Why All The Whining?

Rating: 9/10 (8 January 2018)

I am befuddled and confused. Why all the whining? Or is that just the natural internet-ty-type thing to do?
What would make the Defenders of the Faith Happy, with a capital "H"? If the Rebel Alliance traipsed off to another galaxy to save another benighted population? If it were made more thought-provoking, Star Trek-kie-like?
I'm serious. I am totally confused by all this backlash. I saw "Star Wars" in the summer of 1977 in Syracuse NY while spending my pre-senior summer at Colgate University. I'll never forget that first screening on the Big Screen. I'd rank them this way - "The Empire Strikes Back", "Star Wars (A New Hope)/Return of the Jedi", "Revenge of the Sith" and now, yes, "The Last Jedi", with the rest of the trilogy flicks sort of lumped together - all sort of mediocre by comparison. ("Rogue One" was a pretty cool blast, for sure and deserves serious kudos)
TLJ is exciting, fun, touching and spirited. It's funny, dramatic, big and beautiful. It is not perfect but is a well done "turnaround" story for the third trilogy.
The franchise is locked in a box - it tells the same story over and over - a brave, hardy, flip, out-gunned and out-manned, good-looking band of freedom fighters do battle with the ultimate evil in the galaxy - as a backdrop for the tale of the Jedi Order and specifically the Skywalker Clan. With those constraints, there is not much truly new or genuine that can be forced in. But TLJ does a great job within the prison of success.
I'm not expecting "Moonlight", "Seven Samurai" or "The Godfather". I'm expecting good, rollicking inter-galactic fun with a big, thumping heart in the middle. And for my money, that's exactly what The Last Jedi is.