Just another episode

Rating: 6/10 (27 December 2019)

I don't get why this is being reviewed as the worst in the Star Wars franchise --- there is always The Last Jedi at the bottom. But the strapping-death-star-cannon-to-star-destroyers pretty much certified Disney's lack of imagination.
Go search for the original script by Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly that Disney decided to shelve, and be amazed how a perfect ending to a beloved franchised was crushed by Disney execs (and JJ).
But let me first talk about the good things out of this movie to get it out of the way.
Rey and Ren's story is really, really well done. I almost wanted Ren to live. And Leia's sendoff, Ren's redemption and Chewie finally getting his medal? Got me right in the feels. The desert sequence is fun and the deserting stormtroopers angle is worth exploring. Overall the movie isn't bad, just ordinary.
The best superhero movies nowadays are considered good because they have a good villain, with a believable motivation. Much like with Joker, the recent DC movie, he's the bad guy, he's killing people, that's bad, but the director conveyed his motivation, and the audience understood, or even sympathized with. Also there is Thanos.
And then you have JJ bringing Palps back. And Palps is like, bad guy gonna do bad things for the sake of being bad. Don't forget that Palps had been the Emperor for many years. He won, remember the prequels? And what has he done with his victory? What's his motivation and endgame? It wasn't told! There is no Extended Universe explanation of preparing the galaxy for the Yuuzhan Vong invasion.
Even the final space battle is lackluster. Considering that the population of the galactic empire lies in the trillions, the lack in number and variety of the ships is staggering. The writers have to resort to a stupid "no shield in atmosphere" excuse to even the battlefield, when there could have been a second reinforcement of Ben Solo leading the First Order fleet against the Sith fleet after turning to the light side, making one epic battle.
Furthermore, having seen Avengers: Endgame earlier this year, the reinforcement scene and the "I am XXX" scene are having far less emotional impact than the director would expect. The scenes even have the same "pause and zoom" camera movement as in Avengers.
My other complain is that the whole episode feels rushed. The countdown thing is a stupid idea, which ironically force the writers to strip the adventure portion of the movie. And rallying the whole galaxy to battle in just a few hours is lame. To be honest I wouldn't mind a 3-hour Star Wars movie if it helps the narrative.
Oh and that thing being a Wayfinder and not a Holocron? And the dagger thing being a map that has the "recently" destroyed Death Star? But Luke was already looking for it before his self-exile? Please don't underestimate the intelligence of Star Wars fans.