I think it’s less a remake of ANH than TPM was, but it was striking. I really think the film would have been better off without the doomsday weapon, and if they had just landed to rescue Rey. We already would have had some X-wing action anyway by that point.
I feel like the film hinted at major story points that should have been more fleshed out, like Kylo Ren’s backstory, and even the political situation of the GFFA when we drop in on the action. (I know, I know. We aren’t supposed to want political stuff, but some context would have been nice.) As I was watching it, I felt like I’d have a lot of “summer reading” to do afterward to help make sense of the story I’m seeing. I suspect that newcomers not already invested in Star Wars may not have the patience to put up with it. The prior films were much more… linear, I suppose.

An uncritical comment: When the crawl started scrolling, it didn’t feel real. I guess I’ve seen so many fan projects that make their own crawls, that it was hard to believe it was really happening. I was also surprised by the sheer silence (save for applause) during the opening logos. As tiny a part as it is, I was mildly disappointed they didn’t have John Williams compose something to replace the 20th Century Fox theme.

EDIT: Really, I suspect I probably would have enjoyed the first viewing more if I had read the novelization first. Knowing myself, I fully expected that I’d enjoy the second viewing more than the first.