OK, I just saw it last night and have attempted to catch up with this thread, but 2/3 of the way through, I'm ready to share my own thoughts, so forgive me if I retread on anything brought up in the last third of this massive thread.
Poll-wise, I chose the "B" option. I don't literally agree with its description--the description for the "B" option is too strong, while the description for the "A" option is too generic--but feel that the film deserves better than the "C" option.
I went into this knowing that the film was a beat-for-beat rehash of ANH, so taking that as a given, I felt like it was reasonably well-done. ANH is now going on 40, and if this film weren't part of an ongoing series, we likely would have gotten a complete remake by now. I'll take setting up a new generation of characters in the ongoing setting over a complete do-over with a recasting of the original characters, thank you.
I didn't come into this for the new characters, but I felt that they were well-realized for the most part...in stark contrast to the forced roles and cringeworthy acting of the PT. The exception for me was Poe, who seemed pretty generic...and yeah, his return needed a little something more. "How come you're still alive?" "Cuz I didn't die." "OK."
I don't think Rey qualifies as a Mary Sue because they're clearly setting her up for a role of central importance in the new series. The Mary Sue label applies to author-insert characters who outshine the central heroes of an established setting. She and the rest of the new cast are being set up as the new central heroes of this setting...the original cast are there to mentor and pass the torch.
On that note...I went through the entire film assuming that she was Luke's daughter. The fact that they chose not to get that out of the way in this film makes me think that maybe it's a little too obvious and they have something different going on with her mystery. Here's a bit of pure speculation that's liable to be controversial (and I doubt if J.J. would choose to go in this direction): What if she's another "convergence" (if I'm recalling the term used in TPM correctly), immaculately conceived like Anakin? That would make her something pretty special in the setting worth all the mystery, and would give her a figurative but not literal kinship to Luke.
I didn't mind the portrayal of Kylo Ren because Darth Vader was such a hard act to follow, I get why they wouldn't try to outdo him on his own level. Instead, what we got was more of an Anakin done right. The new NotSith was always going to be a Vader wannabe, so they literally made him that in the film.
"Snoke" is a really horribly silly name for the new head honcho amongst the bad guys. He really deserves more than one syllable at least...way too many one-syllable names amongst the new characters.
Okay - here's an article written by one of my best friends.
It contains NO spoilers but, I'd classify it as REQUIRED reading before seeing TFA. It basically distills all of the lead in books and media that spans the time between ROTJ and TFA.
It's a bit long but it SHOULD answer all of your questions.
Or to put it succinctly - It's all Mon Mothma's fault!
http://screenrant.com/star-wars-journey-force-awakens-guide/
I found this helpful, but given this post's stated intention--informing people who haven't seen the movie without spoiling them--wouldn't this be better placed in the non-spoiler thread?
