The fact that The Last Jedi scored 91% on Rotten Tomatoes with professional (read: leftist) film critics but only 47% with audiences should have been a big clue for Disney. Ditto post-TLJ toy sales falling off a cliff.
Yes, the shark has jumped for Star Wars. I wanted to like TLJ, truly I did. But when Rian Johnson had Luke Skywalker non-chalantly toss his light sabre over his shoulder into the ocean in the **very first scene** is when I had realized that Johnson was giving a big FU to the franchise. Small wonder that Mark Hamill had griped about the film to the point Disney had to muzzle him.
What amazes me is that Disney let Rian Johnson wreck the franchise so thoroughly that there is nothing left going forward, where Kylo and General Hux are so laughable as antagonists that it leaves JJ Abrams screwed for the third film.
“Kylo and General Hux are so laughable as antagonists”
I have to disagree about Kylo Ren. While they did harm aspects of his character, he’s certainly resolved to wipe out the rebels now. I’m actually rooting for him and the Empire to be honest.
You’re right about Hux though. They could have made him into a tyrant like Grand Moff Tarkin. Instead, they made him into a joke.
And there was absolutely no need to kill off Captain Phasma ... they needed to keep her around and make her more evil. Her death was anticlimactic.