Okay. I had mixed feelings initially, but I'll say that upon reflection it was a great movie. I'll just list what I liked, and what I didn't.
Dislikes:
-Captain Phasma: Clearly the Boba Fett of the new trilogy. But she may have her uses yet... However, how did she, a captain, submit to a former cleaner simply because a blaster was to her head? If what General Huxx says is any indication, she should be programmed to near perfection. So why did she do as they asked so easily? I honestly hoped that they'd been foolish enough to let her do it, and then she'd set off the alarms or something.
-Starkiller Base aka Death Star III: I knew this was going to happen from the trailers alone. It jarred me to see this yet again. I know they were trying to create parallels with the originals, but honestly, that was way too annoying. Especially since I kinda assumed it would happen. There was a part where someone said (I think it was Han): "It's like the Death Star", which made me think maybe it wouldn't be. Someone replies saying: "This was the Death Star, this is Starkiller Base." And it's way bigger. But all that really ended up meaning was that it made a bigger explosion.
-Simplicity: This should be a given because it's a mainstream franchise, but I've been a fan of the EU, and that's always had more complexity. I've always known Star Wars movies wouldn't have the depth that the books/comics/video games have, which is why I would love for them to make a tv show. They'd have more time and they couldn't fill it all with explosions and lightsabers. They'd have to have actual character drama and that would create complexity. Ideally anyway... Maybe the anthology movies will manage to handle that front better. They're going to basically be EU but in movie form, which has so much potential. The great thing too, is that there's no source material (unless they choose to use some of the newer books/comics) and so it will be a new movie every time. Again, Ideally anyway.
Likes:
-Humour and dialogue: This was so well done, I think. It was amazing sitting in the cinema with hundreds of other fans all laughing in unison. The dialogue was great, especially with parts like when Finn breaks Poe out and the conversation following is:
"Why are you doing this?"
"Because it's the right thing to do."
"You need a pilot."
"I need a pilot."
I loved it.
-Shades of grey: Still a little less than I like in stories, but this is my childhood franchise, so it gets away with things others wouldn't. Kylo was a great character, and I understand they couldn't focus on his conflict for too long, same with Fin. Fin seemed to be showing signs of PTSD at first, but then he's cracking jokes. Again, it's a consequence of being a film, so I don't mind. I'm just grateful they had conflicted characters and didn't make them all one-dimensional. Also, they have more films to expand upon them, you can't give it all in a single flick.
-New Characters (except Phasma): All of them were great. Their acting, their characters, it was brilliant. I loved all of them.
-The Magic and The Soundtrack: There are a few examples, but I'll just use one: when Rey pulls Luke's lightsaber to her. That was one of those magical moments I imagine was reminiscent of the originals. It's one of those things like when Luke blows up the Death Star, or when Vader saves Luke from the Emperor, it will never get old. When the music plays, you know the theme, you know what it probably means (Rey's going to be a jedi, but also, she's a Skywalker).
All in all, a great movie, and a welcome addition to the franchise. This movie was to me, what Phantom Menace was to the first generation of fans, and I'm glad that's the only thing the two had in common.
