The idea of "the rise of Skywalker" being a Fordian lie to eradicate the line of Palpatine is really strong and very bold. The idea that the Skywalker bloodline dies out but the idea transcends the need for anything hereditary is an interesting but I think really fertile extension from the end of TLJ.
Similarly, the idea that the last Skywalker "dies" fulfilling the oath that Anakin swears on his mother's grave is really beautiful and profound in theory, and the film comes perilously close to making that work with the final scene, but no. It seems incidental instead.
In terms of Rey's arc, there are the ingredients there, but Abrams fumbles them EVEN WORSE than Lucas in the prequels. For example, I thought there was going to be some sort of link between the healing power and the lightning, and then maybe later on Rey would actually turn to Palpatine, like Anakin, to try and control the power -- like there's stuff that Jedi simply don't know, and this is inherent in her, but we were going to arrive at a point where she rebukes him and actively choses not to use her godly powers. But no, instead it's the Mace fight 2.0 but with none of the drama and the layering. Again, the components are not there, but Abrams' haphazard chopping and cutting and revising leaves us with nothing having any weight whatsoever.
You also have the INSANE decision to have the INCITING FUCKING INCIDENT happen... IN THE FUCKING CRAWL! That's... the thing! Instead you get a helpful Hobbitses telling them about nasty Snokeses and it's just like... yeah, shit, this is the problem we have now. Oh well. I guess that's the plot of the movie now! Fucking lame.
When you realise (I believe) that the opening planet is Mustafar and all the potential that could have come from that, and the second scene which is so eerie and fascinating and is loaded with potential, and then it turns out it's just Brofeld again saying "Hey, I did the plots for the other movies, including that one that didn't make much sense! Yes, this means that I've acted against my own interests in the past but who gives a fuck? I'm back baby!"
Nothing is funnier than Hux outing himself as the spy, and you laugh because you've already forgotten that there was even a spy plot because for all intents and purposes THERE ISN'T.
The best sequence is the Kijimi/Star Destroyer duel, which is one of the few times the film comes alive and has actual FILM IDEAS. Stands to reason it's an extension of a Rian Johnson concept. Unlike his predecessor, Johnson didn't box the next film into an impossible corner, and yet somehow Terrio and Abrams manage to disadvantage themselves through basic failures of storytelling. I would like to give benefit of doubt and say that this feels like a lot of really important stuff was left on the cutting room floor or retooled or reshot. There is, despite everything, potentially a really good film buried in here somewhere, but it would take a Tanis-level excavation (don't get me started on the film's feeble Spielbergian aspirations).