If this feels a lot like the original Star Wars, it's because it is the exact same plot elements. Attractive rebel hero on a mission facing capture by stormtroopers and interrogation by a Dark Side villain, putting critical data into an astromech droid? Check.

Astromech droid wandering desert planet until recovered by scavengers by a young native? Check.

Over-the-top villains with a logic & science defying superweapon? Check.

Good guys infiltrating enemy base to rescue attractive captive, alerting Dark Side villain to the presence of a hero of the previous trilogy? Check.

Going after said superweapon with X-wings? Check.

I didn't have a problem with those things the first time, and I don't now. But for the sort of "fan" who gets all butt-hurt about a perceived lack of originality will have plenty of ammunition for their mouth-breathing Youtube rants.

One thing the prequels did was attempt to show that weapons changed and developed between trilogies. Apparently, space technology plateaus at the development of X-Wing and TIE fighters.

Another thing I didn't have a problem with in either trilogy was references to the political situations that motivated the Star Wars in question. But the geeks arouse in outrage over the use of the words "trade" and "taxes" in Phantom Menace, and this movie is completely free of anything resembling motivations. The villains do what they do because "evil". If you thought General Grievous should have a top hat, monocle and handle-bar mustache to make him fit the stereotypical villain image his character played into, you haven't seen anything next to the commanding general of the New Order.

As for the villains, Supreme Leader Snoke (Smoke? Stoke? ), basically just give vague orders at remove. Kylo Ren is probably the most contemptible Dark Side villain yet. He's not as intimidating as Vader or Maul, or as cool and commanding as Dooku or Palpatine, and except for one trick with the Force in his first scene, doesn't seem remotely as powerful as any of them. He's the Dark Side equivalent of Luke Skywalker, and would whine about picking up power converters from Toshi Station, if that was on his agenda. And there's a good reason for that. He's quite obviously set up to be this series' heir to Vader/Annikin as the personification of, and the battleground for, the struggle between the Dark Side and the Light, and many of the same qualities that made Annikin both susceptible to the allure of the other side, and so unappealing, seem to exist in a form in Ren. As someone even notes, he has "too much Vader in him." But episode 3 Vader, not episode 4 Vader.

However, the qualities that make Kylo Ren less awesome and appealing (he's even physically unimpressive, visibly slender beneath his awkward robes that seem to force him into odd postures), also suggest vast potential for growth and development into a truly evil monster, putting Jabba, the Emperor and Vader to shame.

I was a bit bemused at the handling of his character. The internet is right in that he's not just the new Dark Sider created for this movie, like Maul or Dooku, and it's pretty clear that he has a secret, but it gets revealed fairly early on, before we ever get a scene of the returning original trilogy characters having to deal with his identity.

IDK what Mark is talking about with the Force. Aside from one trick that is not repeated, Kylo Ren is not particularly impressive, while Rey & Finn are a little too good with a lightsaber or Jedi mind tricks, making me agree with Han's exasperated "That's not how the Force works!"

The space battles were a bit lacking. JJ Abrams really seems to like taking space ships that had originally been only shown IN space, and making them maneuver in the atmosphere, and their aerial assaults are really neat, counting as this movie's new battle innovation, but the battles are on a much reduced scale, and they don't give much dog fighting. More time is spent on the over-matched protagonists' attempts to elude TIE fighters, than watching them go toe-to-toe with the X-wings.

As I mentioned above, there is nothing to explain what the war is about. There's just a New Order, which is evil, and uses Imperial hardware, and they are opposed by a Resistance which uses X-wings and is led by Leia, but where each side comes from or who is ostensibly in charge is completely up in the air. There is mention of a Senate and a Republic, and allusions to a government which supports the Resistance, but no mention of why a government doesn't have a military, which is pretty much the sine qua non of a "government", or if they do, what that military is actually doing, while the Resistance undertakes to confront the New Order. BUT they didn't mention taxes or trade or diplomatic missions in the first act, so at least the movie isn't RUINED!!!!

Also, Rey's accent. WTF? British accents are for officers and Jedi. Period. Not scavengers on remote desert planets. Unless they are a Jedi who moved there for a specific purpose. Which she isn't.

