This post contains spoilers from the new book: Before the Awakening.

Overall I enjoyed it. There were a few things that didn't make sense to me.

Rey was never trained in the force but could read Ren's mind, know that the force could be used to control minds, and control the mind of a stormtrooper.

What is up with R2D2? He switched off, but then just happened to switch on and have a nearly complete map?

Ren has force ability to stop blaster shots, but can't force grab his lightsaber from the snow?

Her reading his mind was less hard to swallow than her flying the falcon so well never having flown it before.

But i let it go as JJ does not understand the force.

She cobbled together an old flight sim from a downed Y-wing leftover from the battle of Jakku. She spent her nights flying the sim since it was too dangerous to go outside at night.

So she'd know the dimensions of that ship she would not know the falcons and because the cockpit is offset on one side it makes it even more difficult.

The force guides you it doesn't instantly make you familiar with any weapon or ship if it did there would be no need for Jedi temples.

Minor gripe but it did irritate me.

That's kinda why she totally dug a trench in the sand when she first took off with the Falcon and kept skidding the underbelly, isn't it? I didn't get the feeling she was a pro flyer to start with. It was a little rough to get it going, but she quickly compensated. Also, [more spoilers from Before the Awakening]

What is up with R2D2? He switched off, but then just happened to switch on and have a nearly complete map?

Try this out:

Luke screwed up the training of Ben et al. He foresaw, however, a chain of events that would fix his mess. So he gave part of the map to R2D2, with instructions to go low power until R2D2 detected the presence of Luke's child.

Nice, but why didn't R2 wake up the first time Rey visited the Resistance base? Why did he only wake up after Starkiller Base was destroyed?

Because that was her first arrival at the Resistance base. It wasn't on the same planet as the cantina, she was captured by Kylo Ren from there, then Leia shows up and they go to the Resistance base. Rey doesn't arrive at the Resistance base until after the Starkiller Base sequence, which is when R2-D2 wakes up.

What is up with R2D2? He switched off, but then just happened to switch on and have a nearly complete map?

Try this out:

Luke screwed up the training of Ben et al. He foresaw, however, a chain of events that would fix his mess. So he gave part of the map to R2D2, with instructions to go low power until R2D2 detected the presence of Luke's child.

Nice, but why didn't R2 wake up the first time Rey visited the Resistance base? Why did he only wake up after Starkiller Base was destroyed?

The force awoke in R2D2. He felt a great disturbance in the force.

What is up with R2D2? He switched off, but then just happened to switch on and have a nearly complete map?

Try this out:

Luke screwed up the training of Ben et al. He foresaw, however, a chain of events that would fix his mess. So he gave part of the map to R2D2, with instructions to go low power until R2D2 detected the presence of Luke's child.

Nice, but why didn't R2 wake up the first time Rey visited the Resistance base? Why did he only wake up after Starkiller Base was destroyed?

Because that was her first arrival at the Resistance base. It wasn't on the same planet as the cantina, she was captured by Kylo Ren from there, then Leia shows up and they go to the Resistance base. Rey doesn't arrive at the Resistance base until after the Starkiller Base sequence, which is when R2-D2 wakes up.

Woops. You're right. I got the timing wrong on that one.

First things first, I enjoyed the movie, it was good. Was it great? Was it grand, I think no. It wasn't "my" Star Wars and you know what, that's OK by me.

I just found Kylo Ren and the First Order to be underwhelming, and that Starkiller Base was just overcompensation for their all around lack of bad-assery. If this movie was supposed to be a parallel to Ep.4-6 I find the First Order under delivered. The First Order is like the backstreet boys gone Neo Nazi. Apparently ol' Ben Solo put the gears to Luke's new Jedi program but can't beat a storm trooper with a light saber. I get why Rey kicks his butt, but apart from the Star Killer, First Order is like a bunch of preteens who got to play with daddy's guns too soon. How could they ever become a threat to the galaxy? The empire with all it's retarded storm trooper legions were a more menacing threat than the FO. I just didn't find them to be that frightening or menacing, just psychopathic adolescents. I keep expecting peter pan to show up and take them lost boys form never-never-land so they can all grow up. Maybe it was on purpose, but Kylo Ren has along long way to go before he can match the prowess of any sith lord.

