It was okay, but...

Rating: 6/10 (17 December 2015)

Was really excited to see this. This movie had the budget and the special effects. The locations were awesome, the visuals great. The ships were flat out amazing. Soundtrack, thank you, it was tops. Without giving too much away I really liked the character development. Every main character has something they are struggling with, which I loved. Even pretty good casting.
Now here comes the part with the spoilers and why I rated it only at 6 of 10. The story was lacking. It was like a 30+ year reboot of episodes IV and VI. Big planet destroying thing, taken out with X-Wings. We have seen this in Star Wars already... Twice! Third time was not a charm. (that's as spoilerly as I get)
There were several moments that were a tip of the hat to what we've seen and loved, which is okay. There were times that I loved that, and times that it was a distraction, but it helped lend to the feeling of being in the the Star Wars Universe. Sometimes the familiar is comforting and feels right.
In the end I liked it, just sad they didn't try any harder on the storyline. For reference here is how I would rank it compared to the others in the series in order of my favorite to my least favorite. Five, Four, Six, Seven (this one), Three, One, Two.