Rey looks far more likely to be Luke's daughter than Han and Leia's.

I tend to agree. To add a couple of (perhaps coincidental) points to your list:

Luke and Rey both ended up growing up on a remote desert planet.

Luke and Rey both shared the same first impression of the Falcon - Luke's "What a piece of junk" and Rey's reference to it being garbage.

There's one other throw-away line that makes me think she's Luke's daughter.

When Kylo is interrogating her, he says to her "I know what you see when you get lonely, the island ..."

At the end of the movie, she clearly knows where to go to find Luke, the look of recognition is apparent on her face.

It's a string of islands.

The map that showed where Luke was only indicated what planet he was on, not where on it he was. The implication was clearly that she followed her "feelings" to the island string he was on. The connection between Luke and her was obviously strong.

As for the sideways glances that DanteRotterdam mentions - it took some time for me to figure out what those were ... but take a look at A New Hope - Han throws those same glances at Luke a lot. After watching it again, it wound up being another nail in the coffin for the Luke/Rey connection instead.

As for not taking any risks, think about Kylo Ren's choice near the end. That was a hell of a risk, but it paid off extremely well I think.

That wasn't a risk, it was a bolted-on certainty. Ford made no secret that he would only get involved in a sequel if they killed his character off.

But like you said, it did feel like Star Wars.

And like others have said, it's very derivative - Palpatine/Voldemort, whiny Anakin, female Luke, cantina Yoda, Wedge, R2D2 II and Death Star III were all back again.

Which was very obviously intentional, which is why some people felt like they'd seen it before. It's meant to be comforting and familiar, something the pre-sequels were not.

I absolutely loved Rey for the first half, when she was a plucky, resourceful scavenger. And then she went all 'Force Unleashed' on us. I guess you can't be important in SW unless you're a super special snowflake.

So, what about that time Han Solo took on a old guy, a young kid and two droids? Then decided to get involved with the break out of a princess? Then later came back to fire on Darth Vader Darth Vader in the Trench Run? Without Han, likely none of that would have happened.

intervention and the sacrifice of much of Red Squad, Luke would have never taken the shot.

Or the base attack on endor? A lot of people were involved there.

Or that time where Lando decided that he didn't want to honour his agreement with the empire? That decision alone was more instrumental then what Luke did in the grand scheme of things.

Or the new Death Star 2? Sure, Luke brought his father back and killed the emperor, but it was a humble bunch of desperate people that actually took out the death star 2

So, what about this movie?

Poe was instrumental in being on planet, obtaining and secreting away the map, and later dominated in several Arial engagements and accomplished the overall objective. In the end he and his aces were the ones that delivered the telling blow to the super weapon

Flinn bust out Poe and watched his back, enabling him to achieve all the things he did. Met Rey and enabled her the link to the greater galaxy, and informing her of the empire that she otherwise would have been detained by. It was also was his idea and knowledge of imperial tactics that allowed the alliance the confidence to make the attack, the insider knowledge proved invaluable. This is despite being a humble, frankly shell shocked guy that just wanted to get away from the horrors of what the first order were doing. He was kind of the link between all those people that made him work. Essentially the pillar that the others can lean on as when he's determined to do anything, he just does it despite the odds being stacked against him.

Han and chewie were the link to the allience, and with the others made the breach so Poe could make his run.

There is plenty of times in the trilogy that none force sensitives have done things that often eclipse the deeds that some force sensitive do. Sure, they might never do the fancy things like reading minds, or may never really be any good with lightsaber play. But the key thing is the force has a plan for everyone within this setting and it's being a tad unfair to say that they aren't important because they don't have the flashy talents. It's what made the original movies so cherished I guess.

So, the one question I have that Episode VII didn't resolve for me?

WHAT IS STAR LORD DOING IN JABBA'S PALACE?!?!?!?!?!?

I was very happy with the movie. It felt like Star Wars again, in a way that nothing else has since the original trilogy (and I mean original, not special edition, we do it old school at my house).

