I'm glad I kept my expectations tempered even while my hype rose because I really enjoyed this movie. It's definitely a JJ Abrams movie and it's definitely a modern Disney non-animated feature, but I had a great time watching the film in theaters.

I loved Rey, Poe, and BB-8 (though he's more Wall-E than R2), I really liked Finn, and I'm very intrigued by Kylo Ren and how his arc might develop. I have no problem with his "weakness" and see him as a better executed Anakin. However, I would like to know more about how Rey did so well at the end because it's a very big departure from the struggles Luke faced in mastering the force.

I think this is probably the most visually appealing Star Wars film since Empire, and I'm almost disappointed I saw some of the most beautiful shots in the trailers (the shots with the Star Destroyer especially). The movie also features some of the best action scenes the franchise with the escape on the Falcon, the battle on Maz's world, and the last lightsaber fight.

However, there are criticisms.

I think this is unfortunately the worst scored Star Wars :/. Rey and Kylo's themes are alright, but nothing was as memorable for me as the Binary Suns, The Asteroid Field, The Imperial March, Leia's Theme, Yoda's Theme, or even Duel of the Fates, Battle of the Heroes, or the romance theme from the prequels.

I also think the use of a Death Star 3.0 was a bad decision. I mean people criticize Jedi for this. They had to know they'd be criticized for that decision. At least the destruction of this Starkiller Base wasn't as big a focus as the attack on the Death Star in ANH. It was more similar to Jedi, where the base is a backdrop for the character drama and battles among Rey, Finn, Han, Chewie and Kylo Ren.

I also wish I had a better understanding of Finn's motivations for defecting, his experience in the First Order. I would have loved to have more Poe as well. But maybe that's my man crush on Oscar Isaac talking (seriously see Inside Llewyn Davis if you haven't). Rey was great too but I do think she needed more conflict and obstacles as we don't really know the deal with her "family."

And they probably could have added this by removing my least favorite part of the movie: those stupid creatures on Han's ship. It was unnecessary to the plot and took me out of the film.

But overall it was a great ride, with fun comic relief (the only one that was really pushing it was the trash compactor joke for me), great visuals, great action, great performances, and finally felt like the modern Star Wars the prequels should have been.

I loved the escape on the Falcon. I loved the battle on Maz's planet. And I loved the final lightsaber fight. It was everything the fights from the prequels was missing, and the scene where Rey force pulls the lightsaber was the most triumphant moment of the film for me (though still does bring up questions about how she is so good with the force for about 30 minutes).

I want to see more edge in the future though. It's weird. The First Order massacres a village, destroys 5 planets, and are basically Nazis, but nothing in the film intimidated me like Vader's ruthless dismissal of his admirals in Jedi, the torture of Han, or Vader's playing with Luke and eventual reveal. I want to feel like The First Order is a real intimidating force next film. I want to see the heroes struggle. And I want to see new ideas.

My greatest fear is that Disney won't be willing or able to take risks with this franchise, that it will get cocky like it has with the Marvel films. I'm afraid that consequently they won't be able to capture the emotional investment that the OT invokes with Luke and Vader's dynamic, as well as Luke's story in general. But we still have two films to flesh out this trilogy's story so we'll see.

I keep fluctuating between rating it a 7 or 8 out of 10 and whether I like it more than Jedi (though I wasn't pulled in by anything in this like I was with the throne room scenes in Jedi). It's obviously better than the prequels though, and that's enough for me to recommend it to anyone.

I look forward to owning this in the future and seeing it again soon.