Okay.
I think I understand your reasoning. I will certainly concede that I liked TFA more then TLJ on an enjoyment level and that I do think
Knives Out was better then TJ (I think better then TFA on a craftsmanship level, too, although I still enjoy the other more). I guess Johnson's movies seem like there's more themes to them, while Abrams' stuff is very much character-focused popcorn adventure.
Why was it out of character?
As far as it being introduced in the wrong place, I kinda liked how it forced Rey to adjust her perceptions as she figured things out. I mean, over the movie, both her and Luke and right and wrong about different things, sometimes even a mix on the same point. I like that kind of writing and find it more interesting then the straight right/wrong difference.
Always liked the Canto Bight stuff myself (new characters, a break from the more serious stories) and capped off Finn's story of growing beyond NIMBY-sim (TROS dropped the ball on not giving him any further expansion). I thought they made a couple mistakes with Rey, but still within bounds. I think Poe suffered from needing to get a story arc, since he wasn't designed to be anything more then a supporting character who died off in TFA. IMHO, I think TLJ was a deconstruction of Kylo as a "Draco in Leather Pants" (as TV Tropes would put it), with the twist of the movie revealing that the praise and worship it had ostensibly been piling on him was just a wishful thinking. And then TROS went and tried to make the fake Leather Pants-ed Kylo you're seeing in TLJ into what the character canonically "always" was.
Hmmm.
Fair enough. Wonder what happened to the type of direction Abrams did in that movie when he made TROS.
I only compare Hamill to his past work in the series.
Dunno, have to say that I think Johnson and Gareth Edwards did the best cinematography post-Disney.