There was some obvious thematic symmetry down to the superweapon but it didn't bother me too much. For one, yes it makes sense that if you could build a new weapon without a glaring weakness, you would. Not to mention that a Death Star that can blow up other planets without moving seems like something you would want to pursue. I also felt it tied into the humor (when they reference that there must be a weakness because "there always is"). Having just watched the Family Guy rendition of RotJ I felt like the mission brief for this was the same (hey guys, we've done this before and that worked so we're pretty much going to do the same thing again, any questions?). I also feel that some of this was possibly done as a transition. Repeat a lot now to win people over, then once you have that fan buy-in you can change it up a little more in the other movies.

I was pretty impressed with how the trailers led us to believe that Finn would be the new Jedi and then totally changed it up. At first I thought the Kylo Ren family relation was revealed too soon but as the film progressed I saw that it was necessary to set up Han's death scene (which I was sad to see but I kind of felt it was coming and I'm glad that they were willing to kill off a main character).

I liked the mention of the Resistance being supported by the Republic. Not only does it allow for a logical continuation of the "few versus the many" trope but it makes sense for two powerful governments to be in a Cold War. I would like to see the Republic building superweapons of its own (nuclear deterrence) and then possibly the Resistance having to cut ties or even destroy weapons on both sides when its leaders begin to doubt the ethics of the Republic military/politicians.

I do wish they had done more with Phasma. And while I can deal with the obvious inner conflict for Kylo Ren, I'd like him to get more serious and not be a rehash of whiny angsty Anakin. I don't need to see the BBEG throwing a temper tantrum.

Snoke looked like he would be more at home in Lord of the Rings than Star Wars but we don't know the full story on him yet so I'll just let that go. I think it would be nice if in the next movie after seeing all those giant holograms we get to see him in the flesh and he's a little Yoda-sized guy with a Napoleon complex.

I really enjoyed the darker tone the movie had. Sure we always knew the Empire was bad but seeing the Stormtroopers start straight-up executing people is a little different than when the camera just cuts away or you see a burnt farm and bodies after they're gone. When I saw the bloody handprint on Finn's helmet I was like "all right, well I guess we don't have to worry about Disney toning anything down." It was a far cry from Ewoks and pod-racing.

I liked that Kylo's name was Ben. At first I was expecting him to be a new Vader (all badass and ass-kicking). Other than the temper tantrums that could have been left out, I think I like him not being up there at Vader's level. Now he has room to grow and progress parallel to Rey. I also noticed that his lightsaber was pretty rough-looking compared to the nice smooth blade of Luke/Anakin's lightsaber.

I expected that Kylo would be Han and Leia's child. I thought Rey would have been too but now I think she is a Skywalker. This would establish some parallels between her and Kylo and I suspect the next movie will involve her growing under Luke's tutelage while Kylo does the same under Snoke.

I don't think it was just a rehash. It did weave in elements of Episodes III-VI but I also felt it changed things up just enough to make it fresh.

EDIT: I can't believe I forgot to mention this, but the significant toning down of CGI was a huge plus for me. Movies like the PT and SE are an eyesore to me. CGI definitely has its place but it doesn't need to be used for everything.

There is plenty of times in the trilogy that none force sensitives have done things that often eclipse the deeds that some force sensitive do. Sure, they might never do the fancy things like reading minds, or may never really be any good with lightsaber play. But the key thing is the force has a plan for everyone within this setting and it's being a tad unfair to say that they aren't important because they don't have the flashy talents. It's what made the original movies so cherished I guess.

I have to agree here. While it would have been cool to just have Rey as a resourceful non-Jedi, obviously the way they did it was a shock for those of us that were religiously following the trailers. I really agree with you that non-force sensitives have been just as (if not more) useful in the movies. Luke's major contribution to the galaxy came during Episode IV with the rescue of Leia and destruction of the Death Star (both of which were successful only due to Han's assistance). After that, he could have been completely taken out of the equation and the rest of the Galactic Civil War would likely have played out more or less the same.

I don't think Rey is Luke's daughter

i mean: everything point at her: skilled pilot, thinkerer, strong on the Force, Anakin's saber, her visions, etc

But... it's too EASY

i mean: it's JJ. The one who put Finn with Lightsaber on the poster and in every trailer so far... and the Force Sensitive is Rey

i think they will drive viewers on Ep VIII into thinking "he's her father, he's her father" and then BAM we discover she's daughter of... someone so secondary noone will recognise the name without looking into wookieepedia

however, until Ep VIII revelations', best guess are she's Luke's daughter

As for Starkiller: i don't think he completely depletes energy from nearby sun. I think just draw some huge flare to recharge. When the sun goes dark, is just the planet rotated and came the night. Also, is a thatrical move: the nigh fall, Kylo Ren kill Solo, the end is nigh...

