The original 6 episodes are the true canon

Rating: 4/10 (16 December 2017)

Before seeing Force Awaken I did not have any expectations for the new trilogy because I knew that the production crew had discarded George Lucas's story scripts. Nevertheless, I was, excited to see my childhood heroes reprise their roles. The way I looked at it, if these movies make canonical sense and follow the rules of the universe that Lucas had created, I would enjoy them. Unfortunately, this was not the case.
The Force Awakens had many amazing scenes that paid homage to the original story (pan out of Rey in the AT-ST, the "garbage" Millenium Falcon, and both Han and Leia's introductions). These were also the only bright spots. Kylo Ren, depicted as one of the most powerful force users ever, slaughtered an academy of padawans under Luke Skywalker's watch, forced the latter into exile, was bested in a duel by someone who had just picked up a lightsaber for the first time. Additionally, Rey seemingly had no weaknesses in other domains (speaks a number of languages, can pilot the falcon, knows Jedi mind tricks) and certainly appears to not require any training from anyone. Both Luke and Anakin had to overcome their own internal trials of pain and suffering along with dedication to the Jedi way in order to achieve the height of their power. Next, Han Solo's death was forced, predictable, and unnecessary. It was an awful way to kill off a character so integral to the original trilogy. Overall, the movie was superficial, did not follow the rules of the Star Wars universe, and was clearly not the product of Lucas's vision. All of these factors were enough for me to disregard the new trilogy, though I was still hungry to see Mark Hamill onscreen in action as Luke Skywalker.
The Last Jedi was worse. The plot was hardly developed and the story moved along erratically. Character deaths were teased far too often and the humor was mistimed and ridiculous. Johnson had the opportunity to make up for Force Awakens by building upon Snoke's character (his origins, his rise to power, and his whereabouts during the events of the original saga), explaining Rey's powers, portraying the academy slaughter, and giving Luke Skywalker a meaningful role! Instead, Snoke is killed off in an even more predictable manner than Han, Rey is powerful by chance, the flashback sequence was sparse and showed little detail of the actual events, and Luke spends the majority of the movie pouting until he meditates himself to death (another forced and unnecessary death). By the end of the movie, it appeared that it served more as a launchpad for future Star Wars movies, as Luke and Han are dead Carrie is no longer with us. Are the fans expected to feel excited by the prospect of another random boy having the force? If the trilogy continues in the direction that it is going, he will also be as powerful as Rey, without any teaching. In Disney's Star Wars, one becomes a master of the Force not on merit and dedication, but by being born into it.
In sum, Star Wars will always be the original 6, movies that brought us so much joy. The new face of the saga is something completely different, one that is superficial and seeks to make money over maintaining integrity of the story. Though I was glad to see Hamill back on screen in the Last Jedi, his performance was marred by the horrible plot and unnecessary death. Needless to say, I will not be watching episode 9 nor do I accept the new trilogy as canon.