As Much a Rehash as The Force Awakens?

I really enjoyed Force Awakens (it's my #2 Star Wars movie, and I like it more than A New Hope), and I agree with you about the "rehash" complaining being a lazy way to trash, but it does have far more homages to A New Hope than just Starkiller base. It intentionally follows the formula set by ANH, which The Phantom Menace also followed. For example, they all three dealt with finding a powerful new Jedi (who is also a great pilot) on a desert planet in the beginning. I think TPM probably followed the formula closer, even ending with an award ceremony after Anakin's "blow up the core" saves Naboo.

But, Last Jedi also has a laundry list of points where it follows the Empire Strikes Back formula very closely. I have a topic on that here, the topic title starts with "Christmas gift" and there are a lot of direct, detailed similarities. I didn't bother to compare the throne room scene to Return of the Jedi, even though it has so many of the same elements, even having Snoke show Rey that her friends' ships are being destroyed, red guards, and the "Vader" character killing his master.

I look at those kinds of comparisons as a way of studying film and storytelling, not to criticize Last Jedi, which I liked overall. My problems with Last Jedi lie more in the writing and plot structure, which is messy and could have been honed into a much tighter and more confident package.

(Spoilers ahead). Absolutely not. The only similarities I saw to Empire were, 1. Luke trains Rey on a hermit planet. 2. Luke has old Yoda's personality. 3. AT-ATS on a white planet with a bunker. 4. Main character is disappointed about who her parents are, much like Luke was disappointed with Vader being his father.
Other than that, I found this to be more original than TFA on all levels. Killing the Emperor type character half-way through instead saving him for the third film was unexpected. Having Ren kill Snoke and become the Supreme Leader instead of being second-in-command throughout the entire trilogy was another difference from Empire. And don't forget the Resistance is in space for most of the movie, unlike ESB, in which the Rebels go from Hoth, to Space, to Bespin (I think?)?

The lazy talking point for someone trashing The Force Awakens is that it was just a rehash/remake of Star Wars. It was completely different in every way, of course, save for there being a Death Star to blow up at the end of the film.