I don't think Rey is Luke's daughter

i mean: everything point at her: skilled pilot, thinkerer, strong on the Force, Anakin's saber, her visions, etc

But... it's too EASY

i mean: it's JJ. The one who put Finn with Lightsaber on the poster and in every trailer so far... and the Force Sensitive is Rey

i think they will drive viewers on Ep VIII into thinking "he's her father, he's her father" and then BAM we discover she's daughter of... someone so secondary noone will recognise the name without looking into wookieepedia

however, until Ep VIII revelations', best guess are she's Luke's daughter

Y'know... I take your point. I still lean towards her being Luke's daughter, but I'm not quite so sure as I was when the credits rolled.

I was thinking she was Han Solo's daughter (Or hoping, so I could say Kylo was Jacen and she was Jaina) until I realized it didn't make tons of sense unless Leia forgot she had two kids or just decided to never mention a daughter.

And I don't think they'd go for the "Rey, I am your brother!" from Kylo Ren.

So, yeah, it seems most likely she's Luke's daughter.

I don't think Rey is Luke's daughter

i mean: everything point at her: skilled pilot, thinkerer, strong on the Force, Anakin's saber, her visions, etc

But... it's too EASY

i mean: it's JJ. The one who put Finn with Lightsaber on the poster and in every trailer so far... and the Force Sensitive is Rey

i think they will drive viewers on Ep VIII into thinking "he's her father, he's her father" and then BAM we discover she's daughter of... someone so secondary noone will recognise the name without looking into wookieepedia

however, until Ep VIII revelations', best guess are she's Luke's daughter

As for Starkiller: i don't think he completely depletes energy from nearby sun. I think just draw some huge flare to recharge. When the sun goes dark, is just the planet rotated and came the night. Also, is a thatrical move: the nigh fall, Kylo Ren kill Solo, the end is nigh...

You might be right about that. I'm still leaning towards her being Luke's daughter but now you've planted the seeds of doubt.

I agree about Starkiller. They even said in the movie that it draws on its sun until the weapon is charged, not that it draws on the sun until completely consumed, which wouldn't really make any sense.

Okay, after a second viewing, I came away with a couple of things:

* I have determined a major flaw in Force Awakens: the score is a total dud.

After today's showing, I picked up the soundtrack and listened to it in the car on the way home (and then again at home) and I couldn't pick out moments from the score like I could the other 6 movies. VERY generic action movie stuff from a movie where the soundtrack is quite probably the most important facet of the film.

Remember Luke in front of the Double Sunset? Into the Trap from Jedi? The droid music from TPM? The powerful choral of Luke vs Vader? Duel of the Fates? The Emperor's Theme? The Imperial March? Nothing like that here.

And that just makes me sad.

* Han's death is strangely emotionless. I'll get broken up when an incumbent Doctor regenerates, so I can get invested in my characters. Here? Not a flicker on the heartstrings for me, and I've loved Solo for 40 years now.

* I'm not a fan of the bad guys. They seem to be doing evil for the LOLZ and have no specific clearly defined goal in mind. Take, for a moment, Star Wars - Tarkin wants to get the plans and blow up the rebels. In Empire, Vader wants to find Skywalker and turn him, Jedi is the Emperor luring the rebels into a trap and wipe them out while upgrading Vader for Luke. Here, they want to find Luke and . . . . kill him? Turn him? Why? Revenge? To ensure the New Order's place in the galaxy? There is no "we are doing this because X" that I can point to.

* How big is the Republic? The bad guys blow up five planets and that wipes out the Republic? And you can see those five planets from the Resistance's base?

kelpie,

Remember that JJ Abrams is only directing this installment of the new trilogy, and there's a bunch of other folks working on the writing for the rest of the trilogy as well.

