The thing I truly like about the PT is that the characters are driven by the Force: the will of the Force, the quest for the Force, the knowledge of and for the Force, and so on. With the mystical belief about a Prophecy that happens to have been misunderstood, and arrogant Force users who finally get punished in their flesh (Vader, Sidious). I’m not talking about midibullshit which in fact has no consequences on the story told (except the subtle idea that Palpatine could be Anakin’s father, but it’s never clear and the is up to anyone own opinion about it). So in the PT it works: the myth is here, the movies are just not very good for other reasons and awkard moments (such as “this weapon is your life”, not very consistent) as well as a few bad ideas. It’s obviously very far from the perfection of the OT, but it’s better than nothing.

R1 had moments like that with Donnie Yen, but sadly it wasn’t earned and got nowhere and unfinished in the released movie. On the other hand, TFA basically has nothing to do with the myth and the Force. It’s more a meta-film, hence more meta-myth and meta-Force. It talks about it, tries to link the 3 trilogies together, but it’s hardly enough. Knights of Ren ? Just a flashback and a vague mention by Snoke (and the fact their leader is said to haven’t finished his training…), this is too weak to get mythological. Maz ? She only has a lost lightsaber in her basement. The “calling” thing from the lightsaber ? Very unclear. The “it’s true. All of it” contains that “meta” fact: the Force is no longer at stake, it just exists and you’ve got to believe it exists, and 2 scenes later you can master the Jedi mind trick with little effort. The Force is only some kind of labeled product to make the plot advanced like a “deus ex machina” plot twist.

I wonder if Johnson is going to “fix” that in VIII/IX.