Just came home from watching the midnight premiere here and I do like it quite a bit (it's definitely a lot better than the damn prequels), but it also has a lot of issues and I'm seriously depressed because of the ending. (I know I shouldn't be, since it's just a movie, but I can't help it and kinda want to cry now. So fuck!)

I'll try to summarize some of my thoughts. There'll obviously be a ton of spoilers.

Things I liked:

• Rey is a cool character and Daisy Ridley fits the role perfectly.
• The same goes for Finn and John Boyega.
• BB-8 is fun and over the top, but somehow manages to not be obnoxious. He's a pleasant surprise. (He's not R2-D2, though.)
• Some of the scenes are visually just amazing and the sets look great. The new costumes (e.g. the Stormtrooper uniforms)/the new look for the ships are also well done.
• I thought the lightsaber duels were also done pretty well, especially considering that most of the people involved in them never held a lightsaber before.
• I liked the family dynamic between Leia/Han/Luke and the reason why it all fell apart. (Hopefully we'll get to see more of how Kylo Ren turned and how he slaughtered the other Jedi that Luke was teaching.)
• It's charming and has some genuinely funny moments.
• There's lots of fan service (e.g. Finn looking confused and throwing away the mini-training-bot that Obi-Wan used to teach Luke.), but it's not too on the nose and so I actually like it.
• Kylo Ren seems like an interesting character too and his fits of rage/immaturity are a character trait that could go far.
• The overall story is enjoyable and the story set-up for the other two movies is solid and could turn out really good, if they finally aren't afraid of diverging from the old movies any more.

Things I didn't like:

• Adam Driver as Kylo Ren. He doesn't fit the role at all in my opinion and that just SUCKS. I guess they wanted to go with someone who looks a bit like Hayden Christensen, but come on, even that dude looked more menacing than Driver.
• Snoke also looks dumb.
• It treads way too much on familiar ground. There's a Death Star equivalent, there's a shield-base to blow up, there are X-Wing trying to blow up some small part of a giant ship (also there are only so very few X-Wing and not a single other ship, why is that exactly?), etc.
• There are oh so many convenient coincidences. (Rey and Finn finding the Millenium Falcon, people running into each other again and again in huge facilities, Chewie just taking of right next to Rey who would otherwise have been fucked etc.)
• They only send 4 fucking people on the mission to blow the shields up, 2 of which really shouldn't be trusted, because no one fucking knows them. One of them is a very, very, very recent defector even. Great choice.
• The way Kylo and Ren's fight ends is just fucking ridiculous. The ground opens up exactly between them? Are you kidding me? Also, yes, he is conflicted and he was wounded, but he still shouldn't have lost so badly.
• Ren is supposed to be completely in tune with the force in that fight, but that's unlikely since she is ANGRY at Kylo, possibly feeling HATRED toward him, so what the hell?
• They fucking kill of Han Solo. And in a really predictable way too. Honestly who thought he would make it out of there after "Hey Chewie, let's split up."? No one!
• Then comes the actual death scene. "Boohoo, I'm so conflicted and it hurts so bad. I know what I should do, but I don't know if I can, will you help me?" "Yes" (It's so obvious what will happen!) *sizzle* *fallstohisdeathlikeeverydamnothercharacterthateverdiedinstarwars* No. Just no.
• Leia doesn't even know Rey, but of course they immediately bond, because The Force or whatever.
• R2-D2 is in a self-induced inactive state. Okay, sure. But you are telling me that no one could take that star chart out of his memory banks? Bullshit. Also why the heck does he just wake up at the end? What?
• Why would they send only Rey and Chewie to find Luke? Because she is force sensitive? What the hell? Why not send Leia for fuck's sake? Also why does she just get the Millenium Falcon? What's happening?

#JJkilledmychildhood #HanSoloneverdies

I'm gonna cry now, so excuse me.