OK slept on it.
The four actors/characters I really liked were Mark Hamill, Poe, Finn, and my Favorite character and actor is the captain of the dreadnought that died in the opening battle. He was the only villain that was truly competent at his job, well acted, and felt like a threat to the main characters while he was onscreen. I want him to come back as a cyborg, kill all the other villains, and take over the universe. He is that good compared to the other villains.
At the onest, I'll note that I'm a casual fan. I like the series and I am kind of into sci-fi, but I'm not a die hard fan nor do I have the emotional attachment may other do or that I did with Naruto, so I came in with minimal expectations and only want an enjoyable movie-going experience. It was a gift for my son and brother-in-law so as long as they enjoyed it, and they did, I was satisfied.
Someone rated it 6.75 out of 10 and I've seen user scored in the 50's or like 3.7 or so out of 5. And that's fair, it's about where I'd put it. A decent enough movie that took some risks, but upon closer inspection has weaknesses in execution that make it weaker than it should have been and I can definitely see why hard core fans would be less forgiving, but some of the things they hated didn't bother me.
I like Finn. He's one of my favorite characters in the new set and I like the actor who plays him. I like Mark Hamill, I like the guy played Poe, but I am ambivalent about what they did with him. The plus was an arc where he actually grew as a person, which a number of characters in the movie lacked. On the negative side, it contains "Sasuke" type problems: i.e. he does stuff that would have cause he own allies to jail him if not outright execute him in virtually any military, but it ends with Lei and the Vice Admiral saying they like him. They leave the impression that he will be commanding the rebellion in the Third movie as the vice admiral is deal and so is Carrie Fisher. I like him growing into the role rather than just having it handed to him, but um....the execution could have used some work.
I hated both the Vice Admiral, and Rose. The Vice Admiral because her very existence made the plot the mess that it is. Rose because...dear god where to start. The actress being called wooden is an insult to trees. She comes off as overly serious & grim, also most of the movies attempts at heavy-handed preaching about something came from her (other then the sheer nihilism that emanates for the Island's branches of the story). Every time she was on screen it felt as if the movie wanted the audience to give her a standing ovation. She also feels like her existence was force into the story, that she exist less for the story, and more to pander to the Asian demographic for that sweet sweet Chinese's Renminbi that Hollywood has fallen in love with these past few years. Yes, they did that with those two monks in the Rouge one but they shockingly did not feel as force, out of place, or unnecessary as she does.
The villains were a joke. Other then that one Captain... What a great character. Anyways. After two movies of this. How do they think they can make Kylo Ren the main villain of the final movie, and anyone can take him seriously? All he has done is whine, mope, have huge hissy fits, and fail at every tasks he is given for two movies straight. Has he accomplish anything other then killing of those villagers? But now he has killed his master, so by default he the main villain. All I can hope for is they do kill him. kitten Redemption! General Hux was it? He wasn't that bad in the first film. Now? I all can imagine is him and Kylo getting into sissy slap fights. Captain Plasma she has been defeated by Finn twice already in embarrassing manners. Are they going to bring her back in 9 just to kill her again? Snoke, what an un-intimidating waste of a villain.
I really like Kylo Ren and I like Adam Driver as Kylo Ren. He doesn't want to control the world and I'm not sure he cares all that much about the first order other than a means to an end. He wants to burn it all down and is horrible conflicted. He's different from other villiains. I thought Driver and Mark Hamill had the best performances. There are two things I wished they done differently with Kylo...one I wish he'd have something more to offer Rey to turn to the dark side. I wish I felt that there was a genuine risk she'd turn or maybe even did, if momentarily, rather than just her pulling him to the light. I wish the pull was more mutual. Luke mentions her not even trying to resist the pull initially, but it doesn't go anywhere. The other is that the movie never explains the allure to the darkside to him. When he runs off, Luke says he had already been turn by Snoke. Okay....so why?
Some of the structural problems were things gifted to Johnson by Abrams. When Jedi ended the way it did, it was always going to be hard to do an episode 7 without tearing down the accomplishments of 6. Boruto faces this same problem. But because Abrams decided it would be rebels v. empire substitute with rebels behind the 8 ball and that he was going to set in time that would fit the ages of the actors that played Luke, Leia, and Han. There aren't a lot of places to go with that setup than don't lead to the conclusion that their victory in Jedi is fleeting and, thus, the work they did was ultimately for naught. I'm not surprised this would produce a bitter Luke, but, they did need to do more to sell this, especially since Luke completely rejects everything after that. I like the idea of bitter old Luke, but it needs so much more explanation because its so unexpected. I'm glad he tried something different here, it' execution wasn't good enough. The other issue is why is the first order so much larger, better funded, and better equipped than the Resistance. I think it would have been better as a small, bubbling movement beginning to threaten a fragile recovering republic, but the republic is basically dead when force awakens again.
I think the movie should have ditched the Finn/Rose sideshow, and most of the stuff during in the case in exchange for spending much more time on Luke, Kylo, and Rey and fleshing all this out. Speaking of Finn...he has a deep personal hatred for Phasma, but I have no idea why. I get that he hates the first order, but he seems to reserve a special hate for her and neither movie explains this. I think deviling into this would have been a better use of character than that the bit with Rose.
Yes, the villains, except for Kylo and that Commander are cartoonish and might as well wear t-shirts that said "We are Nazi's." The only good part of Hux is his belittling of Kylo as it helps sell the idea that he's nothing more an incompetent Vader wannabe, but Luke's description of Kylo undoes that. He's portrayed as incompetent, but then Luke describes his "raw power." Yeah, I know they aren't incompatable ideas, but Luke didn't see him as incompetent.
As to your question, are we supposed to take him seriously, the movie is unclear. His own allies have never respected him. They only comply now because they fear him. I don't mind his incompetence screwing everything up in the long run, but I'm not confident that they will stick with this and fear he will be running a well-oiled machine in movie 3 (that's defeated by the hero's awesomeness) rather than running it into the dirt which is more consistent with who he has been portrayed as for most of the first two movies. I'm not sure he'd care too much if he did this.
As for Rose, holy crap. She is the only character I unequivocally hated. I can find positive every character but her. She comes off as the political voice of the director, writers, and producers. What Brian and Lisa eventually became for Family Guy and The Simpsons. She has to two stupidest lines in the whole movie.
I'm torn about going into the casting, because I think most of the actors and actresses do solid jobs with their material, but the messaging from the director, writers, and producers is about as subtle as being hit with a sack of hammers.
I would probably feel like I did when I Naruto ended. I only like Carrie and Mark they are/were great people!!
