This is not to say that I don’t like the movie. TLJ is the sequel I have the most respect for, since it seems to be trying to say something. But the way it treats the characters and the universe seems almost flippant at times, even toward story elements of its own invention.
Who cares about Anakin’s/Luke’s lightsaber?
Who cares about Snoke?
Who cares about Hux, the First Order, or even the Resistance?
Who cares about the Sacred Jedi Texts?
Whereas prior Star Wars movies would earnestly engage with their own universe and story, this one pulls back and asks: who cares? Instead of pitting good versus evil, or even one side versus another, the story asks whether or not we should even care at all. Even if eventually the answer is yes, we should care, as it seems to be saying in the end, the question still hangs over the entire enterprise and feels like a mutation of something deep in the DNA of this surrealist fantasy. It is the dreamer pinching themselves and wondering why they don’t simply awaken from the dream, which is both the most unique strength of the film and also its greatest weakness.
Just a weird movie, and difficult to describe.