A solid work with a few opportunities for improvements (until next time)

Rating: 8/10 (20 December 2015)

Do not read this if you have not seen the movie!
As an old Star Wars fan, few movies are more important as a part of my childhood - and no movies can even replace them. I did tolerate the pre-sequels, but never respected them.
The Force Awakens is more than approved, and even a bit more. They have managed to give new life to the franchise - and I think that was a difficult goal to achieve.
What was particularly good was the visuals and the ability to tell a good story. It was also nice to see old heroes once again. However, what I liked best was the new and young actors - all were trustworthy and good actors. They will undoubtedly be able to carry the story forward!
Due to the above reasons, I give this film grade 8. It may be a strong 7, or something between a 7 and 8 - but I have to give it a 8 for now. What is most important: It is indeed a good movie.
However, there are some opportunities for improvements for the next movies from my point of view:

The new order is a little implausible, and we'll never get a good explanation of how they managed to be established in the first place. Even more difficult to understand is that they managed to build a new Death-star while the Republic has dominated the galaxy for the past 30 years.

The new evil "Emperor / Big evil boss " looks like a monster from The lord of the rings. They could have defined the new emperor in a slightly different way IMHO.

The new order may seem like a parody of Nazism, and is not very dark or very mysterious. I hope they manage to define the new order in a slightly better way next time. Right now they seem a bit like the bad guys on a Sunday morning movie / Matinée.

I liked that the movie had a bit of humor and self-irony (this is a complete new element in SW - and may be a bit difficult for old fans to get used to - but we will eventually will get there), but it was a little too widely used in scenes where they should have been more serious.

It's a little difficult to understand what the new order really wants. They are just "bad" right now.

The film is a little easily digestible and does not provide the viewers the opportunity to think so much themselves. It is not uncommon that American movies may be a bit straightforward, and leave behind few "loose ends" or opportunities to interpret the movies in different ways - but I really hope that the next movie is a bit more mysterious or darker.

Alle this said, It is really nice to have Star Wars back. I have waited since 1983, and I am grateful for this solid peace of work. I cannot be compared to the pre- sequels, and I am happy that George Lucas sold his rights to Disney. They have proved themselves worthy to take over the franchise.