I just saw TFA for the fourth time. This time on 70mm IMAX (I’ve also seen it in IMAX 3D, digital 2d and regular 2d).

4 viewings and I still really love it.

None of the things people (including me) have previously grumbled about bothered me. I even didn’t mind the Rathtars this time 😃

Being as familiar with the beats of the film as I now am, watching it was a similar experience to when I watch the OT… I know what’s coming next and happily go long for the ride.

Some new observations:

I don’t get people who say the music is weak. To me it’s a great mix of familiar and new. Rey’s theme is great, the strings that come in when Han dies are great, and there are some really nice big sweeping moments throughout, coupled with some lovely tender bits. The score pulls off the neat trick of being its own thing but still being undeniably a Star Wars score. And there are a couple of the themes stuck in my head right now.

The editing. It’s fast, frenetic and full of energy. I love it. It drags me into the film and won’t let go. People who complain about the editing are free to have their own opinion but I disagree with it (and in some cases I think they might not know what’s meant by ‘editing’, and are complaining about something else).

Rey… After 4 viewings I’m pretty sure that Rey is Han and Leia’s daughter. The way Han looks at her, the way he feels bad (or guilty?) when she says she “never thought there was this much green in the whole galaxy”, the way Leia hugs her instead of Chewie, the way Kylo Ren reacts to news of a girl helping BB-8 escape (“what girl?!”)… My theory is that Ben Solo had a younger sister and when he went bad they hid Rey to stop it from happening to her too.

This would make Kylo Ren and Rey equals. They are both the grandchildren of Darth Vader. Maybe the fact that one is good and one is bad is what’s meant by ‘balance to the force’.