This was a highly fun and engaging movie that should delight Star Wars fans.
Music, action, humour, acting. Everything the prequels got wrong, this gets right.
Just thinking of the opening crawl: "The taxation of trade routes is in dispute" versus "Luke Skywalker has vanished". One of these statements is intriguing and exciting and nostalgic. No need to say which one.
Some of the nostalgic moments were fun, if a little forced - look, hologram chess!
C3PO's appearance was hilarious and true to form. He was not degraded with lines like "this is such a drag" again.
The film's biggest flaw is how much it rehashes A New Hope. A droid has important information, it escapes a desert planet with a ragtag group of outlaws, a battle to defeat a super weapon ensues. The movie is a blast from start to finish, but the lack of originality is noticeable.
Some nitpicky complaints are things like Han not telling Leia his plan ("You don't want to know". "Oh, okay, sounds good".) and a chasm appearing at just the right time to ensure the hero/villain both survive to meet again.
The background of the villain was not surprising to me at all, as the series is always about relationships between family members. Rey is still a mystery but I think it's inevitable she is related to Luke or Leia, abandoned to keep her anonymous and hidden from the villains.
It was pretty common speculation which character wouldn't make it out of this movie alive. I didn't know for sure, but when it happens you do see it coming. Still a powerful and well done moment that exists in service of the story.
The final moments are sheer brilliance. As much as I wanted to see more of Luke, or scenes with him and the rest of the cast together, if those final moments don't have you itching for more, you're not a Star Wars fan.