So it's quite possible that it's fully intended to have Rey be Luke's long-lost daughter, and rather than jump through hoops to conceal it, the writers decided to keep the indicators fairly subtle for the mainstream audience, but still there for sharp-eyed fans to clue in on.

Was I the only one who got the impression that none of the "main" characters (Finn, Rey, Ren) had anything more than a basic understanding of lightsaber combat? It looked to me as if they had given a couple of ten year olds sticks and told them to beat one another with them... Hopefully that's intentional...

I thought it was pretty good. 8/10

My complaints were pretty sparse

- Why get Gwendoline Christie in the movie and do literally nothing with her the entire film? I'm sure it's set up for future stuff, but the entire character felt wasted. The one scene with Finn fighting random Stormtrooper #TK58359 would have been the perfect opportunity to have Phasma do something. Like anything...

- I thought they kind of botched the parentage reveal. It would have been so much better had we got that on the catwalk right before Han took the big tumble. It was just sort of like, "Oh hey there's Han Solo, your father.

- A bit too much clunky expositional dialog, but we still learn very little from it. Who's this giant CGI dude? What's he about? How'd they build a planet laser? It steals energy from the sun? Whaaaat? Come on, I know this is Star Wars not Star Trek, but godamn if that wasn't a bit too silly. How'd the Xwings get to that planet so ******* fast? How do they have a countdown for when the thing will fire? A lot of suspension of disbelief with that stuff.

Still, a massively entertaining film that was a lot of fun to watch. A lot of fan service, but I enjoyed a lot of that. Some people have mentioned having too much, and that's not invalid, but for me it felt like a pretty good level for a film that is recalling a movie from almost 40 years ago.

Was I the only one who got the impression that none of the "main" characters (Finn, Rey, Ren) had anything more than a basic understanding of lightsaber combat? It looked to me as if they had given a couple of ten year olds sticks and told them to beat one another with them... Hopefully that's intentional...

Probably done for a couple reasons. Biggest reason is likely to keep it from being long and overly flashy, which is something a fair chunk of people had problems with with the prequels when it came to lightsabers. Narratively, Finn has no reason to be any good, being a Stormtrooper, so it's fine there, Rey, as far as we know, doesn't have any formal training (there are theories floating around that she's Luke's daughter and her were memories locked away to presumably protect her, which can explain how she can pick up force use fairly quickly) and is just applying the force to help her, so that makes sense. Ren, you can use a few explanations. He just isn't focused enough to be fairly competent enough in any lightsaber form, he's just toying with Rey for the first bit of the fight and gets too injured throughout when she starts to get the hang of the lightsaber to switch to a an actual lightsaber form, or Luke/Snoke haven't taught him any for any number of reasons (including that Luke may not have had any proper access to learning any of the forms, to either of them not wanting to teach him because he's too unstable or in Snoke's case, wants to have Ren weak enough to kill when he's done with him).

Well... It is not supposed to go over 30 years of history. The Aftermath novels seem like the thing you are looking for.

Aftermath has awful reviews. I don't think I can bring myself to read it.

Honestly, the majority of the bad reviews I've heard for Aftermath involve either A) Wendig's writing style which, having read it I can understand, but I happened to like it (find a sample chapter somewhere and you'll know very quickly if it's for you or not) or B) people being pissed that there are gay characters in the book which is just people being stupid.

Congratulations JJ, you get to remain Un-crucified, for now.

After being hurt bad from a bad pre-order I promised myself I'd never get carried away by any hype trains again, so that being said I went in almost entirely blind. Evidently someone from Disney sent one of the Marvel guys over to help with the writing because every few minutes it got a nice chuckle out of the audience. The musical score is impeccable as is standard for John Williams, and the atmosphere felt just right: not slow and drawn out nor at a blistering Michael Bay pace.

I quite enjoyed the duels between Kylo and friends, much more like medieval swordplay and not like Samurai in a Hong Kong action movie. Also the stubby little crossguards on Sithcalibur actually did something, when I saw it originally I thought it wouldn't be utilized in any way.

However there are some, mostly minor, problems that keep it from being a perfect 10:

Let's get the big one out of the way, I felt like Han died so that Harry can finally stop asking us to kill him off already. The actual scene itself was done well but I felt like again that's because he kept bugging the writers to kill him. Likewise I think Chewie's reaction to said death was lacking, then again I was expecting him to rip Kylos arms out and mockingly ask him in shirywook to stop hitting himself.

