re: Rian Johnson says Empire Strikes Back would have been criticized if it came out today

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He's correct. It was criticized back then.

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I was 12 when Empire came out, and there were things I didn't expect (and didn't like).

Didn't like Vader dad AT ALL, because Vader was such a potent villain that I wanted Luke to one day defeat... the Emperor wasn't a factor in Star Wars, so Vader was the Big Bad.

Didn't like the ending, since Han was my favorite. I hated that he got beat and frozen, then taken back to Jabba.
And regarding the ending, I really didn't like the utter cliffhanger aspect of it. Remember, this was 1980, the next movie was 3 years from now. I had to wait 3 years for my hero to get rescued.

But those were criticisms from an impatient child... that was going to effect my fantasizing about the continued adventures of Han and Chewie (since he might be dead).

In the context of the entire trilogy, Empire was great. It showed the might of the Empire, introduced the Emperor, and deepened the story to a level that would create the greater SW mythos.

I get that Ep 8, as the middle movie, is supposed to be the darkest one, leaving the heroes defeated and desperate (as Empire did). And it does do that. But I can't see the path to victory, or even the final resolve (Empire showed Luke with his new hand, standing with Leia, overlooking the Galaxy from afar, as Lando and Chewie departed in search of Han's whereabouts). There is no similar analog in TLJ, no greater power to be faced (we see that Luke had to defeat not Vader, but the Emperor; he had to redeem Vader). Snoke's gone, Kylo is now in charge- this is like if Vader had killed the Emperor during Empire. How do you then redeem him?