I’ve been slowly consuming the movie mentally. At first the nitpicks were really in the forefront, but the more I think about it, I’m captivated by the characters, especially Rey and Ren. Thinking about these characters is what makes me want to see the movie again.

As for my nitpicks, the only real weakness for me is the whole Starkiller subplot. I’m still not sure what the weapon was destroying with its multiple beams. Was that one system with multiple planets? Was it supposed to be planets from different systems? How, HOW, are the explosions of these multiple planets visible by looking up in the sky from Takodana, which is in another system? I was immediately reminded of the awful scene in JJ’s Star Trek where Spock looks up in the sky and sees Vulcan imploding.

To be honest, I was expecting Starkiller base to have a completely different primary power based on its name: destroying a sun. In the trailers you heard Ren talking about “showing them the darkness”. I figured the First Order would bring about a different kind of terror - the terror of a world and its inhabitants freezing to death in the dark, or maybe the sun exploding and taking out its whole system.

But despite this flaw, I think the movie still works, and it’s filled with plenty of wonderful moments. My personal favorite was the Falcon’s introduction as “garbage”.