Finally saw this last night. It was kind of disappointing. I haven't read any of this thread or read any TFA reviews so I have no idea what everyone's been saying about this movie. Should be noted I've been a HUGE SW fan my whole life (age 31 male).
Here are my quick impressions:
-super derivative.
-poor casting on Kylo Ren. Poor character in general. Not only does he physically look nothing like Ford or Fischer, but he's yet another whiny Force kid that is quite reminiscent of Hayden Christensen in
Sith. Why does he wear a mask? Should we even care? I hate that he survived and we have to sit through more of him in the sequels. (note: I agree that Driver did a great job. my problem is with the character not the actor)
-BB8 is an R2D2 clone
-Carrie Fischer should not have been in this movie. She looks and sounds like she's been smoking cigarettes for 40 years. Wish they would've killed her off instead of Han Solo because Harrison Ford was great and still looks the part.
-on that same note, Anthony Daniels sounded different too. I would've preferred an impersonator at this point.
-new "big bad" we know nothing about, seemingly just for the sake of having a big bad. He's like Poor Man's Emperor Palpatine.
-why we still got all these 100% CGI characters? come on, son.
-Poe was criminally underused.
-Luke was criminally underused.
-Phasma was criminally underused.
-weak score, even compared to the prequels. What happened, Williams?
-overall story problems. How the hell did the First Order get so powerful and so wealthy? How are the rebels/resistance still so weak and scrappy? This was not properly explained.
-why we gotta start on another desert planet that is exactly like Tatooine?
-Millenium Falcon's door is wide open on a desert planet. And the keys are in the ignition right in the middle of a low-income community. okay.
+loved the idea of using the Force to stop a laser beam.
+good casting on Finn and Rey.
+Poe was the best new character.
+fleshing out the character of Chewbacca a little bit was a nice surprise
+sound effects were top notch
+Luke's new character design looked great. I wish he would've said something though. I would've had him say, "did you happen to find the hand that came with it?" as a way to break the tension with Rey.
Also not sure why you insist on the villain having "likable qualities." He's a fucking villain and the motherfucker who murdered Han Solo.
Everyone loves Darth Vader. He's scary and awesome. Ask any little boy.
The Galactic Empire is bad ass. Ask any grown man.
Villians should be "cool" for the most part. Kylo Ren and his giant CGI boss are not.