Better than TFA, but not quite up standard

Rating: 7/10 (17 December 2017)

Ok, so I went to watch this movie hoping that Disney would redeem themselves from the fiasco of The Force Awakens (TFA) and they have managed to SOMEWHAT do that.
CONS:
The movie was too long for the content that was revealed/displayed.
Leah should've been killed off the moment she got shot out to space. The move she pulled to save herself ruined it for me. There should've been some sort of communication between her and Ben Solo/Kylo Ren before she was killed.
Luke Skywalker's character in this movie is for most parts bad...bad in the sense that you want someone to kill him. He is supposed to be this champion Jedi but instead, he comes across as a weakling who has given up hope a long time ago and is begging people to kiss his *** to do the right thing. #epicfail
Acting wasn't too great...the only improvement from TFA I saw was Adam Driver. Oh yes, John Boyega performed well once again...the rest of the 'actors' wasn't up the scratch. Rey's acting ability is very questionable Disney,.......
The Jedi saber fighting is lame, really lame...try to take out a page from the Episodes 1, 2 or 3. It needs to be fast & complicated.
Why create the build-up for Snoke in TFA and then kill him off in this episode, especially showing his potency with the use/knowledge of the Force? Anti-climax of note this is. #epicfail
A slow space chase?....is that really the best you could've come up with Disney? #epicfail
Not revealing Rey's lineage in this movie was a major fail.
Not training Rey properly = FAIL.
Keep Phasma in G.o.T please, or give her a proper script to bring her character out properly.
Hux was just plain annoying....he tried too hard to come across this bad-ass character but was nowhere near pulling it off. Get someone else to fulfill this role please.
PROS
The graphics are great for most parts, however,...the last battle on the abandoned Rebels station showed the red debris on the cameras, unprofessional to say the least.
Adam Driver really made Kylo Ren his own in this movie. It's not to say there weren't any flaws in the character, but he has really gotten the max out of the script given to him and I don't think I'll bash him in this movie, he's done really well.
The movie only really 'heated up' when Rey confronted Luke Skywalker about what Kylo Ren told her about what truly happened. From that point, I was pretty hooked.
Snoke's display of his Force knowledge & power was great. I would have liked to see more though....perhaps a lightsaber battle with Luke Skywalker with or without Rey and Kylo.
Great job bringing Yoda back in this movie.
For all the Cons listed above, this movie isn't really that bad...it really grabs your interest the moment Rey challenges/confronts Luke Skywalker. Might not be totally worth watching in the cinema, but definitely worth the watch, so wait for the release on Blue Ray.
In conclusion, I think that TFA already showed us old-school Star Wars fans which direction this new franchise was heading, despite our ignorance in the hope that it'll improve. To Disney's credit (yeah, I can't believe I'm saying this), they didn't mess this movie up COMPLETELY. My advice to them will be to rather look at all the previous movies and try the continuity as well as expand your new ideas into that.....do that, and this franchise will explode and you'll win back all the old-school fans properly.
This movie is worth the watch, so don't listen to all the overly-negative critics...spend the bucks and watch it, you won't regret it.