I thought this movie is about as near perfect a Star Wars movie as you are going to get. There were so many great great scenes.. The moment Luke had with R2, was fantastic! R2 is the reason Luke is not tending to some moisture farm, plus when he showed Luke the Hologram from A New Hope??? The moment with Yoda (props for bringing back the puppet from ESB and ROTJ). Great scene. I mean those are two HUGE moments and people are on here saying Rian crapped on Star Wars?
All of the costumes where great... the kid at the end of the movie was such a powerful scene... anyone can be one with the force. You don't have to be a Skywalker to be a hero. I thought that was a great way to end it. The broom stick shining with the glow of the moon, made it look like a lightsabre.... amazing!
What I liked about the OT is the fact that they told a very small story in the context of a galaxy sized war. In the prequels they told a Large story (or tried too...) and it didn't work. This movie with the chase scene specificly is small in scale, yet it was powerful and full of drama and death. The Empire never got that close to wiping out the Rebels in the OT... every ship that ran out of fuel, almost every escape pod... destroyed. Small story told in a larger setting. I loved it. I loved that the hero's plan didn't work, I thought that was fresh and took balls of steel for Rian to do that. It shows that these hero's are still learning, which was yoda's whole point and one of the themes of the movie.
I loved that Rey's parents are nobody's... I was secretly hoping that she was a new hero, a new Jedi. Not a Skywalker, not a Kenobi and that foolishness... it opens up the universe. It shows that there are force sensitive creatures out there that can be taught. It shows that everyone can be a hero.
I loved the fact that Luke wasn't the same whiny kid who wanted to save the Universe, and was foolish to a fault. He grew up... he made mistakes he became withdrawn and he beat himself up over it. He learned that the force doesn't belong to the Jedi or the Sith... and that the Jedi where vane... And they were! Think about the vanity the Jedi had in the Prequels. Look at how they screwed up Anakin. Look how they wanted power just as much as the Sith.
I have heard people saying that they keep slaughtering their childhood hero's. I see that they killed off Solo... but Luke is different. They didn't kill him off... this was the way Luke can help the cause. Becoming one with the force allows him to train rey, and to be there to guide her. It was essentially Lukes way of joining up with the Rebellion and helping in a different capacity. Luke is Legend, he is also a force ghost now. And I don't know about you guys but the idea of Luke being a force ghost a la Obiwan gets me all geeked up! Luke was fantastic in the whole movie, I really thought that this was Mark Hamills best performances as an actor. He really looked conflicted. You could feel his pain.
I also want to say that Rey (Daisy Ridley) is fantastic, She can act with the best of them. The way she plays Rey is just incredible and Strong yet so vulnerable. It's a balance that Daisy pulls off!
I liked the Casino... I thought it was a great way to show that the retched hive of scum and villainy is true to both classes. It was a great way of demonstrated that there is a very fine line between good and evil and that sometimes good still isn't as good as you would think. No one is innocent in war.
What else?
I thought the humor hit more than it missed... the opening joke with Poe was good, but then was over stretched and they stuck with it too long. But other than that, the scenes with the Porgs, and the caretakers where funny. We definitely have taken massive steps from Jar Jar stepping in Poodoo.... lol
I loved the connection between Rey and Kylo, I loved how they teamed up and killed Snoke. And fought the guards. It was one of the best lightsabre fights since Episode I. I also thought that it was great how after the fight, both thought that the other was going to join their side. Kylo thought he had Rey turned, Rey thought he was going to be good... but both lost in the end. And now lines have been drawn.
I really really loved it. I thought that everything I thought was going to happen, didn't. No one watching that movie could have predicted how everything was going to shake out. It was so entertaining!
My last point is this... I am glad he didn't JJ this movie. This movie isn't riddled with question marks, or unanswered questions. It ended with an ending. The movie sets up the CONTINUING story of Luke, Rey, Finn, Poe. JJ has been throwing that lazing film making ever since the TV show Lost.... yet so many people bite onto that crap hook line and sinker. Thank you Rian for a great film!