I liked it myself. I understand that it seems like a rehash of Ep 4; but I was never much a big fan of the EU novels....
-Rey; I have a hunch she is the daughter of Luke. (unknown to her, maybe because Luke told her mother to never tell her about him being her father....) Also, I have a hunch that she is way younger than Kylo Ren/Ben...by several years. This could fit in with her mother having been one of the X-wing pilots that helped Luke with his New Jedi Order that got wiped out by Kylo. Also, for those who think Rey is Han's daughter, that doesnt really track with the lines in the movie, nor with the reaction Han had to her... He doesn't recognize her, and is impressed with her technical skills... but if she is Luke's daughter, it would follow she inherited Anakin's technical skills AND Luke's uncanny ability to communicate very well with astromechs. (BB8)
-no New Jedi Order; possibly, just possibly, Luke was not going to form an academy just yet, but wanted to do 1 on 1 training until he had enough experienced Jedi Knights and Masters to start the academy.. until Ben turned to the Dark Side and became Kylo Ren.
-Ben/Kylo, He seems way whinier/brooding/adolescent than Anakin, BUT perhaps this is due to him not having been in enough battles, or fights, not having experience facing Dark Side users such as Snoke. Recall that in Ep 1-2, Anakin was very inexperienced and young, and has desires to become powerful and such.... unlike his appearance in 3-6; where he was a leader, a warrior, and an accomplished Knight before turning to the Dark Side, and then 20 years of being a Dark Lord, leader of many units but still subservient to the Emperor.. I noticed that Kylo Ren does not get directly involved with strategy, tactics, or real planning.... He leaves that to General Hux who is a decent stand in for Tarkin. It seems more that Kylo is basically a thug agent who is trying to get the information to send Captain Phasma and her units to capture whoever/whatever.
-Captain Phasma; I was a little disappointed by her relative lack of involvement other than leading and being blunt. Hopefully she survived and will show up in ep8
-FO troopers, they seem much better trained than the Imperial Stormtroopers, maybe on the same level as the ARC Commandos of the Clone Wars era. I especially liked the scene with the baton/shield trooper versus Finn using a lightsaber, AND the fact Han basically shot him with a bowcaster (similar to ROTLA, but instead of Han facing off the guy, hes support)
-Poe Dameron, I like him. He's pretty cool... basically a combo of both Biggs Darklighter and Wedge Antilles. I hope we get to see more of him in Ep 8
-Finn, he is decent. Not the best, but not the worst. His doubts on the FO, and his training, his mind.... Basically he got shellshocked when his friend/comrade died in the attack on the village, and he started to think for himself then, and listened to the Village leader (Max Von Sydow, great actor, shamefully short scene) Finn might have force powers, or he might be just halfway good at melee combat and working in Sanitation might have given him time to think of other things other than combat. As to why Finn didnt go with Rey to Luke? He was injured and in a coma. It seems like he's not gonna come out of the coma in time to go with Rey.
-Supreme Leader Snoke, heres a rather unknown dark side user. I have a little theory about his origins though. He's the son, or one of the young Dark Side Adepts/Imperial Inquisitors from the Imperial era. Possibly his race is also long lived, and hes been cultivating his Dark Side skills without Palpatine catching on.
-Maz, here's a little alien who's lived for a thousand years, knows about the Force, but states explicitly that she is no Jedi, nor Sith. Perhaps she was a confidant/friend of Luke, helping him find the First Jedi temple, and in return, kept his Saber among other things... I thought I saw a piece in the chest that made me think of Padme, that Japhor snippet that Anakin made for her.. if it turns out that Luke traveled to Naboo to see the grave of his mother, and was given the snippet, perhaps he left it with Maz as a safekeeper for him. Perhaps he knew someone would come and find him, so imbued the saber with some Force memories as a way to tell if the one who brings it back is either worthy of it, or a way to guide his daughter to him if she needed him.
-Leia, Well.. She's getting old in age, perhaps she didnt want to risk her life again, not after all she has worked to keep the Resistance running and leading them from the back. She was a commander in the OT, practically a leader, and most likely a former Senator who has retired.
-Han Solo, I felt it fit his character very well that he would rather not face Leia over the failure of his son to stay on the Light Side, and over the fact that he is the father of a Dark side user. How would you feel, if your own son disowned you, and work against your dreams, and had a desire to bring back the bad old days? Remember, in the OT, he had a tendency to run from big problems, sometimes coming back for his friends, but when Luke disappeared, and Leia went to become a general, maybe he felt he needed to get back in the old game of smuggling and making runs? How many people have done just that in their lives? Instead of working up the courage to stay committed to the path, they go back to the old ways that they know, and not trust people anymore, especially after losing his son to the Dark Side?
-Chebacca. He did good in this. Believable and fitting his character. Although my hunch is that he's tired of being Han's conscience every so often, and Han not listening to him... he decided to not argue with Han anymore and just correct him whenever he misstates something.
-Droids, Well they could have been handled better for the OT pair, but I like the idea of R2D2 getting rather old and his circuits not working as well as they should be... Remember how often he would get damaged and rebuilt? I am anxious to see how R2D2 is in Ep 8. Hopefully we will see Luke fly his old X-wing if he kept it somewhere around the island. I am also curious to see how R2D2 and BB8 get along. I like BB8's character and behavior.
-tech shown, its pretty consistent with the entire movie canon so far. Chewie's bowcaster seems a bit over powerful, but remember that scene in Ep 4 where Han and Chewie chase a squad of troopers into a platoon room? One of the troopers basically got knocked away/flew away from a blast from the bowcaster (its a single shot in the scene), so it follows the canon so far. Hans blaster makes it comeback, a little worn, but that make sense for the age. The ships are all refreshed designs, and I love that they put an actual 2nd seat, and turret for the gunner in the new TIE fighters. The Millennium Falcon is shown with new problems and a new communication dish which is a nice reference to Lando accidentally ripping off the dish in ep6. The new shuttles and the Star Destroyer are also good looking ships. I am hoping to see a new style A-wing or B-wing, possibly a brand new Y-wing design as well. I could have sworn I saw a couple of 4-legged things in the background where our band of heroes were standing by the cliffside..I hope to see similar things in Ep 8 up close and personal.
-aesthetics, overall I like the way everything looks, down to the Resistance X-wings being battle worn and used... Likely they were former Republic Navy ships before the FO came to be.... The lack of the Republic Navy or Republic Fleet is explained away by the first usage of Starkiller base. The planets, and the styling of everything is good to me. I love that they show a sand pit swallowing the wrecked TIE and it blowing up from the reactor... as well as the wrecks all over Jakku.
Plot wise, it is a bit thin in spots, but overall it fits the OT theme and PT theme of cyclical problems.
To sum up, personally, with what JJ Abrams had to work with, and with the time crunch, this is a decent movie, one I will watch again in theater and most likely buy DVD or BR disc if I get a BR player