However, I feel my gripe can and will be answered in the next movie. If Ep.VIII is to be the spiritual successor to Empire Strikes back I expect a fully trained Kylo Ren, to be much more fulfilling as a worthy bad guy. I expect the FO to put the squeeze on the Resistance. I expect another I'm your father reveal from Luke and Rey. I expect an intense reveal about the origins of Snoke. I expect that if they pull most of that off the first movie will appear genius in its portrayal of the Force Awaking as a sort of raw power, unrefined and uncivilized as we are used to seeing in all the other movies. Kylo Ren has potential because lets face it, Vader was tied to the light deep inside, you knew he was good, because he did good. Kylo is like that child sociopath who was too much for his parents to handle so they sent him off to boarding school and grew up to be a serial killer. Lets face it, he killed his own father. Luke wouldn't do that, Vader wouldn't kill his own son either. Kylo broke the boundaries of family, he may never be as powerful as Vader, but he could be potentially more dangerous as he appears to have no morals whatsoever. I predict Luke goes down to Kylo Ren like Ben Kenobi did to Darth Vader in Ep.VIII.

Its like the force lightning that can be pushed back to the sender

Boomerang-Effect

I could get on board with that, but Rey has had no experience with the force. With that perspective too, Luke, having had force training should have been able to push back Palpatine's force lightning.

Qui-Gon told in Episode I that the force might also control ppl and things ... I don't have the Quote at hand. But I think it is possible that she just let go in this moments and the force controlled her. Or she was enlighted by the force.

Its like the force lightning that can be pushed back to the sender

Boomerang-Effect

I could get on board with that, but Rey has had no experience with the force. With that perspective too, Luke, having had force training should have been able to push back Palpatine's force lightning.

Qui-Gon told in Episode I that the force might also control ppl and things ... I don't have the Quote at hand. But I think it is possible that she just let go in this moments and the force controlled her. Or she was enlighted by the force.

Luke: You mean it controls your actions?

Obi-Wan: Partially, but it also obeys your commands.

EDIT: Not the quote you were looking for, but it says the same thing.

Lets face it, he killed his own father. Luke wouldn't do that, Vader wouldn't kill his own son either. Kylo broke the boundaries of family, he may never be as powerful as Vader, but he could be potentially more dangerous as he appears to have no morals whatsoever. I predict Luke goes down to Kylo Ren like Ben Kenobi did to Darth Vader in Ep.VIII.

Oh, man, you're right! There's been something I missed about this whole story that's been bugging me, and that was it. The question now is- did he break the rules, or have they changed?

As much as a I loved the Movie, I feel like Rey's instant Force Mastery was just to move the plot along.

which is sad.

for instance, it would have been just as fun to see Rey escapce her cell on the base, without using the force, maybe using her tinkering skills?

Also a good point- I would've liked to see that, even though she's probably better at breaking IN to things rather than out of them, because, you know... scavenger. Still, if I suddenly found out that I had inherited the hammer of the Gods, I too would use it to break out of Space Nazi Prison.

