So I'm a huge Star Wars fan, and I'm not feeling the sequel trilogy, and its not about the Lore disconnects, or the fact that both movies have replicated earlier movies. Its that the bad guys just aren't good at their jobs.
Allow me to illustrate
1) A new hope - A monstrous Empire that can build a weapon that can kill planets, and they do it coldly and professionally. Their leader is a cold reptillian killer and the top henchman is an armored monster who's ruthless and has the force. They lose the deathstar to a one in a million shot, not due to incompetence. One of the main victories by the Rebels. The rescue of the Princess happened because the Empire let them go to set a trap.
2) The Empire Strikes Back - Even with the loss of the Death Star they have a massive fleet, they crush and scatter the Rebellion, and their leader to this point has a single minded obsession on Luke Skywalker. Then we find out that this monster has a boss and he must be powerful. In the end, the Empire is ascendant, the Rebels have lost everything and are lucky to escape with their lives.
3) Return of the Jedi - Up to a point this is a empire that when they lose a massive planet killer they build a bigger one. The Rebels fall into a trap and are almost wiped out, until George ruins it by making these awesome storm troopers doofuses against the Ewoks. The Empire is poised to win until he's betrayed.
4) The Phantom Menace - The main enemy the Trade Federation invades a planet and handily beats the hero's. But the real villain the Sith are working in the background and are using the Trade Federation to gain power in the Republic
5) The Attack of the Clones - The main villain the Sith are playing both sides of the war like its a chess game, they're playing a long patient game. The war itself is irrelevant and a Jedi Trap that will lead to the fall of the Republic
6) The Revenge of the Sith - The villain wins everything. He slams the lid shut on the Jedi Trap and ends democracy and brings the hero over to his side. This is as complete of a win by a villain in movie history
7) The Force Awakens - The First order looks awesome, but outside of a win at the start, get thouroughly smoked by the incompetence of its leaders in Ren, Phasma and Hux. While the Death Star was destroyed by the Force and a lucky shot. Star Killer is destroyed because Phasma looks cool but is worthless, Ren is a pouty teenager and Hux is a boob.
8) The Last Jedi - The First Order continues to fumble. their main ship the Sovereign is also their capital and does their manufacturing of ships and weapons. Its destroyed as well as most of their fleet by an admiral who took 10 minutes to turn the ship around to ramming speed and nobody saw it coming, their other major weapon the Dreadnaught was destroyed due to the incompetance of Hux and the First Order Leadership. Ren's obsession with Skywalker allows the Rebels to escape. Snoke who knew the history of Darth Vader doesn't see his apprentice's betrayal coming and dies a worthless death.
The first Order is pretty much been a terribly executed bad guy and Kylo Ren is just not a good villain at all.
The Prequel trilogy had its issue but the storyline of the rise of the Sith was great. The Empire in the OT was a real threat until the last 30 minutes of Return of the Jedi. The First Order are boobs. I expect that the next movie will focus not on the first order but on the battle between Rey and Ren.