Second, why isn't the new republic fighting the first order and instead leaving it to some underground resistance? I know it has no real bearing on the overall plot but I wanted to mention it.

Third, I get that going back to Tatooine gets old after a while but why go through all the trouble of making up a new planet if it's just going to be Tatooine 2.0? Because that's all Jakku was: Tatooine minus sand people (which is an improvement over the original but the point still stands)

Overall I'd give this 9 out of 10 Swiss army lightsabers

Was I the only one who got the impression that none of the "main" characters (Finn, Rey, Ren) had anything more than a basic understanding of lightsaber combat? It looked to me as if they had given a couple of ten year olds sticks and told them to beat one another with them... Hopefully that's intentional...

Probably done for a couple reasons. Biggest reason is likely to keep it from being long and overly flashy, which is something a fair chunk of people had problems with with the prequels when it came to lightsabers. Narratively, Finn has no reason to be any good, being a Stormtrooper, so it's fine there, Rey, as far as we know, doesn't have any formal training (there are theories floating around that she's Luke's daughter and her were memories locked away to presumably protect her, which can explain how she can pick up force use fairly quickly) and is just applying the force to help her, so that makes sense. Ren, you can use a few explanations. He just isn't focused enough to be fairly competent enough in any lightsaber form, he's just toying with Rey for the first bit of the fight and gets too injured throughout when she starts to get the hang of the lightsaber to switch to a an actual lightsaber form, or Luke/Snoke haven't taught him any for any number of reasons (including that Luke may not have had any proper access to learning any of the forms, to either of them not wanting to teach him because he's too unstable or in Snoke's case, wants to have Ren weak enough to kill when he's done with him).

In an interview JJ states that he wanted less flashy lightsabre battles.

So I break into high security military base, and grab a high ranking officer, threaten to kill them them if they don't lower the shield so I can kill all their fiends and allies, and they comply with out hesitation???? Whaaaa???? I think someone like Phasma would rather die than betray the First Order. I thought that was really weak.

Overall I liked it but some of the some of the stuff was just a little too much. Didn't care for Giant Holo Gloem either. I wonder f this will end up being Palaptines old master.

7/10

There are two issues that I think have been woefully overlooked.

1. Stormtroopers blowing up Poe's X-Wing validated the 5:1 personal:vehicle damage house rule. It's cannon now people.

2. WTF with no starting fanfare at all? I thought I saw a video of what Lucasfilm would use in lieu of the 20th(21st) Century Fox opener. The silence was terrible. I would have preferred the full Disney "When you wish upon a star" thing with the castle to what we got. I need some musical cue to switch my star wars brain on so when Williams' score comes blasting in my mind/body is ready.

I found this review that was more articulate with what I'm feeling about TFA:

The Force Awakens is completely and totally a JJ Abrams movie, with all that entails, good and bad. Abrams is, for me, a frustrating filmmaker because he has an eye that is strong, a knack for casting that might be unparalleled and an ability to pace his movies at a rate that sweeps you along faster than you can notice the narrative chasms that he’s leaping. All of these elements are on display in The Force Awakens , a movie that shamelessly panders to nostalgia while also charting an extraordinary future for the franchise, a movie that is great fun but whose sequences are held together by outrageous coincidence or through a complete disregard for narrative connective tissue. The film it most resembles, in the largest sense, is 2009’s Star Trek , a film with a killer cast having a great time in the middle of a stumbling, sometimes moronic story. Like Star Trek 2009 , The Force Awakens exists best in the moment when you’re watching it, and is not well served by any sort of deep thought or analysis or consideration.

Just saw it today and have been talking about it non-stop with my nephew. Just some random thoughts, not necessarily very cohesive

I think I'm in the 8 out of 10 group as well. Fun movie, hearkened back to what made the OT great, and adding back the humanity that the prequels lacked. But I think they went too far with the derivative plots and tropes so in the end, it's something we'd already seen. Of course, that also makes a very comfortable film as well.