Okay, so something about the force. Other than the obvious demands of the Terrible God of Pacing, I'm of the impression that this movie is going back to the basics with what the force is all about. Before the prequels, it kind of struck me that even people who'd used the force their entire lives could never fully understand it, if only because it goes well beyond the capacity of their mortal minds' comprehension. It's somewhat apparent that the force is deeply personal and usually tailored to the needs and personality of the individual, but that it is also impartial and driven by intent. In spite of the feats people are able to perform using external power, (lightsabres, starships, their own bodies, etc.) the force represents the internal power that makes it all possible. Keeping this all in mind, it was still a little tough to buy Rey's very rapid awakening, but it helped. As for the thing with the Falcon? Well, that's still a little tricky, but you've got to admit it made for a great scene. (Maybe the people who worked on this film played a lot of Feng Shui. The Millenium Falcon isn't JUST a ship. She's a Heroic Ship, and a character in her own right. Maybe that has something to do with it?) Anyway, as far as the lightsabre battle at the end goes, I'm actually a little more impressed with Finn, a normal human, using an unfamiliar magical weapon against a relatively skilled evil wizard and really holding his own. That's pretty **** impressive. The subsequent fight between Kylo and Rey was a great character drama. I'm really hoping that their connection does not go much further than the Really Stupid Mistake that was made by Kylo when he tried to read Rey's mind, blundering through and destroying whatever was left of the barrier she'd constructed to hold back all that spooky force crap. I wonder if he realised that he'd just inadvertently created his own worst enemy and at the same time given her the power to destroy him? The force works on personal strength and intent, and Rey's will and motivations are stronger than his own. That's a powerful bond, so hopefully they don't turn out to be siblings or something.

I have no idea if anyone has posted this complaint and I'm not going to scroll through 26 pages to find out so I'll whine about it now...

Why did they get rid of mass shadows? You can now travel in light speed right up to planets and the like. Does this mean my beautiful Interdictors are dead?

JJ did to hyperspace in Star Wars what he did to Transporting in Star Trek. Ruined it.

Didn't have a new hope: when vultures like Disney and Abrams go at a franchise picked to the bone, what do you expect? Well, not a complete remake. Even considerung George Lucas was a disneyfication of Kurosawa.

Space Opera means opera: great music (John Williams, what did they do to you), great stage building, yessss, cheesy actors and a dumb libretto. But there are positives: Mos Eisley cantina never gets old. The beast Finn shared a drink with. Han Solos pets.The best part of Star Wars, especially if they show it after a trailer for the new Star Trek movie of Abrams with those lame man-in-a-rubber-suit aliens. They definitely nerfed light sabers, probably a good thing. I really liked Kylo Rens batmobile, why wasn't there more?. And the instabread. The Stormtrooper growing a conscience - that's new. (Will they dare to let the black man f... the blonde?) But that's it.

Rey needs fleshing out, as does Daisy. And the Tie Fighter needs a gunner? Come on, you could barely squeeze another man in..

Glad they reveiled why Stormtroopers suck: they're all plumbers. I know, in Star Wars heroes act robotic and robots are emotionally all over the place, but I definitely loathe Ewokbot. Why did they give Mark Hamill a silent role? To compensate for all the voice acting he did? But Harrison Ford got a clean escape, off to more adult worlds.

I have no idea if anyone has posted this complaint and I'm not going to scroll through 26 pages to find out so I'll whine about it now...

Why did they get rid of mass shadows? You can now travel in light speed right up to planets and the like. Does this mean my beautiful Interdictors are dead?

Yes, this annoyed me too. As I said in my previous post, this was JJ playing with the 'conventions' of Star Wars, and it annoyed me no end. It might be sci-i/fantasy but it was grounded in its own scientific reality, which is part of what made it so great. Having things like lightspeed all the way into a planet, or hell, a planet that sucks the energy of a sun to fire a giant, beam splitting laser, mess with that grounded reality.

For me, this was one of the things that actually removed the suspension of disbelief and were a negative aspect of the movie.

Han and Chewbacca can't be bound to your rules, man. After a lifetime of breaking conventions and voiding warranties, they're just too cool for school.

...but did we need to do that twice? Nope; I can sympathise with you there. Who knows, maybe they were trying to avoid re-doing "Stop that ship! Blast 'em!" as well?

Now hold on. Complaints about Lightspeed I'll accept.

But sun sucking? Redirect thy complaints.

