The reason the new trilogy hasn't stuck with me whatsoever is that there's no soul. There's no heart to it. There's no character development. We're heading into the final act here and I still know jack all about Rey (she's an orphan who can use the Force, okay), Finn (he's a rebel, okay), Poe (he's a pilot, okay), Captain Phasma (absolutely NOTHING, but hey, she seemingly died), Snoke (set up to be a huge villain only to be cut down as soon as they meet him in 8 and there's nothing more about him ever said, okay)... The only character who has had a half-decent focus so far is Kylo Ren and, unfortunately, that's mostly because of where he falls in the family tree and how his training with Luke affected him.
I don't really get this criticism. I mean, let's compare, looking at what was
actually given to us about those characters:
-Rey: She's an orphan forced to scratch out a living doing hard labor for, basically, a slaver. When confronted with a struggle for the common good, she overcomes her desire to just return to the life she knew and to instead take up the struggle for the common good. She is apparently very force-sensitive, despite apparently NOT coming from a well-known lineage. She is also headstrong and tempted by the dark side. She sees the good in people, and she sees the value of the force in helping with the larger overall struggle, so she does everything in her power to convince the last living Jedi in the galaxy to train her. She is also simultaneously drawn to the bad guy while being drawn toward destroying him if necessary.
-Finn: Taken from his family at so young an age that he cannot remember them, and brainwashed to be a tool for the New Order. He rebels against that because of the goodness in him--which eventually makes him a reluctant participant in the Resistance. When push comes to shove, he is willing to put himself on the line and sacrifice himself for others.
-Poe: Incredibly skilled pilot who has is overly self-confident, to the point where he takes unnecessary risks that, rather than helping others, make things worse due to his lack of thinking through the consequences. He appears to have learned the hard way that that kind of approach can be destructive, and is set up to have that arc pay off in the final act.
-Kylo: Comes across as just an immature, unstable, self-centered person, but is more complex and conflicted than that. He is ruthless and sees himself as serving the greater good, but is blinded by his own ambition. After killing his father and betraying his master, he is now THE leader of the most powerful military force in the galaxy and appears to have all but crushed any real resistance.
-Snoke: Big bad villain whose past is obscure. He is the puppet master behind everything. He is incredibly powerful and looked to be unstoppable. Unfortunately, he is also incredibly dead (or so it seems).
Vs. this as of the conclusion of Empire:
-Luke: Orphaned and lived with his uncle and aunt as a poor moisture farmer, but there is more to his family history. After his aunt and uncle die, he becomes kind of a classic underrated hero figure who rises above his circumstances, frees the princess, and trains to become a powerful jedi himself. And--oh, crap!--the most evil guy in the galaxy turns out to be his dad. But at the end of two films, he's still whiny and petulant, and doesn't REALLY seem to have learned his lesson.
-Leia: Princess. Respected leader. Love interest to Luke--no, wait--make that Han.
-Han: Self-absorbed smuggler, who is in trouble with some gangster named Jabba. Pretty impressive pilot, or so he says. But is able to see the greater good and that he can be part of the solution, so he gets involved. His motives are always somewhat opaque, but you get the sense that he is genuinely a good guy.
-Vader: Someone that is not to be trifled with. At all. And yet, we get the sense that he is not in charge and he knows it. Ruthless, but may have a soft spot for his son. Not much more depth than that.
-The Emperor: The puppet master. Very powerful. We don't know anything more than that.
I mean, is there really much difference in the character arcs of the main characters two films into each trilogy? They look pretty similar to me. Yeah, overall, you can say that the plot overall, and how the characters fit into it all, feels a bit derivative by now. But I think that's to be expected. I think what has been done with the characters to this point is VERY similar to what we saw in the OT. And for someone who doesn't like the OT either, that's fine. Or for someone who can acknowledge the lack of depth in the OT and has just grown tired of it and doesn't feel like that sort of thing can be sustained for now 9 films without losing interest, that's fine too. But let's not pretend that there is a vast difference.