After 16 cinema viewings, my two cents....

Rating: 9/10 (26 March 2016)

I cannot say that I've really been an admirer of anything J.J. Abrams had worked on prior to this film, but after this, he could (and maybe should) call it a day... as I think he absolutely delivered here beyond anybody's wildest expectations. Wonderful: BB-8, Daisy Ridley, Jakku, Mr. Harrison Ford, the Millennium Falcon reveal, the Rey / Kylo Ren mind-reading "fight", and the reason I saw it so many times (9 in IMAX, all in 3D), which I'll get to in a bit. Great: Oscar Isaac (one of the best actors in the world right now), the way 'Snoke' interacts with both Kylo Ren and General Hux. Less wonderful: most of the Maz Tanaka sequence (the "bathroom break" moment), Han Solo's final scenes (the bridge having no rails made me laugh the first time I saw the film), the strange fascination with weapons in some sequences, Captain Phasma, the use of the "Burning Homestead" track during Kylo Ren & Rey's saber fight (that was not what was composed for that moment, as can be clearly heard in the released soundtrack recording), some moments with Finn (a.k.a. the '2015' character... who actually says "wait... what?" while in the Millennium Falcon, and who is part of a couple of "that's one hell of a pilot" fan-boyish moments which admittedly were not my favorites.). Yes, most of the second half seems to be a replica of 'A New Hope'... but I saw it more as a First Order that has not found its footing yet (boys trying to emulate the men that preceded them, and not quite understanding how to do it - Millenials? (haha)). If this film was still be in shown in IMAX theaters (which have the only sound systems that I trust), I'd still be going to see it... because J.J. Abrams and, of course, Kathy Kennedy, clearly understood who has been the most important contributor of every single Star Wars film released so far: Mr. John Towner Williams. The Leia reveal, Rey's theme, the "mind fight" sequence, the Jedi Steps... more spectacular work from the only person whose name on a one-sheet has automatically meant I've gone to a movie theater to see that film for the last 20+ years (I even paid to see Roland Emmerich's "The Patriot"). I fear that this might not quite hold true for the remaining two films in the trilogy, especially for Rian Johnson's Episode 8, but I hope I'm wrong, and I hope Mr. Williams' health allows him to continue working until at least the end of this decade (yes, the next Indiana Jones film):).