ground? - There was a strong female character already right there (if that's your main concern) and these movies make her seem a one-note character.
Oh, and Palpatine - one of the highlights of the Prequels - is made a laugh. He does not exude a sense of menace or dread. He's simply alternating between a bad tv commentator (content to narrate Rey's actions, but not coaxing, not goading) and the final boss of an AAA game, complete with snazzy lightning attack. Right, because that's all why he was feared.
Story - I don't buy it that this movie (and this trilogy) just had to be told. The plot is painfully unoriginal and mediocre, at best. The fanservice galore doesn't make it better. Yes, I get the references, but all they do is remind me of better movies... It's doubly insulting since Disney wiped out the entire Expanded Universe (and no, not all of it is gems, but there are a few) and chose to retell the previous plot, making Star Wars feel small and claustrophobic. There's nothing other in this universe, apparently, than evil Sith and heroic freedom fighters and Jedi. Yawn.
Plus, the worldbuilding doesn't work for me - just how strong is the First Order? How did they gain influence? Where do they get their funding? How do they keep browbeating the many, many planets so effectively? And don't tell me to read the novelisation or the comic or whatever. I may choose to buy other products based on my impressions of the movie. If that's a convoluted mess, why would I? But I digress.
Tone - admittedly, this is not only a problem in this movie. But: just who is the intended audience here? Kids? The flying stormtroopers, the Disney plot-armour (it's a damn war, but there's barely any casualties among the good guys... riiiight) seem to say, yes. Old fans? The tons of fanservice is clearly intended for them. The nonsense-romance between Rey and Kylo? Uh, I guess to each their own. But anyway: the tone keeps shifting nauseatingly quickly. - And trying to please everyone may end up pleasing no one really. It certainly doesn't work for me.
I tried to see the good in this movie, but for me personally there's just not all that much. Worse, it brings down the entire Saga (after all, it is a shared universe and a single story...)