The Franchise Awakens

PROS

1) Abrams brought back the "plane-ness" of the vista. Lucas knows that he was being illogical when he made the prequel more advanced ("hay-tek," ika nga nila) than the sequels. Too much eye candy in Revenge of the Sith, et al. Abrams straightened out this wrong.
2) The Star Wars that is not afraid to pull-in strong emotions is back.
3) The evil-ness of the villains was portrayed well. It was not too mild or too forced.
4) Harrison Ford is Han Solo. Bringing him, Leia, and Luke back is already a great achievement. Them delivering on their performance furthers the achievement.
5) I like the inter-racial angle brought up. This is one facet that upgrades the franchise (it's not pure homage, ladies and gentlemen). If a gay alien comes up, it would also be welcome.


CONS

1) I thought the the female and black leads were overacting in many scenes. I dont know if Abrams deliberately sought this to reflect the late-70's and early 80's level of acting, but still it disturbs me.
2) They should have given more time for Chewie after that cataclystic event. It was an emotional grenade for our favorite Wookie. It should have been shown on screen and let the audience cry more.

I was born after the first Star Wars, but I caught up with Betamax. Seeing this movie at the same texture and feel as the first three is refreshing. Thank you and congrats to Abrams, Kasdan, Arndt, Disney, and the whole cast. We clapped in the theaters.

Im sure Rian Johnson will further up the ante. He directed the best of the best Breaking Bad episode, after all.