I watched it pretty uncritically, but sometimes I get pissed off at movies even if I try not to be critical. This movie didn't piss me off and I liked it better than I thought I would. Abrams did a good job of balancing a new storyline and new characters with bringing back old characters and tropes.
I liked that Han and Leia were allowed to look and act old.
I liked that a stormtrooper was humanized.
I thought it was hilarious that they cast Andy Serkis as Snoke and made his face look pretty much exactly like Gollum.
Now I understand why Abrams was going around bragging that Star Wars used to be "only for boys" and now it's not — I mean, the notion is totally ridiculous, but I still appreciate that the story focuses around a black man and a white woman. They could have done a better job setting up a back story for both of them, but at least they made a cursory effort.
My main criticism is that everyone was a little too earnest in this movie, and that was with Han. Maz Kanata could have been rogueish but she really wasn't. I hope they bring in some more rogueish characters in the future movies because they brought a lot of energy to the original movies.
What did you think?
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