The visual effects looked kind of stupid. This isn’t just a matter of their being models or CGI, since apparently both were used, but more to do with the way they moved and how they related to the camera. If you’ve ever watched Mike Verta’s video on the motion of the spaceships and the starfield backgrounds in the original film, you’ll know what I’m talking about. This just felt wrong, because I could never suspend my disbelief and feel like I was looking at anything that could have been really happening.
I agree with you on a lot of this, for at least SOME of the movie.
I felt like the spaceship movement was decent (though kind of over the top, but what do you expect in a modern movie) in the beginning (Finn/Po, Rey/Finn, Resistance attacking First Order on Maz’s planet). They kept it at least somewhat restrained.
HOWEVER, I think the dogfighting and everything at the Death Star battle (I refuse to dignify it by calling it “Starkiller”), is complete shit and I pretty much hated it. Really terrible use of effects.