I think the ANH similarities are just something you’ll either be bothered by or you won’t. I thought Starkiller Base took it a bit too far, but other than that I had no qualms. I think the people throwing around the term “remake” are mischaracterizing it. Many of the beats were the same, but the movie had its own vibe that no one’s going to mistake for Episode IV. Of course, originality wasn’t at the top of my list for what I wanted for this movie, so I may have gone in predisposed to be more accepting than some others. I think the main thing this first film of the Disney era needed to do was to get the tone back on track, and I think it did that wonderfully. I’ll be disappointed if further entries play it this safe, but as far as TFA is concerned, I’m just happy and relieved that Star Wars feels like Star Wars again.

Also, this is neither here nor there, but I got serious chills when Rey pulled the Skywalker saber out of the snow and the Force theme kicked in with that exact arrangement from the burning homestead scene.