I can’t find the original quotes/articles about it, but I seem to remember during production that JJ (or one of the producers) made a big deal about how much they were going to use practical effects.

Now, I am pleased by the number of practical effects, explosions, creatures, and sets that were in TFA. They looked great, and it was certainly leaps and bounds above the PT.

Having said that, I can’t help but be somewhat disappointed by the amount of CGI used. I get it, TFA is a 2015 sci-fantasy movie, so of course CGI is going to be used extensively. But ideally CGI is used to augment effects/sets.

Considering the (perhaps media- and fan-overblown) hype about the use of practical effects, isn’t it surprising and disappointing that:

two very important characters are entirely CGI? (Maz and Snoke)
from what I’ve seen in making-of videos, all the ships and ship battles were entirely CGI?
CGI monsters (the rathtars) are so prominently featured in the foreground of scenes and have to interact with human characters to such an extent?

Again, I like TFA’s practical effects, but considering the hype surrounding them, I expected far less noticeable CGI.