Doesn't deserve all the hate, but

Rating: 8/10 (18 December 2017)

I understand why hardcore fans didn't enjoy this movie. I'm myself a pretty huge fan of the series, and I didn't mind it as much. It seems like the people complaining about all the new stuff, is the same that complained about how The Force Awakens was too familiar to episode 4. The movie has it's issues, some weird scenes that didn't make that much sense, and some bad phasing with Finn's storyline. The movie is different from other Star Wars films, since the main story feels like one big scene, while the other storylines where there to fill out some gaps. Unlike episode 4 which feels like it had taken place over several weeks, if not months, this movie feels like it takes place in a couple of days. There where some great moments, the cinematography was excellent (I was scared there would be too much "symbolism" that would take over from the story from some of the trailers (I through the red smoke on the winter landscape was too visual, but it made sense in the movie), which wasn't a problem at all), and most of the characters where amazing. It doesn't feel as much as a Star Wars movie as some of the others, but it's certainly not the worst one ever, as people are saying, but it doesn't beat the originals, which is good. While the other people are saying that the entire saga now sucks, because of this one elemental that was added, is simply wrong. The Star Wars saga is still amazing, and even though this wasn't the episode everyone had hoped for, or was hyped about, it's till a good movie. The reason people dislike it so much, is because they're comparing it with the original trilogy, which is simply wrong to do.
TLDR: The movie is great, has a few flaws that can be quite annoying, but NOT as bad as everyone says. Not the best Star Wars movie, but certainly better than the prequels.