I'm worried about the future of the franchise

Rating: 5/10 (28 December 2017)

I really tried to give this movie a chance but I can't help but feel a little disappointed.
Some of the old "Star Wars" themes have been adapted here like e.g. the whole "Jedi-training on a desolate planet"-trope.
I have mixed feelings about it. It was a clear nod to the original trilogy but felt a little bit cheap due to the rather poor execution; unlike Luke's training the training of Rey only consisted of meditation sessions. A real Jedi should know how to wield a lightsaber (in addition to the mastery of the force). In the original trilogy Luke received his lightsaber training by Obi-Wan with the help of drones. Rey on the other hand never learned how to properly wield a lightsaber and yet Luke pretends like she's the future of the Jedi order.
My main critique for the movie is the fact that there isn't much meat to the story. During the entire first half of the movie only two things are really happening; Fin is looking for a codebreaker while Rey is being "trained" by Luke. In that regard the movie overstayed its welcome by being longer than it should've been.
As always they've changed the look of Yoda yet again. It's as if they can't make up their mind. For me personally the Yoda in this movie looks a little bit too chubby (but that's just my personal opinion).
I also wasn't a big fan of the newly introduced horse-like alien species that's know as Fathiers. They were way too anthropomorphized and looked creepy as a result of it (horses with human faces, basically). Their faces were almost human-looking but not quite there yet; uncanny valley territory. The crystal foxes on the other hand were a cool addition. They looked quite magnificent.
The one thing that this movie lacked was an iconic lightsaber fight. It's almost a tradition that a Star Wars movie should include an epic lightsaber fight between the two opposing forces; (even Episode VII had a lightsaber fight. Although, I would't call that one epic in any way)
Episode I: Obi-Wan & Qui Gon Ginn vs. Darth Maul
Episode II: Obi-Wan & Anakin vs. Count Dooku
Episode III: Obi-Wan vs. Anakin
Episode IV: Obi-Wan vs. Darth Vader
Episode V: Luke Skywalker vs. Darth Vader
Episode VI: Luke Skywalker vs. Darth Vader
And no, the fight at the end doesn't count since Kylo Ren and Luke are mostly talking during the entirety of the scene. Kylo is literally just dishing out two blows before the fight ends. Disney has pretty much ruined the classic "lightsaber duel" tradition with this movie.

The only interesting fight in this movie was the scene where Kylo and Rey had to fight the elite praetorian guards in Snoke's throne room. I should mention however that the fight would've been much more enjoyable if their opponents were less generic.

There was one obvious mistake in the movie. Let me elaborate; after the fight with Kylo, Rey just magically makes her way up to the hangar and flies away in the Millennium Falcon. This is extremely unlikely since:
a) Snoke's personal starship is heavily guarded which would've made it impossible for her to just disappear like that (out of Snoke's throne room mind you) and
b) Snoke's starship, which is suitably named "The Supremacy" (it's a mega-class star destroyer and the only one of its kind), is 37 miles long. That makes it a gigantic maze for an intruder. In other words it would've been extremely unlikely for Rey to both; find the hangar and make it to the hangar without being seen by guards.

The one thing that positively surprised me was the ending. The plot twist that was introduced during the showdown was ingenious to say the least. I just wished the movie had more of these moments; these elements of surprise.
Final verdict: it's watchable but don't expect to be mindblown. The previous movie was, objectively speaking, way better. And the fact that critics have praised this movie can only mean one of two things;
a) they've been bought, or
b) they're out of touch with reality.