It's just part one of a 3 part trilogy, keep that in mind.

Rating: 8/10 (17 December 2015)

(Spoiler Free)
Episode 7 is nothing more than an introduction to what will inevitably become a new Star Wars trilogy. Just when the film started to get good, it ended! The main characters never really developed, and the the supporting ones had little screen time. BB-8 was adorable, and I did like Kylo Ren, he's going to make for an interesting villain, despite his goofy boy next door looks. Note how I said, "Going to make" So far, we got too little of him to judge. But he's a promising villain. Harrison Ford acted well, and Hans Solo seemed like the same Hans Solo of the past. Ray and Finn were also good. They put a lot of heart into their performances, but, their story is only just beginning. It's easy to say that this film had little plot, but after all, didn't episode 4 have little plot? We didn't get to find out that Vadar was his father until the next film!
Okay, so as the end credits rolled, I felt like I wanted more, but I'm not complaining. I gave the film an 8 after all, and even though it sounds like I'm disappointed, I did like a lot of things about this film. I docked two points because I felt myself wanting more and we will indeed get more once the other movies are made. It just stinks that we have to wait so long to see this story through. Don't get me wrong, this film was well acted. The dialogue was very good, it was funny too, and the nostalgic elements had me teary eyed a few times.
I thought that the film almost felt small, at least it did when you compare it to the prequels because this film was made in the image of the original trilogy. Bigger sets, less green screen and more props. I'll take it over CGI any day, but the prequels still felt bigger and grander overall because they the CGI did all the work. And I can't help but find myself disappointed in the score for this film. John Williams is getting old...its no secret now after hearing the music in this film. No memorable pieces...no music on par with the old stuff.
The light saber battles were not as impressive as the ones in previous episodes either. Yes, I understand that JJ didn't want the sword fights to look like ballet dancing, and JJ went for a more realistic approach, but we don't go see Star Wars movies for realistic sword fights. I missed the elegant choreography from the previous films. Remember how dramatic the light saber battles were in the other six films? They all were shot with no background music. No dialogue. Just the sound of light sabers. Well, JJ did leave out music for the final battle, but it just didn't have any wow factor. The sabers looked too damn heavy! Perhaps its because the final light saber battle was fought by 2 people who were newly acquainted with the force. If you look at it that way, then, perhaps JJ made the right choice after all!
8/10 for the excellent pacing, direction, dialogue, action and more importantly, the nostalgia!