Takes RIsks With Some Successes, But a Lot of Failures

Rating: 6/10 (17 December 2017)

Let's start with the good. For one, no one can say that The Last Jedi is a mere rehash of a previous Star Wars story, which was a (pretty fair) criticism leveled at The Force Awakens. I respect Johnson for trying to keep the franchise fresh, and I think that made for a better movie going experience. If TLJ simply retread Empire, then we would hear a lot of complaining about that, too.
Of course, the fans had their own ideas about how the story would go, and the fact that certain theories were very far off the mark clearly disappointed some. Snoke's abrupt death and Rey's (apparently) anonymous origin seem underwhelming, but I can understand why the writers made these decisions. As with the Emperor in the original trilogy, Snoke is peripheral to the main story. We didn't need to know his background, just as no one knew how Palpatine rose to power before the prequels were made.
Like many fans, I also subscribed to the Rey Skywalker theory. I would argue that TLJ doesn't definitively rule out that possibility, but again, Rey's origin story isn't particularly relevant. The main conflict of this trilogy is Rey's search for belonging and Kylo's internal conflict. TLJ really sharpened the core themes, and we got to know see different sides from Rey, Kylo, and Luke. These characters and the dynamic between them really carried the movie.
Now to the bad. TLJ's two major failures are 1) too many characters, and 2) a lack of understanding about how a Star Wars film should feel.
The first misstep isn't entirely Johnson's fault. In the original trilogy, we only had Han, Luke, and Leia as the principal characters. Now the screen time is spread thin between Rey, Finn, Poe, Luke, Rose, and Kylo. Rey, Luke, and Kylo are well-developed in TLJ, but that comes at the expense of Poe and Finn, who both fall into the "needed to give them something to do" trap.
Finn and Poe really should have been merged into one character from the start. Alternatively, relegate Poe to a cameo in this film and delve more into Finn. The Finn/Poe storyline feels pointless because there isn't any meaningful character development. Without character development, it is hard to get involved in the movie. I think that is why you have many critics saying that the middle of the movie was slow. When you don't feel emotionally invested in the story, it is difficult to feel tension or get excited.
While TLJ can be forgiven for having to deal with questionable choices from TFA, the second category of mistakes was entirely self-inflicted. As others have already pointed out, a lot of the dialogue was extremely awkward and inappropriate. A few examples:
-the phrase "Godspeed" appears once or twice. As a general rule, there should be NO references to God in Star Wars - after all, people believe in "the Force."
-colloquialisms, such as Snoke's use of "spunk" and Finn's reference to "cops". This totally yanked me out of the movie.
-poorly timed/forced humor
For all of TFA's flaws, it at least felt like a Star Wars film because the writers understood what made it work. I am not entirely sure that Johnson "gets" Star Wars on a personal level, because some of this scripting is truly baffling to me.
There are a few more moments that stick out for their silliness, such as *that* Leia scene and the pointless Yoda cameo. Like Jar Jar, many fans will probably point the finger at these obvious (but relatively minor) flaws as the reason why the film didn't work. In reality, the problems are a bit broader. As a conventional standalone film, TLJ is pretty good, which I think is why you see so many great reviews. As a STAR WARS movie, TLJ is largely a miss. The risks that Johnson took would have paid off had it not been for the litany of glaring errors that drag the experience down.