One big question for me: who was Max Von Sydow's character supposed to be? I know he was this new installment's "Old Guy" (Obi Wan from OT, Count Dooku from prequels), but he was shown and was gone in about a minute and a half, just long enough to give Princess Leia the plans to the Death Star so she could hide them in R2-D2... er, I mean just long enough to give Poe Dameron the map of where Luke is so he could hide it in BB-8. Who is this guy? Is he an old surviving Jedi? And why does he have the map? Does he know Luke? I think he definitely needed more screen time, even if, at the end, he's just a minor character.

Speaking of screen time, I actually could have done with less of Darth, Jr. I didn't find him a particularly compelling villain, more of a spoiled child who will never be as good as grandpa. He had promise in the beginning, stopping the blaster bolt in mid-air (which was cool), but got kind of whiny after that.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who immediately thought of Voldemort when I first saw Palpatine, Mark II, in the giant hologram. In fact... Snoke sounds something like "Snapes" (who Kylo Ren remarkably resembles after he takes off his weird Kubaz mask; do they have Slytherin house at the Knights of Ren academy?). Plus the oldest Weasley boy was Grand Moff Tarkin's stand-in in this movie as well... Just as long as they don't replace the lightsabers with wands, I'm happy

Weasley did play a good villain, however, much better than Kylo Ren. His impassioned propaganda speech and the troops "sieg heil" response, along with the flowing banners, etc., left no doubt that the First Order were evil Star Wars Nazis. Of course, so were the Empire in the OT...

I'm really glad that the humor was back. You'd think that Han would have fired Chewie's bowcaster at least once in the past 40 years. I would have liked to have seen more of Poe. They could have been more clear in the very beginning when it came to Finn's disillusionment. I know they were trying to make his going AWOL from the First Order as him making a moral choice, but if you didn't know that, you might think that he was a coward instead, which clearly he wasn't. This is probably a nitpick.

I also really liked the "space" battles being held mostly planetside. It made them seem much more connected with reality, especially with the small touches, like the Falcon leaving a vapor trail, or skimming across the ground, or the X-wings leaving a wake when they came in over the lake. You could almost see the Sopwith Camels and Fokker Dr.1's off in the mists as the X-wings and TIE's battled it out over the skies of the Resistance base. And what really brought it home was how they switched perspective to the ground troops, while continuing an aerial shot. Great cinematography.

In fact, as some others have said, I really like the muted use of CGI and Abrams' insistence on making as many actual physical sets as possible. CGI by itself never makes a movie great, something Lucas forgot when he made the heartless and sterile prequels. CGI, just like the sets, the acting, the script, or whatever, is just another tool to aid the director in telling a story. And Abrams does a great job in using the proper tools for the job.

Bottom line: I'll probably see the movie a few more times in the theater, then get the Blu-Ray and watch it a bunch more times. It's not A New Hope (no new movie can be), but unlike the prequels, it's Star Wars, and that's never a bad thing

PS: I really missed the 20th Century Fox fanfare...

I had a great time watching it, midnight screening on the 16th full of other SW dorks and don't think anyone came out grumpy.

Sort look at it as a predecessor to another two films, so speculating the whos/whats/wheres are probably going to be filled in a bit later. Great pace, awesome sound and there's some genuinely funny moments in there.

About the only thing I was going to be dubious was the script and some of the actors, but it hangs together ok and they've got a very good on-screen chemistry. Whatever Daisy sort of lacks in experience I think she made up for in spades with Rey's 'presence' and both Poe and Finn where very strong leads.

Plus it was kind of cool to see Chewie wrecking house.

Wasn't that impressed with Kylo, but he's still around and hoping for something a bit more complicated to come out of the next two movies, his 'tanties' where **** hilarious though. Also sort of disappointed Max Von Sydow got chopped early on as he's always been a favourite.

* I'm not a fan of the bad guys. They seem to be doing evil for the LOLZ and have no specific clearly defined goal in mind. Take, for a moment, Star Wars - Tarkin wants to get the plans and blow up the rebels. In Empire, Vader wants to find Skywalker and turn him, Jedi is the Emperor luring the rebels into a trap and wipe them out while upgrading Vader for Luke. Here, they want to find Luke and . . . . kill him? Turn him? Why? Revenge? To ensure the New Order's place in the galaxy? There is no "we are doing this because X" that I can point to.

