It is a total and complete failure as a Star Wars film.

Rating: 1/10 (23 December 2019)

There is no coherent story arc we are all following along with, not in the way we awaited Return of the Jedi after Empire Strikes Back left everything hanging and unresolved.
The writer's blew it, Disney blew it, from the outset, because they didn't invest in a three film coherent story arc or in characters (or arguably casting, with the exception of Adam Driver) that could carry it, or build up to a third film that would leave us all waiting in anticipation.
The result is that the final entry feels obligatory and exhausting rather than exhilarating and fresh. The old mainstays from the originals all return and it's nice to see them, but we don't care all too much about the current lot running around.
There are also story and plot choices that are highly questionable, particularly with Palpatine's return. The ending is also painfully predictable with few surprises. There's a creative deficit here, filled with familiar scenes that tell us "this is what Star Wars should look like" but it's empty.
Shame. In more competent hands, this all could have been glorious. (And TLJ is clearly the best of the three, and not a bad film in its own right and unfairly panned; Luke's scenes were spectacular, and Mark Hamill delivered an amazing performance. This, however, will not age well.)