If Lucas had made this it would be getting slated for being a total rip-off of 4, but as it was JJ people are acting like it's the best thing ever. Can't wait for the next one - Star Wars 8 - The First Order Strikes Back.

Can't speak for him but, for me, it just lacked imagination. I won't speak on the plot or the (admittedly) awesome characters;

New worlds that seemed to have their own ecosystem, creative alien designs, cool new ships,new gadgets and technology. That's what is missing. Heart.

Aside from the "been there, done that" feel, I could buy that it was the Star Wars universe. I've enjoyed things like the Clone Wars cartoon and TV show as well as the video games but they always felt like they weren't canon, even if they featured the same characters. The movies are the big deal. This felt like a long, live action episode of a Star Wars TV show. 

The old characters and the Millenium Falcon did much to make it seem "Star Warsy" but it didn't ever feel like these were alien worlds or civilizations with their own lore.  Just different places that might as well be earth.

I'm really torn on this one. It's loaded with fanservice that I love, some spectacular action -- but there are some wide open gaps in the story I'd wish were covered in more detail.

Felt like between Rey and Finn, they gave us 2 moderately developed, sometimes off-putting main characters at the expense of one likable, well-developed hero as with Luke in the original trilogy.

It's not like JJ is not criticised a lot. Star Trek: Into Darkness was not very well received in the ST fandom. Lost had a shitty ending (at least, I didn't like it). He's not safe from criticism precisely, same goes for Lucas. 

George Lucas would need to go into a time machine and learn how to write characters and direct actors before he'd be able to make this movie. 

JJ Abrams got better performances from that little BB-8 droid than Lucas got from Sam Jackson, Natalie Portman, etc. etc.

All the special effects and alien planets in the world don't save your movie if it has no heart or no believable humanity in it.  

This Star Wars simply is far more fun and true to the original spirit of the franchise and people are responding in droves to that. Avatar is in trouble, the box office returns on Monday (which is good barometer of how well a movie is playing because its after the first weekend hype) were staggering. 

Sure there are plot holes in this ... but there's always been plot holes. If Obi-Wan Kenobi is so intent on hiding from Darth Vader, why the hell would he go hide on a planet that Darth Vader is most familiar with? And why would he let Luke keep the name "Skywalker"? And why does he walk around in plain daylight wearing Jedi robes? And how the hell does Luke blow up a giant Death Star with a whopping 15 minutes of Jedi training? 

Don't get me started on the prequels. Anakin Skywalker: wakes up a good guy, has breakfast ... in a span of an afternoon + early evening, has renounced the Jedi order, pledged allegiance to a Dark Side cult, and (here's the kicker) is knee deep into murdering little kids. Yeah ... think that transition might have been able to be pulled off a little more believably if the previous three movies didn't dick around focusing on stupid things like Jar-Jar and Obi-Wan's idiotic "detective plot". The Jedi in the prequels are apparently dumber than Scooby Doo characters. 

Etc. etc. etc. 

I wonder why he left Vader alive and when did he find out? Was he just hanging out on Tatooine watching the news and saw Vader on TV? I bet he was like " Ooh. Fuck. He's still alive and I stole his light saber!"

Sorry the main villain was actually a character this time around. I'm also tired of hearing the kylo ren lost complaint also. Let's look at the scene quickly. He had literally just been shot, and he nearly kills fin in a light saber duel. The majority of the fight he is toying with Rey because he wants to make her his apprentice. At the end of the fight, she gains the advantage for about 3 seconds. Also, he's not that well trained with a light saber at this point.

Exactly, I think JJ maybe could have emphasized a bit more that he was wounded, but the dude does bang on his bleeding wound two times. Some people just need every little thing absolutely spelled out for them I guess. 

He wasn't trained. He just killed EVERYBODY else Luke was training and made his teacher flee the galaxy instead of confronting him.  That's all.

In the old movies, whenever somebody did something that they shouldn't have been able to do, the reply was "Because the Force was with them."

I'll accept that answer. I mean, before his fight with Rey, he was able to toss her super force powered ass aside like garbage. Maybe she was fighting with emotion and more powerful after seeing Finn go down. I don't know.

Part of the fun with Star Wars is arguing about theories. I love it!