Completely agree that it wasn't bleak enough. The bad guys won but the good guys we care about got away and never really felt threatened in any real way, even though they tried throughout the film to instill that feeling unsuccessfully (part of why it dragged on terribly). Have Poe or Finn be taken away or imprisoned in a way that makes them feel out of the heroes grasp? Maybe separate the protagonists. Have Rey lose a fight or be made to feel not invincible but vulnerable? Maybe she even loses her connection with the force and cant save her friends. That changes things in a much better way as to how it leads into the final chapter.
The way ESB ended was fantastic in that way. Han in carbonite? Luke without his hand or saber after being defeated and the empire with the upper hand on them? Really makes you want to tune in to see things be put right, but you're unsure and uneasy about how they will be able to overcome the odds against them to reunite and win.
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