Han & Leia's relationship is handled very well, with a near-lifetime of changes alluded to, which are realistic, true to their old characters, and don't bog down this movie. This is Rey's & Finn's story from here on out, with Poe & BD as their supporting cast. Luke, Han & Leia are just here to be mentors, teachers and enabling authority figures, and that's a good thing. Unlike Harrison Ford's last attempt to pass the torch of one of his franchises to a new generation, this hits the right notes, makes his relationship with the youngsters believable and true to character, and gives him protegees we can get behind. He's great in this film, but if he had a hat, we would not resent Finn or Rey putting it on in the closing scene.

And you know all the problems I mentioned above? THEY DON"T MATTER! It's STAR WARS! It doesn't, in my opinion, feel like the original trilogy, but it doesn't HAVE to, because it's not. I remember being vaguely dissatisfied in the same fashion with Phantom Menace, until going back and watching it again made the feelings grow on me, until I could feel like it was Star Wars again. Abrams has clearly put his stamp on this (for instance, Bad Robot veterans Greg Grunberg & Ken Leung have cameos as Resistance officers), with his style of "space"ship fighting and nods to the original work, but it's not as pandering as Star Trek was, and the franchise itself is a better fit for his brand of remakes than Star Trek. The old TV show was more about character stuff and exploration of new things, rather than action-packed battles against Klingons, Romulans and Space Captain America. Star Wars IS action-packed battles against stormtroopers and TIE fighters, and recruiting idealistic young people from the desert. It's about lightsaber fights and villains who openly proclaim their allegiance to evil, and care as much about being evil and doing evil, as good guys care about doing good. This might be the first ever mainstream blockbuster movie, where the villain worries that he's not evil enough, and how can he be more evil and live up to the example of his role model!

And now, the EU is not only no longer canon, it has now been officially overwritten. I don't miss it at all. I didn't realize until now, after reading two dozen books in the Legacy and Fate series, how much I missed Chewie, or how little I enjoyed seeing a bunch of hack pastiche writers insert their personal creations into Star Wars to crap all over Luke and Han. Sure, we've got a bunch of new characters not created by Lucas, but they damn well respect the OT folks. Kylo Ren doesn't snark about one-upping Vader by covering exhaust ports, he reveres Vader's legacy and feels inadequate to live up to it. Rey & Finn don't win the awe and admiration of Luke & Han & Leia with their prowess, their eyes light up at the mention of their names or allusions to their past events.

Sorry, Timothy Zahn, Troy Denning, and Christie Golden. You'll have to make your living coming up with new ideas now. And fuck you six ways to Sunday, with a cross-bladed lightsaber all the way up whatever orifices you do or don't excrete your prose out of, Kevin Anderson & Michael Stackpole! Your excerable Sandersonian abominations NEVER HAPPENED! Star Wars is back, and it's STAR WARS, not a setting for you guys to dick around with in absence of original (or good) ideas! I think I now understand a little bit of what it feels like to get out of a toxic or abusive relationship, and hook up with a much better person, who drives home by comparison, just what degree of crap you'd been stupidly putting up with all this time.

I can't wait to see it on Monday to firm up by opinion, figure out what exactly some people's names are, catch the occasional bit of dialogue I lost under British accents or audio FX and see how well it stands up a second time. I have every confidence in this one. Also, I have every confidence the geek community on the internet is going to take the rather irrelevant-to-a-good-story issues I raised above and run with them. The rise of the superhero motion picture & TV show, done right, has shown just how full of crap the geek community is. I have every confidence "The Force Awakens" is the first step on the road to reclaiming Star Wars from the whiners and posers who can fixate so hard on a kids' movie franchise, with absolutely no ability to actually enjoy it.

BTW, do you realize that Leia is now technically a Disney Princess? Which retroactively ends every debate on their relative merits. Ariel's seashells, Mulan's warrior prowess, or their associations, whether Jasmine's taste for slumming with criminals, Cinderella's elderly supernatural savior, or Snow White's creepy little unhuman friends, and whatever other qualities you want to praise those cartoon girls for...Leia did it better. Period.