Saw it last night. There's been enough time, so mild spoilers here. I'll post both praise, criticism, and head scratchers here.
I'm basing my judgement on EP 4, 5, 6. I was not thrilled with EP 1,2,3, since I have not had the strength to see them again. Although a friend watched them as a 'concert warmup' and said that they actually did a pretty good job of teeing up the next segment. I'll take his word for it.
I disagree with most folks here. I am a fan, and I think Abrams did a great job of bring us BACK into that universe. He stayed with consistent themes and let us see the things most people wanted to see again. He didn't deviate from the original feel (very analog and respective of the original universe,) and you felt immediately comfortable. Touchpoints on small things like the Chess set, etc.
The story is what I expected. Magical things HAPPEN to the people who are central to the Force leaving us to believe that other powers are at play (how else could they find Daisy in that monstrocity? Why did she walk randomly to the basement of the bar to find the Lightsaber? I could go on.) There was excitement, and far and away the better space battle correography of all the Episodes. The dialog was 'generally' better than most of the others.
Lots of questions left here. I say 'questions', but a true critic would say 'plot gaps'. Clearly they wanted to leave plenty of open questions for the next 2 installments. I won't list them here for one reason: The trilogy will have to be taken as a whole, not a single movie. If you watch 4/5/6, I still feel like I need to trudge on until I see the destruction of the Emperor. Same thing here...they're not MEANT to be standalone.
Performance wise, the 2 main characters did well...Daisy is a standout, but Finn needed a bit more backstory to work with If he was programmed at a young age, how was he able to overcome that so quickly regardless of the scene that is the 'final straw'? Some notes here: How is he decent with a Light Saber? How is a trash man sent on a special forces raid mission? He gets some good lines, and shows the earnest innocence that is kind of a trademark of characters in this universe. Daisy is a star already. No sense she was 'acting'...she did inhabit the character. There were some interesting things here with her as well. Why did she wait so long in the desert (besides the stated reason)? How was she able to tap into the Force so adeptly? (I suspect the bar owner had something to do with this...but time will tell.) Where did she go in her head during the battle with Ren in that quiet moment? She latched onto Han very quickly...there's a tie there someplace.
Carrie Fisher was a bit of a letdown. They didn't give her much to work with, yes, but she seemed less General of rebel forces than a grandmother along for the ride. I'll allow that might have been poor direction, in that not enough attention was her in charge of the rebel fleet. And if I can give a sharp stab here, there might have been some facial surgery there that took emotion out of her face...either way, she wasn't quite believable in all 3 roles (wife, mother, or general.) I did notice they carefully stayed away from a Han/Leia kiss.
Harrison tries to bridge the gap between impulsive young rogue and cranky old rogue and show that he might have learned a thing or 2 about life. For the most part he does well, but I would have liked to see a bit more world weariness in him. He gets the bulk of the amusing lines in the movie which throws me off a bit since he should seem a bit more 'crabby' for lack of a better word...given his history. A noticeable exception is walking out to see Ren, you can see the conflict, exhaustion, and weight of the years as he tries to heal his family clearly on his face.
Chewbacca is suddenly a central part of the interplay. He was frosting before, now he's part of the entree'. This is a good thing.
Kylo Ren. Probably the character I have the most problems with. He's portrayed as wavering between light and dark, and his motivations towards driving determinedly towards the dark side are at best...opaque. He WANTS to be bad, uses grandaddy as inspiration, and vents his anger at various machinery in very un-regal tantrum like behavior. He asks for help to make his choice, gets it, and supplies the most emotional moment of the movie, but I see no resolution one way or another on his face Maybe he's completed his journey, and the transformation is complete, but nothing was offered to suggest how he was pushed down that path in the first place. I find him less an evil villain and more an angry teenager breaking up someone's house...with a FLAMETHROWER, but tantrum nonetheless.
So I've posted quibbles, but I thought it VERY entertaining and a good start. Whether the succeeding installments can fulfill all these questions won't be answered for years, but I plan to see it again, since I feel as though I've missed a great many things (and I don't miss much.) I've seen complaints that it relies on 3/4/5 and it's derivative, but I feel it's INTENTIONALLY so. I, for one, am glad that he didn't completely blow up the canon like he did with Star Trek (even though I liked that too...)
My 2 cents.
If you've had the strength to read this far.
R
