"I'll destroy you, and her, and all of it"

Rating: 3/10 (20 May 2018)

It has been a while since I reviewed a film on IMDB. Most of the time, I just enjoy watching them, but this time I just had to say something. I can't guarantee that I'll avoid spoilers, so don't read below the asterisks this if you haven't seen the movie.
In a nutshell, I'm a lifelong Star Wars fanatic and I do not like this movie. In many ways, I rate this lower than the maligned Prequels. The film was released for purchase well over a month ago, but I will not be buying a copy. In my video library, there is not going to be an "Episode 8".
There. I said it. I feel better now.
Let the spoilers begin.

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I rate this film as 3/10. One star for John Williams' soundtrack. One star because it's Carrie Fisher's very last movie. One star because Luke tells Leia toward the end of the movie: No one's ever really gone." If it hadn't been for any of these, I'd give it 0 stars. Well, actually IMDB requires votes of at least 1 so I'd have to find some reason to give it one star.
There's something different about this movie and about this series now that Kathleen Kennedy is in charge. She is just fine with allowing the directors total control over the plot and character development of every film. If that means that all continuity with the rest of the series is destroyed, then so be it. At least the "creative freedom" wouldn't be bridled.
If you were a movie director, could you think of a better job than this? You have complete control to do whatever you want - no rules here. Rian Johnson knew that it wouldn't matter what he did in this movie - even if the fans rejected it, they'd all see it dozens of times and the film would make well over a billion dollars world-wide.
So he was free to:
1) kill off beloved characters,
2) destroy Rey's parentage,
3) give BB8 special abilities he didn't have in the previous movie,
4) introduce brand new paper-thin characters,
5) destroy the entire Rebellion and the Jedi,
6) re-define the Force,
7) burn down the ancient Jedi tree, and
8) add Yoda's stamp of approval on the entire mess.
At one point in the movie, Kylo Ren says, "I'll destroy you (Luke), and her (Rey), and all of it." This is just what Rian Johnson set out to do. All of his decisions about what to do with this film point in only one direction: He wanted to bulldoze the franchise so he could start his own trilogy at some point in the future and re-do the entire series.
I'm going on record right here and right now. I'm not seeing any more Star Wars films created, directed, produced, or even influenced by Rian Johnson for the rest of my life.