One star for the acting, and one star for special fx.

Rating: 2/10 (16 December 2017)

This movie was completely pointless....neither the plot nor the characters are really in a place different than they were when TFA ended. We can't be distracted by ridiculous new creatures and flashy special effects. This was a long, drawn out, meaningless movie. Finn, who was (imho) the most important and original of the new characters introduced in TFA, was given a pointless *side* plot for what? To devote more time to telling Kylo Ren's lame back story? There was little to no rising action and I couldn't even pinpoint the climax of the plot for you because it was such a mess. So much of the hype going into the movie (who are Rey's parents? who is Snoke? etc) was quickly dismissed. Amazing actors like John Boyega and Kelly Marie Tran were seriously under utilized.
I give this move 2 stars: one for the acting of John, Kelly, Oscar, and Carrie because they are all amazing and their presence alone would have made me more than happy to see this movie but they were either under utilized, given demeaning plot lines, or both, so I can really only add one star for them. And one star for the special effects team because they did a really good job and it's not their fault the story was so bad it was up to them to make the movie entertaining somehow.
I'd also like to say that I'm sick of all the patronizing humor in these movies. Or really every new movie in general. It's very contrived and honestly off putting. There's a difference between genuine camp and unoriginal, stereotypical "humor" which is more often than not inserted into the most bizarre situations that it manages to achieve an even greater level of tone deaf and unpleasantness. This sort of "humor" is in a lot of new movies so I guess I can't really fault TLJ for it but still. I'd hoped Star Wars would be different.
Disney/Lucasfilms listen up!! If you want to make a good Star Wars movie you should check out fan theories. There's a lot really great stuff out there!!! Pay those people for their incredible and inspired ideas and storytelling. That's a movie I'd probably see more than once! This one? Maybe if the DVD comes to my local library and every other DVD is checked out that day.