Nice, but why didn't R2 wake up the first time Rey visited the Resistance base? Why did he only wake up after Starkiller Base was destroyed?

I believe it wasn't until the end of the movie that she first visited the Resistance base.

Now hold on. Complaints about Lightspeed I'll accept.

But sun sucking? Redirect thy complaints.

I don't know what that is....

Nice, but why didn't R2 wake up the first time Rey visited the Resistance base? Why did he only wake up after Starkiller Base was destroyed?

I believe it wasn't until the end of the movie that she first visited the Resistance base.

Yeah. Someone else pointed that out and I already admitted that I was wrong.

Now hold on. Complaints about Lightspeed I'll accept.

But sun sucking? Redirect thy complaints.

I don't know what that is....

Travesty! You are looking at the Star Forge -- a machine of incredible power featured in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (the RPG, mind you; not the MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic.) It's an amazing game and I highly recommend it. They even put out a tablet app for it a while back.

oh.. a big minus for the movie that bugged my from the first time his name was uttered:

Snoke. Surpreme Leader Snoke.

I mean... really?

the first thing that came to my mind was this, after that he was pretty much ruined for me, as far as villainous villains go:

yeah.. snoke. why, oh why?

I have no idea if anyone has posted this complaint and I'm not going to scroll through 26 pages to find out so I'll whine about it now...

Why did they get rid of mass shadows? You can now travel in light speed right up to planets and the like.

Yes, this annoyed me too. As I said in my previous post, this was JJ playing with the 'conventions' of Star Wars, and it annoyed me no end.

This.

It's this kind of lack of attention to detail which made me feel like it was a re-boot of the universe/setting.

Unfortunately most people's reactions are "the film's great, who cares about details like that".

Yeah, who the hell does?

At some point, we need to stop complaining about everything. Outside looking in, we're a bunch of entitled pissy brats.

Should we really look like that?

People are so hyped they overlook stuff like that give it a while they'll rematch it on blue ray a few times and they'll noticed what we did, right now relief it wasn't another phantom menace supersedes any imperfections.

People are so hyped they overlook stuff like that give it a while they'll rematch it on blue ray a few times and they'll noticed what we did, right now relief it wasn't another phantom menace supersedes any imperfections.

Exactly this!

I don't see myself getting tired of the movie. The performances are 90% of why I loved this movie. I love the characters.

I have no idea if anyone has posted this complaint and I'm not going to scroll through 26 pages to find out so I'll whine about it now...

Why did they get rid of mass shadows? You can now travel in light speed right up to planets and the like.

Yes, this annoyed me too. As I said in my previous post, this was JJ playing with the 'conventions' of Star Wars, and it annoyed me no end.

This.

It's this kind of lack of attention to detail which made me feel like it was a re-boot of the universe/setting.

Unfortunately most people's reactions are "the film's great, who cares about details like that".

At first I too noticed this, then I remembered something, They were flying the Millennium Falcon and Han Solo was piloting. Remember this is the ship that did the Kessel Run in 14, no 12 parsecs. Parsecs are a measurement of distance right? Why was the falcon able to make the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs? It was because she was so fast she could get closer to mass shadows like black holes and whatnot. So really, its not an entire debauchery of established false realism. The only part that didn't make sense is when Han seemingly manually pulled out of hyperspace by pulling a lever at the right time. I can't believe he's that god like to get the timing down to what is possibly a trillionth of a second away from going KASPLAT! That crap needs to be autopilot. That to me is the big part where JJ F'd up the suspended disbelief.

I don't know if this has been mentioned in the 29 (and counting) pages of this thread but James Bond AKA Daniel Craig has a cameo in the film. He's the Stormtrooper that Rey uses the force on to get him to undo the bindings holding her in the chair on Starkiller Base. Craig was filming Spectre at a nearby studio and the Force Awakens people asked him if he'd like to do the scene in the movie.