Few redeaming qualities....

Rating: 4/10 (28 December 2017)

As a stand alone film, this movie is a 6.8 at best, mostly due to cinematography and a few good actors. When you take into consideration 40 years of storytelling, countless novels, comics, and fan fiction to use as reference material, and surviving cast and crew members who have considered the future of the saga, there is no reason to give this film anything higher than a 5. Combine all of that with one of the most (perhaps the most?) lucrative and successful production companies of all time (Disney), and this film should have been gold.
I won't go into all of the details, as most other reviewers have covered all of that. I will say that the biggest disappointment is not simply the direction that the writers and director took with the story. After all, no one really knows what is "supposed" to happen after RotJ, though we have speculated for years; the creators are free to create a story that they see fit. However, one would assume that that story would have some consistency and bare some resemblance to the universe that had been previously created; this film does not do that. It is as if the writers completely disregarded the existence of every previous installment.
I was not a fan of Episode 7, and gave it plenty of criticism. However, just as people who were disappointed with Episode 1 later found many redeeming qualities, I learned to focus on the positives of 7 and hope that some of the kinks would be ironed out in the next film, being Episode 8. However, this film seems to ignore all of the things that were established only one episode prior. The biggest questions such as Rey's parents, the Knights of Ren, who Snoke is, etc., are either not answered or quickly dismissed. New characters that seemed so menacing in 7 are either bumbling idiots or unintimidating, such as Snoke, Ren, Hux, and the wasted Phasma. If the film had stayed consistent within its own trilogy, it could have been good (not great), but it takes a huge step backward. Perhaps the biggest redeeming quality of 7 was that it had a fairly solid story/plot, and that it was enjoyable to watch as a stand alone film, but Episode 8 fails in plot, story, acting, script, and as a continuation of the saga.
To be fair, there were a few redeeming qualities. I think Mark Hamill's performance was good, though I disagree with how his character was written. The scene featuring Rey and Kylo in the throne room is very enjoyable and features a cooperation that we have never seen before in a Star Wars film. Finally, as unpopular as it may be to say this, I actually like Poe's character, and find him to be the most consistent and enjoyable of this film and the last.
If I were to sum up what this film reminds me of, it would be a combination of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Independence Day: Resurgence, neither of which were very good (especially the latter). However, due to all of the material that was at the writers' disposal, I have to rate this film well below those two mediocre efforts, and give it a well earned 4/10.