I just think about the openings of the other original films. ANH you literally start with a bang. ESB you know that the Rebels are in danger before they do. ROTJ you have Vader doing a site inspection and Artoo and Threepio goin' clubbin. :P
Yes, I am minimizing the opening of Jedi a bit with that statement, but at the beginning of the movie, the stakes don't feel AS high as they should be.
But to
@The Baby Yoda 's point, yes. Once you get to the sail barge, the sequence picks up. But I just feel like the pace is so slow before that. I mean, even if the movie literally joined as Luke came to the palace and everything else was already in motion, I think it would have worked better.