Episode 9 can still be OK. I mean, what were the absolute dumbest things about episode 8?
Now I have admittedly not even watched the entire film, but I have read the major plot points.
So the dumbest things that happened were (from the consensus I have gathered)....
Snoke's stupid death, and unexplained back story.
Luke's stupid death and associated opportunity loss.
The handling of Leia.
Finn's entire arc, Rose and Phasma being useless.
Rey's apparent non-important lineage and associated opportunity loss.
The entire plot in the end concerning the resistance and their entire motives given the outcome of what happened with Luke's force projection and death and Finns attempted suicide mission and all of the conundrums associated with that ( what was accomplished, why did they do what they did etc)
Now I didnt list those in order of how dumb each plot point was, just listed them in general. Some of those things are redeemable, and some arent. There are even more dumb things in this movie, such as the wasted screen-time with Canto Bight, the ridiculous gravity bomber scene space battle early on, Marry Poppins Leia, the list goes on and on. But the major points that people are upset with I have listed (did I miss any?). JJ Abrams has a huge task ahead of him, but he can rework the whole Rey backstory thing and give it more weight, (even if it doesnt mean associating her with previous characters from a biological standpoint) He can still somehow revive Finns existence and make him more integral to the story or actually give him the death he should of gotten during the final battle in episode 8. Leia and Carrie Fisher passing away will be interesting as to how they go about writing her out, but if he does it right he can theoretically wrap that up in a way that fans are OK with. The two things he cant take back is Snoke's death, and Lukes death. Those are huge fucking problems. Obviously most fans would have probably preferred that Luke died in a dignified way after being a fucking badass at somepoint at the end of EP 9, and Snoke could have been further explored and remained a nebulous force that was still providing some type of balance to Kylo (instead of the stupid fucking force communication bullshit with Rey).
So with that said, Im not sure how JJ can repair something that is so utterly broken. He also obviously cant fix a retarded plot that was ep 8 and everything associated with the characters actions and "growth" that they experienced in that film. He cant just wipe all that shit away and start over. He has to somehow manage all of those frayed plot lines and weave them back together to not only bring closure to this trilogy, but basically salvage the entire franchise in fans' eyes.
edit: As far as what he COULD do, I think he needs to keep it simple. That involves giving fans what they want, kind of like what he did with Ep 7. So that means somehow linking Rey to Obi Wan, whether she was like secretly orphaned, or there is something to her unique place in the Star Wars universe in terms of the world itself, not just her being randomly "special". Give some type of explanation of what Snokes motives truly were, why he was doing what he was doing, where he came from, etc. Maybe do it in a way where Kylo is reflecting so its not so heavy handed. Lastly, he can pay homage to Luke by using his force ghost as some type of mechanism that provides council and or encouragement to Rey or something just so fans can get some "revenge" on Rian Johnson and get their Luke back in SOME way.
I doubt all of those things will be done, but at the very least he can throw fans a bone and not try to be too clever with how shit shakes out. I honestly wouldnt mind just seeing some great lightsbaer duels, with some badass space battles (not too much as I feel they have focused more on that recently) and awesome new planet locations and visuals that arent fucking stupid. It seems like its a huge task but its still Star Wars, he can do it. As bad as Ep 8 was, Kylo Ren is still kind of interesting and Adam Driver is a great actor. If they do something intelligent with his story arc, and somehow make his end satisfying and clever, he can totally do it.
