Went to see the movie today... very conflicted about it to be honest.
* Liked Luke's part. But then again he's been my favourite of the OT, so it's always good to see him. And yes, if Yoda knows something, it's failure, and the necessity to learn from it. But incidentally, I don't quite get why Luke didn't learn from his successes. He turned back Vader because he wanted to save his father, not because he confronted evil (like he failed to do in ESB)... and now he's back to confrontation with Ben? Only to sort of remember that fighting for something (in this case the chance for the rebellion to escape) in the end? That's a bit inconsistent and stagnant in characterization. And quite frankly, why, or rather of what, does he die? Reminded me awfully of the needless broken heart explanation for Padme's death - because he was clearly still alive at the end of the projection. If they had shown that such a projection is an enormous drain on his energy, and he's sort of left a lifeless husk, that would have worked better (or they pull another Obi-Wan ANH-stunt - I'd have liked that *g*). That he just sort of decides to go into the force, peaceful or not, doesn't quite work for me.
* Leia - sorry, but don't quite see the point in this character, save that she's part of the OT and therefore has to play a role here. The floating through space-thing was simply ridiculous, force or no force. And otherwise Dern's character had more impact than she had (and one of the best scenes). Of course, she'll be missed in Ep 9, but not because of her importance to the plot itself. Especially since we already got that "Ben can't kill his mother"-moment here.
* Rey and Kylo Ren - liked that connection, even the idea that they are sort of the polar opposite of each other, therefore balancing each other out (puts an interesting spin even on the Chosen-One-prophecy... because who was balancing out Anakin). But could have used a bit more of an explanation how this physical representation of this connection really worked, a representation that Luke saw. And if Rey is drawn to the dark side (while staying in the light), is Ben drawn to the light side while being a darksider himself? That was a bit too ambiguous. But Rey, of course, was awfully naive, especially in thinking that there are only 2 sides: Snoke or Luke's. Still, liked that Ben (keep calling him that for some reason) was fleshed out a bit more here, even if I'd have liked to learn more about how he learned of the dark side, especially given the shrine featuring Vader's mask we saw in TFA. That's a bit missing here. I don't have as many issues with Rey's background, even though I'd have liked her to have some link to the past. However, that was ambiguous enough (just a ploy by Snoke and Kylo?) that it could change in ep 9. But what about the apprentices that Ben took with him the night he destroyed the Jedi temple?
* Finn's plot - stood way too far apart from the rest... actually, I'm considering fast-forwarding those scenes whenever I get the movie on DVD. Granted, the moral of the story was good, but contrived and awfully dragging, and that Rose character did nothing for me. And what about those slave-kids? Force-sensitive boy on planet ruled by gamblers and race-masters? The circle beings anew?
* Poe... well... hot-headed, prone to blowing things up rather than thinking things through... still, with a bit more information maybe he'd have acted differently. Still another plotthread that was a bit overused here. Don't quite understand all the negativity focussed solely on him: Ultimately Leia made the decision to attack the dreadnought that cost those bomber ships in the beginning...
Other tidbits:
* Liked the misdirection the score did with the Emperor's theme in the Snoke-Rey confrontation.
* When Rey and Kylo fought over the lightsabre with their mental powers - why didn't either of them, esp Kylo, pull the trigger (like Kylo just did with Snoke)?
* Loved the Force explanation scene, but: Granted, decades have gone by, but the humour used here was way more Han-like than Luke's.
* the wrong lightsabre: Why did Luke project himself with the blue sword instead of the green one, especially since we've seen Rey with that sword after she left the island. I mean he changed his appearance, his clothes etc, but the lightsabre?
* Honestly, would have preferred Obi-Wan instead of Yoda - because Obi-Wan actually had an apprentice turn on him, so he would have worked quite as well (especially since Luke proved him wrong with Vader).
* could have lived with way less of 3PO. R2D2 is rendered a bit redundant with BB8... but I'd love another K2 - now that was a droid to my liking.
* What was the point of the First Order fleet chasing the Alliance fleet? Why not jump ahead of them or attack them from the side?
* the humour overall was so so... why even go to such lengths? But sorry, I loved the Luke throwing away the sword-moment. Unexpected and so out of the blue. Hamill's delivery was spot on there - but this definitely was his strongest performance, so that scene was just a glimpse of what was to come.
* those critters on the island... urgh, I feared we'd get another dose of ewoks, and those puffins aren't much better (best moment, though was when Chewie ate one of them, hehe)... the crystal cats were much better.
* Someone early on in this thread said that the movie destroys the image of the Jedi Order: Well, I'd say the prequels did that pretty much for me: an inflexible, rigid system full of arrogant fools who made Palpatine's job and their own annihilation pretty simple. So I'd say it's good that they abandon this old system finally and build something new. And even better: They even have Yoda's approval to do so.
Overall, while TFA reminded me awfully of ANH, I came away from it well entertained and smiling, remembering why I like Star Wars. I didn't quite get that feeling from TLJ.
One explains the other. Luke's reaction could have been anything we've heard before: "Where did you find this?" "Who are you?" "Now that's a lightsaber I've not seen in a long time, a long time" "Where's the hand??"...
Thank you - now I've got to clean up my keyboard... teaches me something about drinking my tea while reading posts...
