The Force Awakens still holds up fine, IMO. Sure, it’s not revolutionary, but it’s a damn good time. The first chunk up until they meet Han and Chewie is absolutely phenomenal.
For sure! The first half and a good chunk of Takodana mostly work for me as there’s potential as to why the lightsaber calls to Rey and the rain sequence in the vision for examples. Although now these feel a bit too much like an empty mystery box. I also enjoy when the Resistance arrives and Rey pulling the lightsaber out of the snow later on Starkiller. I think my problem with The Force Awakens in retrospect is that it resets the state of the galaxy to Rebels and Empire 2.0 and our original heroes to basically the same starting points of the Original Trilogy. It’s not a bad film by any stretch but I can’t really enjoy it like I used to. I think for me at least it has to be seen as its own thing away from the macro story.