Well below average as a stand-alone Film, not even bad as a Star Wars Film

Rating: 2/10 (5 January 2019)

The first major complaint is that we don't really understand what the situation in the Galaxy is. The First Order come across as a fringe group of right wing extremists who somehow have the arsenal of US Military. In the meantime, the New Republic - who we understand were until recently ruling the Galaxy - have the equivalent of a few jeeps and some AK47s. Although the Force Awakens is responsible for getting the franchise into this situation, the situation was not irrecoverable. However this film just digs itself deeper into that particular hole. Even the opening crawl gets it wrong: The very first sentence states that the First Order rule the Galaxy. Later on, it states that they are rising. Are the First Order ascending, or are they ascendant? How come the First Order are so powerful and the New Republic so weak? Why didn't the New Republic assimilate any of the Imperial military technology? If you're expecting answers to these questions, then your expectations will be subverted.
The second major complaint is the vandalism of the Star Wars universe. A lot of what happens in Star Wars doesn't make any sense in terms of laws of physics, but there are rules. These rules were already well established in Episode 4 and then only embellished, but never broken. This allows a suspension of disbelief. With this film, we see the arbitrary introduction of new Jedi powers, ways to destroy ships etc. Not only does these moments of Deus ex Machina prevent suspension of disbelief in a way which pulls you out of the movie, they also introduce inconsistencies with other Star Wars films.
Other things pull you out of the movie too - badly timed jokes which ruin any tension, sub-plots which go nowhere, contrived situations and so many 'gotcha', double-gotcha and triple-gotcha moments that it just becomes tedious.
These are only the things which make this movie objectively terrible. There are then many other aspects to this movie - especially relating to how characters are treated or portrayed which are divisive at best.
The only redeeming features are that this film is visually stunning, the acting is as good as the confusing character arcs allow, and the story of Rey/Kylo is shaping up to be genuinely interesting. All this somehow makes it even more painful to watch though - in terms of total budget, it would have cost practically nothing to make this an amaying movie.
All in all, this film isn't just not good, it actually breaks Star Wars for anyone who's got any sort of attachment franchise. The only way Episode 9 can work for me personally is if I can just accept that the story is where it is, and forget how it got there.