Saw it twice now after last night... 1st was just AVX 3D, 2nd was in IMAX. Visual quality felt the same, audio felt better to me in IMAX. On to the movie itself....
I'll chime in on the "too much like New Hope" bandwagon in terms of how the story progressed, but Rey is a terrific protagonist to ride along with through this new trilogy. I'll have to watch it at least once more to catch what the whispers are saying during that vision she had in the basement, but I'll also say that while the story strongly leads us to believe that Rey is Luke's daughter somehow, it's also too strong of a suggestion. That's the thought pattern the imagery was designed to have us believing. The art of misdirection. My current guess at the moment (which is as good as any other theory): immaculate conception, much like how Anakin was "born from the will of the Force".
Finn being a descendant of Calrissian or Windu heritage.... neither disproven or proven, so sure, I can keep that on the table for now. What I would rather know is how does he just suddenly develop a sense of spontaneous morality? Sure, ok, he's not a clone. I heard that. But years of vigorous brain washing and conditioning shouldn't just suddenly vanish after your first taste of real combat.....wtf?
Poe Dameron: he's a likable character that needs more fleshing out and I feel didn't get his fair share of character development screen-time compared to Rey and Finn. Hopefully this gets a little more balanced out with Finn still unconscious and all.
BB-8: ZOMG, I WANT ONE!!! That is all.
Captain Phasma: I would've loved to see her get more screen time too and had to watch it the 2nd time around to confirm that yes, they really did cut her out of the rest of the movie that abruptly. Somehow she miraculously escapes the implied garbage dump they stuffed her into because it's been said that she'll appear in the next episode, but man, that was terrible not to see any footage of her getting tossed there nor how she got out of there.
Kylo Ren: somehow I feel that the portrayal of his personality is a little mismatched. If he's somehow supposed to be the best of the best among the Knights of Ren and Snoke's favorite pet...I dunno, I just somehow expected him to hold a more calm and collected demeanor. He raged out on setbacks way too easily like a whiny brat. Even Anakin wasn't as much of a brat. I still like the depth of the character and Adam Driver played him well enough, but how the writing and direction portrayed this character felt a bit off. Casting wise, I feel as though they could've casted someone better for the look. Han and Leia are an arguably attractive couple....you would think their offspring would look less goofy.... I expected a little more muscle mass, and definitely wouldn't have guessed their kid would have as big a nose or those giant ears..... If they wrote in that Nien Nunb was his father, that would've been more believable, lol.
As for where I would rank this installment among the 7 episodes so far...to be determined, somewhere in the middle. Not my most favorite episode, but not terrible either.
And finally..... I can't believe Han's dead, and not even a memorial service to boot before Rey takes off looking for Luke. QQ
I mean seriously, they took the time to give Luke and Han a medal ceremony in New Hope but couldn't afford to give a legendary hero a proper salute for his passing. COME ON!!!!
Hope this gets resolved somehow at the start of the next episode....like maybe Rey brings Luke back with her to the Aileenian (or however it's spelled) system and they address that loss when Luke gets reunited with Leia.
