My thoughts: it's a pretty good movie, but not a great one.
The good:
- They managed to make some pretty compelling characters in the new cast, in partcular Rey as the main protagonist.
- BB-8 is simply incredible. The old droids I've always found to be pretty "whatever", wouldn't care if they weren't there, but BB-8, through its practical and special effects, is instantly likeable and relatable. He's like the movie's Lassie.
- The lightsaber fight. Seems like they took to heart the criticism of the prequels of being over-choreographed, and in here they stumble and make mistakes, like they're really fighting for their lives, which makes for a more frantic and tense action scene.
- Harrison Ford acts for the first time in at least ten years, as opposed to grumble his lines and just play old man Harrison Ford. It's actually Han Solo in the movie. Of course, him dying at the end explains why he was so enthusiastic about this movie.
The bad:
- Overstuffed. You don't really have a time to breathe and get to know some of the characters and, because there are so many, some of them come off as glorified extras. Poe Dameron was very charismatic in the time he was on screen, but he was barely in this movie. Max von Sydow has a cameo in the first scene and is immediately killed. Captain Phasma intrigued me at first, I think it's first time we see a woman in the Empire, much less as a Stormtrooper, and it's a giant one to boot! But she must have less than ten lines in the movie, and is dispatched offscreen as part of a joke and reference to Episode IV. I don't even know if she survived the movie or not. Which leads me to my next point.
- Ineffectual villains. Phasma as mentioned previously. Lux, who I barely got to know and didn't really do anything as far as I remember. Kylo Ren, a whiny teenager who they try to make seem threatening but it doesn't last long. Worst of all is his mask, it's clearly supposed to emulate Vader (not a comparison you want to invite Kylo, trust me), which is reflective of his character, of course, but the fact that he doesn't need it at all makes it come off as cosplay. I had sudden flashbacks of weeaboos wearing Naruto bandanas and using words like "kawaii" and "daijoubu" in regular conversation. So you can understand why I thought he was pathetic.
- Too reminiscent of A New Hope. Starts with the bad guys looking for a droid holding important data in a desert planet, there's a giant superweapon in space that can blow up planets, the bad guy kills the mentor because he didn't put up a fight. There's even a cantina that is a wretched hive of scum and villainy complete with a jizz band (seriously, that's how they call jazz in Star Wars, look it up and laugh). Considering that Rey is probably Luke's daughter, we can expect Episode VIII to be a rethread of Empire Strikes Back, with its own "I am your father" moment.