Visually stunning but story gets lost

Rating: 7/10 (1 January 2020)

Overall, I found this film very enjoyable and would rate it much higher had it not been part of a series of films where it undermines most of the main concepts. Sandwiches between TFA and ROSW, it makes little sense that Johnson tried to take this film in a different direction and little sense that Disney let him. A saga this big and important needed consistency and coherence, so the same director should have created all three films.
That aside, to judge this film on its own merit, it's fun, exciting, and enjoyable for the most part. A few factors make it stand out - porgs being #1 on that list, and the #2 being the stunning visuals. The throne room, Crait, the split. So many of these scenes could be turned straight into posters - that's how visually spectacular they are.
However, Johnson seemed to sacrifice some substance for style. While the film looks incredible, the plot is a nonsensical at times. The jaunt to Canto Bight feels pointless, as does the Finn/Rose romance element and Rey's endless finger-clicking in a hole. Plus, splitting our trio - Rey, Poe, and Finn - takes away potential impact and rapport. Benicio del Toro's character feels improbably created simply to include the actor in the film, and his plotline is arguably the silliest.
If Johnson has invested more time in building a better plot and less on making the film look beautiful, more time on continuing what TFA started and less on taking it in his own direction, we'd have ended up with a much better result.
Did I still enjoy it? Yes. Will I watch it again? No doubt! But do I wish it had been done differently? Absolutely.