It did WELL because the prior SW movie was a decade ago!

Rating: 5/10 (18 December 2015)

Nobody REALLY cares about my opinion. Anyway....
First off, I'm pro-Star Wars, in that I saw New Hope in the late 70's as a teen when dad took me to it, then went into my parents basement for MONTHS with his 8mm movie camera to make stop-motion films using the X-wing/Tie/Falcon models produced at the time by MPC. Star Wars serves one very important function between my generation and pre-teens and that's a common ground for bonding. So it's a Godsend for parents trying to reach their kids with something FUN that can be shared 'round the dinner table, IF in fact the proverbial "dinner table" still exists in America, I tend to doubt it. My folks grew up in the midst of the Great Depression, you cooked your own meals and food was never thrown out because some douchebag was anorexic! "Gluten free", "Lactose intolerant" or "peanut allergies" would have been laughed into the street. But I digress...
I wanna have Daisy Ridley's babies! HOW did they find an almost identical clone of Keira Knightly? Look, I'm a BIG fan of heroine flicks and reveled in scenes from "Kick Ass" and "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo".... you know damn well when these Hollywood types are not shooting these things.... they are indeed watching each others work for new ideas. It's a known fact the crew is grossly enamored with Doctor Who also. One thing that anyone would notice the last few years was the uprising of lady heroes in films, all the way back to Tarantino's "Death Proof" in Grindhouse! Thus, they came up with Rey.
SMART.
Finn was well played and cast, however... This "1st order" is commanded by the DUMBEST space Nazi's in the universe, it seems to me a "space minority" would be hard to come by, working for these twits! He is however a typical black male, needing constant pushing by his peers to get his ass in gear! I liked the character though, he's amicable.
SMART.
Ford was needed as the "older mentor" and played his part brilliantly, with touches of "shoot from the hip" sarcasm from "Cowboys vs. Aliens" In this film, Ford was the ONLY choice for this spot. He ushered the new kids into the rebel agenda.
VERY SMART.
Kylo Ren is a giant momma's boy who killed daddy but got whooped by a girl without training? HOW could that even happen?
STUPID.
In baseball, THREE strikes and you're out. I refer to the THIRD iteration of a huge destructive THING which must be destroyed by our heroes. The only question is.... how STUPID are space Nazi's anyway? Where did they get their subprime mortgage from, Bank of America? WHO is buying these "Deathstar bonds" to finance this stupidity, Sand people? Has ANYONE in Hollywood noticed how ISIS operates? As a 1 man suicide bomber, NOT as a disguised planet! Third laser moon?
STUPID. (NO..... UNBELIEVABLY RIDICULOUS!)
At the tail end of the story, we get the face-to-face between Ridley and Hamill, NO words are exchanged... fade to the credits. The next film will open with her Jedi training, probably right there on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. A beautiful shot, by the way! Luke is obviously slated for Star Wars 8 as the new "Yoda" mentor and it would not surprise me if in the next film, he starts imitating Yoda's voice in front of Rey. At which point, Yoda makes a mystical appearance in front of the two. Depending on how this is shot, it may be...
SMART? (Or are we doing Dagobah again?)
JJ Abrams is a c-u-n-t riding on the coat tails of his predecessors and if you couldn't notice in "Star Trek into Darkness" the obvious faux pas of stealing substance (and actual lines!) from "Wrath of Kahn", you may have been too stoned on the chemicals in the popcorn! I have NO respect for that kid. IF you can't see the obvious act of stealing from stories that were done ~30 years ago, then you're a c-u-n-t too! I didn't come here to make onlne friends, so TOUGH TITTY, as my mom used to say!
I sat through the closing credits and noticed about 400 names for digital artists. During the 18 trailers we were made to sit through, I noticed ALL upcoming films are either CGI or animated. They've got a winner in Daisy Ridley. But lose JJ Abrams, I don't see him as a truly creative "force" in moviedom.
Nobody REALLY cares about my opinion. Anyway....