I started thinking about Rogue One again, and I started to realize more about my problem with the Resistance in TLJ. Aside from it being the organization the protagonists work for, why do we care about them? Especially when the film tries to set up a very grey world, blurring the lines between good and evil. Yes, they’re fighting the fascist regime, but the film doesn’t really make an effort to set up the First Order as an oppressive force on the Galaxy they conquered, either.
We can argue the quality of the characters and the structure, but Rogue One showed off just what was at stake in the film. The Empire was shown as a nearly omnipresent and oppressive force, willing to level a city (and pretty much the surrounding continent) to deal with some insurgents giving them trouble and test out a new toy. We’re shown the importance of the Macguffin and why it matters that the characters obtain it.
In TLJ, we’re more told about how bad the First Order ruling the galaxy is; the only times we’re given a real reason as to believe how terrible it is is when they destroy the Hosnian System and brainwash children into being stormtroopers in TFA. Otherwise, we’re got really given a reason as to why we should give a damn who’s in charge.
How is this any different than the OT?
In the OT:
In Star Wars we give a damn because the empire destroyed the legendary the Jedi Knights, killed Luke’s family and apparently his father, swept away any symbol of democracy the Senate represented, and blew up a civilian planet to find rebels. As the force that opposes this empire, we’re given reason to root for them.
In ESB we’re not really given a reason to give a damn, but the film doesn’t even really pretend they’re important; as soon as the Battle of Hoth ends they dispense of the rebellion almost entirely until the very last scene where Luke gets his robo hand. That said, they keep on showing why we should care that the Empire’s in charge with Darth Vader’s lack of concern for human life and lying to Lando by ordering the capture and lockdown of Bespin despite already getting what he came for.
In RotJ admittedly it relies on the momentum of the first film as to why we should care, but it gives us the return of the planet cracking Death Star, and if I recall implied that they abused the ewoks.
In the Last Jedi we’re relying on momentum from Starkiller Base and Finn’s chilhood to establish that they’re evil. The film doesn’t do much on its own to make us really concerned that they’re in charge. They use “They’re connected to the First Order” to make the casino a bad place, only to undermine it by having the resistance buy from them too. If anything, the implied abuse of the CGI horse-goats does a better job of selling us that this is a scummy planet than it being connected to the FO does.
EDIT: Oh, and TLJ tries to simultaneously make us want to care about the near destruction of the resistance while also trying (and not really doing a good job of it imo) to paint them as a grey, less than good organization. The OT never tried to have us care for the rebellion and paint them grey.