* How big is the Republic? The bad guys blow up five planets and that wipes out the Republic? And you can see those five planets from the Resistance's base?

First Order is trying to take over the galaxy again. Kylo and Snoke want all Jedi wiped out, likely because he sees them as a threat to his plan, but Snoke cares more about the bigger picture of ensure the galaxy gets taken over, Kylo seems to have a personal vendetta against Luke and wants to capture him/be the one to kill Luke.

I don't believe this stuff was mentioned in the film, if it was, I missed it, but most/all of the galaxy is under the Republic now, it's not explained in the film, but some book mentions that it's basically back to how things were in Phantom Menace where there's endless debates and nothing gets done. As for the system destroyed, it was the current location of the senate since it switches systems every so often. So basically most of the current senators got wiped out, which doesn't really destroy the Republic, but it really shakes things up and throws everyone off-balance.

Tomorrow i'll go seeing a second time; however, it's 2 days i'm arguing with some few friends who already saw it, and some othe thought came out

-> Kylo Ren vs Rey is cool. I really don't dislike badass action sequencies, and Anakin vs Obi Wan combat in EpIII is cooooooool. However, the entire movie is based upon that scene. You see through JarJar-movie and PubescentAnakin movie only to see Obi Wan facing Young Vader and dismembering it. It HAS to be a cool, long, and spectacular sequence, or entire prequel trilogy crumples away

Kylo Ren vs Rey, btw, is very different: she is'nt supposed to be able to use a lightsaber, and only get here because GM gave her a lot of XP for free or maybe she's Luke or Snort or Palpatine or Someonelse little daughter. She's the elected, you know, and that's mean she got a lot of skills and powers for free. BUT she's still a newbie to 'saber play. Her swing are pure instict and elected-thingy.

Kylo Ren is a trained swordman... but how much trained? he did'nt finish his training with Luke, and we don't know IF Luke does know anything about fighting styles. Probably he did'nt teach him how to properly fight, just the basic moves. Also, he's wounded. And, more important, he's not in his right mind: he's not at his full potential, still doubting; he just killed his father and i can suppose is not an easy thing because is not a full emotionless sith, tempted by light side. Also, he relies a lot on the swordplay, and when Rey lower his flaming saber, or break his will, he lose.

Is a more introspective fight. Is not a skill vs skill contest, but a personality vs personality. He's weak and doubtfull, she's full of hope. He lose, she win. Cool. And old style.

-> Han Solo's death, is emotionless. Right. Oh and you see it coming since Leia said "bring back our son". However i almost cried here, and all the Kylo Ren part was wonderful: doubting, tempted by ligh side, by coming back, tempted by his father. Then a dark shadow on his face (carefully played with the sun going down), and Han die. Still emotionless on Han's side, full of emotion on Ren's side.

-> the Repubblic. Is weak, can't face the First Order on plain sight (maybe many powerfull systems/sectors on FO's side?) but can support an underground Resistence.

Starkiller does'nt destroy "all the Repubblic". I don't even think destroyed Coruscant or the Senate, just give a warning: "step aside from the conflict, or we destroy all your worlds". Starkiller is a weapon who can win the battle with barely only the fear of being used, and first shot is to let Repubblic knowing that exists.

In the fear of several systems being destroyed, Republic core planets too, the Republic whitdraw and First Order win. That's, if Resistence does'nt blow up on the first run

-> a lot of things unexplained. Of course. ANH does'nt explain anything about the past, something is explained in the prequels (and almost everyone complained about the explanations), something is explained by Rebels, 37 years later. When all OT came out, we did'nt know what the Empire was, we did'nt even know Tatooine's name!!

Here's the same thing: it throw in the middle some element (Knights of Ren, The Repubblic, the First Order) but did'nt explain. Just letting other media (spin off movies, tv series, comics, videogame) to explain everything.

Aww come on! when i started roleplaying SW Jedi was still a mithological lightsaber wielding old monks and we did'nt know anything about Coruscant or Hyperspace routes! at least one ship we see in tv series was invented in an RPG adventure 5 years after Ep 6. We don't need explanation, we can create them

just my 2 credi-cents