I genuinely enjoyed the film. However, something that really grates me the wrong way was the soundtrack. It’s a little heartbreaking to say one of the flaws of this film had to be the music score. In many ways, I hyped up certain parts of the film and even if it didn’t meet those expectations, I was met with some satisfying bits. Yet overall, going into the film knowing John Williams was still composing for Star Wars, it really felt like a letdown. Whenever the classic score slipped in, it felt great! The new soundtrack… I don’t know, in many respects, it was as if his score was competing with the sound effects. Something wasn’t done well in my opinion.

Something I cherish about John William’s score across all six films was that he was able to add a grander scale to every scene. In TFA, scenes that should had felt swelling with emotional weight fell short since again, to my ears, the music was trying to compete with the action which sounded more muddled and messy.

Overall, that was really my biggest gripe. There were a few minor things, but still, I really loved this film. First time I’ve ever seen my dad walk out of a theater with a smile! Night and day experience compared to when he took me to see the prequels.