Perhaps the most disappointing chapter of the saga

Rating: 4/10 (18 March 2018)

It's not that this movie is bad from a production standpoint. The cinematography is actually very good. But, when producers wish to make a sequel, and more so add a chapter to a legendary series, they have to accept that certain character points are non-negotiable.
For example, imagine the collective outrage if the next James Bond film shows Bond shooting the Queen, and turning traitor against Ole England!
But, in his presentation of the Luke Skywalker character, that's about what Rian Johnson decided to do. Luke Skywalker did not get betrayed by the Dark Side in Kylo Ren, rather Skywalker helped to create it by trying to murder his Padawan in his sleep! And Ren wasn't merely his Padawan -- he was also Skywalker's nephew! Blood is supposed to be thicker than water, which is precisely why one could accept the death of Han Solo.
What father cannot be blinded by trying to save his son and putting himself in danger to do so! But, Luke tried to murder his nephew based upon a suspicion of what Ren might do, and not upon anything he had actually done to that point! The character who defied both of his Jedi masters, and put his life in grave danger, to save his own father, decides instead that the life of his nephew is a necessary murder victim because of a sense of future evil in him!
This sort of gutless betrayal is something that Jedi simply do not do! If this had been an original film, then the plot twist would have been interesting. But, in betraying the values of the Jedi laid out by seven previous films, Johnson's chosen presentation betrays the canon laid down by George Lucas.
This is precisely why Mark Hamill went public with his criticisms of Johnson's treatment of the Skywalker character. The undoubted pressure of Hollywood finally forced Hamill to relent and withdraw his remarks, but one cannot doubt the sincerity of Hamill's initial criticisms, nor their accuracy!
Other weaknesses of this film is how Johnson whimsically discarded characters that were created for central roles in the previous film "The Force Awakens."
Supreme Leader Snoke was set up to be a powerful wielder of the force. In this film, he is casually killed as one might do to a bumbling idiot! Captain Phasma is set up to be an arch enemy and powerful adversary. In this film, she falls down a hole created in her ship and sucked out to her death early in the film! Benicio Del Toro is a great actor with magnificent promise, but he is rendered a mere footnote in the narrative with little actual screen time.
Poe Dameron is presented in The Force Awakens as a seasoned and savvy officer, with all the chops of Han Solo. In this film, he is literally treated as though he's a reckless child, complete with obligatory motherly slap across his face by a character presented as his commanding officer, and erstwhile force wielder Leia Organa. Funny, she never slapped Solo despite the frequent times he tried her patience.
The basic narrative of this film can only be explained by Disney wanting to destroy every last remaining character from the Lucas period, and if that clean break was the intent, then mission accomplished!
But, in the process, millions of dedicated fans of Star Wars were treated to a gut wrenching betrayal of what previous Star Wars movies represented. The effort renders an otherwise well produced movie as a shocking and bitter disappointment.