Should Kathleen Kennedy be let go from the Star Wars megaproject?

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Clearly. So clearly that the beam travels at visibly sublight speeds and you can somehow see the explosion of five planets from half a galaxy away on Maz Kanata's planet not just instantly, but clearly in the day-sky and those five planets are visibly so far apart from each other, that Maz Kanata's planet has to be in the very same system that the explosions are happening in, yet isn't. It's a bunch of badly thought out hogwash that undermines the story-telling and it's indicative of what is going on in the creation processes of other parts of the story, namely: A whole lot of no thinking.

That's because it's sub hyperspace

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Sub-hyperspace

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Box office has more to do with the property and the reception of the previous film. The Last Jedi had some pretty large drops after a huge opening weekend, and Solo completely bombed. The reason why is still an open question right now, but the controversy surrounding TLJ is one possibility.

Getting a good cinemascore isn't hard at all, especially for blockbusters. Cinemascore isn't a sample of general audiences. It only measures opening night, when theaters are filled with hyped up fans who are likely going to have fun no matter what. Transformers: Dark of the Moon got an A, for example. Tyler Perry movies regularly score A or A-. VanDerWerff is taking cinemascore to mean something that it isn't even attempting to measure.

I don't take the much-discussed rottentomatoes score totally seriously, but it does tell us something imo. Trolls and alt-right types have just as much reason to dislike TFA or Black Panther or Wonder Woman, but they weren't able to put a dent in the IMDb or rottentomatoes user ratings of those films. Solo's ratings aren't too bad despite the negativity surrounding Star Wars right now. So why is TLJ uniquely vulnerable? The obvious answer is because a lot of people disliked it.

But that still doesn't explain how the film got good reviews from critics.

[Admiral X]

Considering all the controversies there have been with money, gifts, and the like, not really. And even discounting that, The Phantom Menace got good reviews when it first came out, but it has few defenders now.

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Considering all the controversies there have been with money, gifts, and the like, not really. And even discounting that, The Phantom Menace got good reviews when it first came out, but it has few defenders now.

Oh of course Disney bribed the critics I wondered when that would rear its head.

[Karha of Honor]

Considering all the controversies there have been with money, gifts, and the like, not really. And even discounting that, The Phantom Menace got good reviews when it first came out, but it has few defenders now.

Did we see the White House video that was taken down?

[MithrandirOlorin]

The Prequels have lots of defenders now, we are an entire Generation.

[Karha of Honor]

The Prequels have lots of defenders now, we are an entire Generation.

How can you tell?

[MithrandirOlorin]

Because we're every where, we have entire websites.

[Karha of Honor]

Because we're every where, we have entire websites.

[ChiggyvonRichthofen]

But that still doesn't explain how the film got good reviews from critics.

Critics like the movie, I have no problem believing that. They approach these and other blockbusters in a significantly different way than fans do. Deconstruction and subversion are right up their alley, and a lot of them just aren't going to be as concerned with issues like continuity, worldbuilding, or whether the old crew are in character.

In a way critics are both easier and harder to please- Marvel movies can consistently get 85-95% on rottentomatoes, but aren't winning industry awards or appearing on "best of the year" lists (neither did The Last Jedi). Critics might enjoy what The Last Jedi did, but a lot of them aren't going to take it (or most other genre films) all that seriously. I think that's why many were taken aback by the passionate (or vitriolic, depending on who you're talking about) reaction to the film.