Not really.
It starts breathless and hyperventilates by the end. Editing cut this film's kneecaps off in the final 30. They made some not great choices getting this thing down to 2:15 from 2:35, and they probably should have just stayed at 2:35 because a large amount of the film's problems come from short-shrifting the bad guys motivations and machinations, which make for a finale that's not very urgent or impactful outside of the saber fight.
But I feel like the end only feels as disappointing as it does because the first hour is nailed pretty damn well, even as it's more or less checking off the boxes from the Original Trilogy as they reinterpret the moments for their own purposes.
Basically - you set up the Republic/Resistance/First Order dynamic more clearly, you give Takodana onwards about 10 more minutes to breathe at least, and you make the Hosnian system's death actually mean something (I'd settle for coherent, honestly) and you have something that could challenge Star Wars for 2nd place.
But it's hard to fault the look of the film, the performances on display, and the chemistry bringing those performances to life.
It's better than say, Furious 7, or Age of Ultron, or Ant Man. Arguably better than Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation. Definitely better than Spectre, and Jurassic World.
