Finally saw it last night. I'd give it a 7/10. Maybe a 7.5/10. I thought it was pretty darn good.

I really appreciated the General Organa-Solo character. I suppose some fans expected her to still be Princess Leia, but this is a woman who has been a mother, a wife, a Senator, a key military leader, lost her planet, lost her son (basically), lost her husband (basically), and lost her brother (basically). I liked that they let her age. A person in her position isn't concerned with trying to chase youth. She knows who she is and her purpose.

It was great to see Ford again. It made sense for Han Solo to go back to his smuggler roots after his loss. It was his way of coping and finding something familiar after losing Ben. He had a good arc. You saw the old smuggler return to his higher purpose, and you knew the moment he set foot on the planet that he wasn't coming back. It was also time for the character to go.

To make room for Fynn. I also liked this character a lot. He's certainly not Han, but I feel he has a lot of Han in his character in that he struggles with only worrying about himself vs. answering the call to a higher cause. He also had some good, funny scenes without making the character too hammy or useless. He just felt like the average man put in extraordinary situations. It's not a new concept, but the actor did it well. I appreciated things like how he kept trying to hold Rey's hand. At first you think he's trying to be heroic, but I think the point was he was scared. A lot of people find courage through cause, and I think it was supposed to be a physical representation of Fynn reaching out for support and focus from Rey.

I appreciate the Rey character. I think she may be my favorite new character. People are probably right that she's supposed to be Luke's daughter, but I'm too stuck on Luke having a son from the books (yes I know the books are not cannon), so I still think she'll wind up being Han and Leia's other child. In the books, they had three kids so it's probably me just projecting what I'm used to.

Speaking of Ben, I find it interesting that they chose to name him Ben Solo instead of Jacen. Once again, probably because of the books, but also because Luke's son was named Ben Skywalker (after Kenobi). It was Jacen Solo who fell to the Dark Side in the books, and Ben Skywalker who worked to defeat him. I wonder if we're suppose to try and guess anything from them naming him Ben instead of Jacen, or if it's just coincidence. Overall, Kylo Ren was a decent baddie. As has already been stated, I think Rey's natural talent was able to momentarily overpower the trained Force user because Kylo Ren clearly isn't naturally inclined to the Dark Side. Natural talent at what your inclined for vs. trained talent in something you're not inclined for.

I found Poe Dameron to be woefully underdeveloped. It left me wondering if he's supposed to be one of the new main characters or just a secondary character that got more screen time for some reason. What I saw I liked, but so far he's more of an archetype than real character. Just the gung-ho, charismatic, fighter jock (Iceman, Starbuck, etc.) Speaking of underdeveloped....

I think the pacing was a bit rushed, making the relationship developments between some of the new characters rushed.

I think the music didn't add much to the series as a whole. Say what you will, I think the second trilogy did more for the music score, at least.

I'm a little disappointed in the overall plot. I'm not surprised, and I can appreciate the idea behind it. Classic story-telling, poetry, music, etc. repeats themes with variation.

You can definitely tell the whole point of this movie is a set-up for the next one. It still felt like like A New Hope version 2.0. I'm hoping the second one will really take the momentum and run. I don't want another Empire Strikes Back, but I hope it's as strong as Empire Strikes Back.

I really appreciated that they went with a lot of unknown/lesser known actors again. Just like the originals. I think the new blood did a great job, and the characters should grown and develop well.